Where Are the Clothes

In high dudgeon, OPA Boss Chester Bowles last week got after the clothing industry. He charged that manufacturers are deliberately making the clothing shortage worse, that they are holding back on shipments till after Jan. 1, to take advantage of the repeal of the excess-profits tax. Said Bowles: "The public's need for clothes seems to mean little to some producers."

But angry words, as Bowles well knows, bring few beeves to market. So he also acted. He broadened OPA's plan of "incentive" price increases to coax the quick production of more consumers' goods, chiefly low-priced articles. Shoe manufacturers were granted a wholesale price boost of 42%, cheap furniture makers 7-13%, radio makers 10-15%, makers of lawn mowers 17%. On some cotton goods such as bedspreads and table linen, price boosts ran from as much as 20% to 40%. Before long, OPA expects to give sizable price increases also to makers of electrical appliances and household articles.

OPA had finally learned that it cannot get production of cheap goods by rigidly holding down all manufacturers' prices. Reason: manufacturers have simply diverted materials & manpower to the higher-priced, more profitable items.

Nor will all these price increases be absorbed by the middleman; some of them will be passed on to the consumer. Even if retail prices are increased, OPA argues, the consumers will still save money. They will be able to buy cheap articles now absent from the market.

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