Truman Imposed Last Wage‐Price Controls in 1951

The President was strongly against wage and pricel Con troli,—but with a war being fought Asia, and inflation at home the Congress granted Standby powers.

Within months after obtain ing Congressional‐approval, the White House reversed Its stand and impased, ektensive and mandatory contorls.

The year was 1951 and the President was. Harry S. tru man, who until President silk on's announcement last night, Was the last President to in voke the emergency measures.

American Presidents have always moved cautiously in im posing’ the regulations, which have come.when the nation has been faced with war, inflation or severe scarcity of products and manpower or a combina tion of the three.

Black Markets Recalled

Opponents of the controls often point to the Atnerican experience in World War II, when ceilings resulted in wide spread black marketeering and huge administrative costs.

Supporters of the economic's curbs point to the impact of the measures during the Korean war.

From Juni, 1950, to February, 1951; consumer prices rose by a staggering 8 per cent. With the adoption of controls, how ever, the index for 1951 rose by only 4 per cent and in 1952 by one per cent.

Michael DiSalle, Washing ton's price controller during the early nineteen‐fifties; comment ed a few months ago that controls work “not very well, but they work.”

In World War II, it has been Otiinated that it took 68,000 full‐time Federal employes and some 250,000 volunteers to ad Minister the controls. But many of: these were utilized in the programs for rationing.

Controls Used in Europe

In the Korean period, more than 17,000 employes were needed to administer controls. Mr. Nixon said no bureaucracy would’ accompany his tempo rary measures.

Since World War II, many Western European countries, Socialist and non Socialist countries, have experimented with some sort or wage and price controls. At present, every‐ Scandinavian country is working with some form of controls on prices.

In 1966, after a crisis with the British pound, the Govern ment adopted measures, prob ably the most strict of any de mocracy in peacetime, to ban any wage or price increases and also to roll back any increases that already had been granted.

Advice to Impose some con trols has been given the Presi dent from such sources as David Rockefeller, chairman of the $23‐billion Chase Manhat tan Corporation, and the Or ganization for Economic. Co operation and Development, group representing 22 nations.

And five months ago, the Gallup Poll said that 40 per cent of those queried in a na tional poll would welcome wage‐price controls, while 38 per cent were opposed.