Boom-ta-ra

Oh, we'll roll back the prices, we'll save a barrel of man.

We'll lick the crisis, inflation's on the run.

Boom-ta-ra-ta-ra-ra, ye housewives, don't you sigh!

For we'll roll back the prices--in a pig's left eye!

To a radio audience last week, Poet Carl Sandburg strummed this sardonic ditty on his "gittar." The song was written by some wags in the Office of Price Administration during World War II, said Sandburg, and he thought that it was mighty timely now.

Sandburg was right on key, but last week the cacophony in Washington on price freezes and rollbacks was earsplitting. Most out of tune were Economic Stabilizer Alan Valentine and Price Boss Michael V. DiSalle, who could not agree on 1) what to do about prices, or 2) how to do it after they did decide what to do.

From the time he went to Washington in December, Price Boss DiSalle had waited to get authority from Valentine to act on prices. Without it, DiSalle was price boss in name only. After badgering Valentine for authority, DiSalle took his case to Mobilization Boss Charles E. Wilson. Valentine then gave in, to the extent of issuing a vague statement that DiSalle's authority was "subject to such general supervision, direction and control as the Administrator deems expedient." Though no one knew just what that meant, DiSalle assumed it gave him the power he needed. He decided to replace the "voluntary" price standards imposed three weeks ago (TIME, Jan. 1) with a mandatory freeze of all prices. Under the law, that would result in a wage freeze, too.

DiSalle drew up a plan to require all businessmen to notify him before making any new price boosts. If DiSalle did not turn down the boost in 30 days, then it could go through. DiSalle still had no way to get around the law banning controls on most food prices as long as they were below parity. He could slap ceilings on processors and retailers. But under the law, if processors and retailers had to pay more for farm products selling below parity, they would still be free to raise their prices. (Even Harry Truman, who said last week that across-the-board controls were in the cards, finally admitted that food prices could not be controlled satisfactorily without a change in the law.) Meanwhile, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that food prices as of Dec. 15 had jumped 3.2% in a month, to within a hair's breadth of 1948's alltime high; by last week the index was probably at a new peak.

All the same, DiSalle went right ahead with his price control plan--even to the extent of asking the Government Printing Office to prepare application blanks for price rises, and asking the Post Office Department to distribute them in post offices throughout the nation. Then DiSalle's plan hit a snag.

Stabilizer Valentine, whose zeal for mandatory controls had caused him to freeze auto prices over DiSalle's objections, now objected to DiSalle's plan. He said it would be impossible to enforce, with ESA's small staff. DiSalle and Valentine passed the argument to Charlie Wilson for a ruling. Sighed DiSalle: "I've been working so hard I don't know if I have any manhood left."

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