( 233 ) 



Chester Davis concluded that the administration's food 

 and price programs were unworkable without centralized au- 

 thority and were in danger of collapse. This point of view 

 was held by Herbert Hoover and many others, who con- 

 tended that "the food mess" would not be cleared up until 

 a single administrator was appointed with full authority 

 over all phases of the food problem. 



Controls have been highly centralized in Washington. The 

 difficulty is not whether the authority is centralized in one 

 man's hands in Washington or in several hands in Washing- 

 ton, or whether it is decentralized with state or local control. 

 The difficulty is the insurmountable task of trying to hold 

 down prices in wartime and still maintain food production. 



From the standpoint of the public, it may be well for in- 

 experienced administrators to be manacled and tethered un- 

 til they have matured. No farmer would hitch an unbroken 

 colt to a mowing machine. 



Every Man for Inflation and Price Control 



During the controversy over price-fixing there appeared 

 to be two irreconcilable groups: those who desired prices 

 fixed at a low level and those who wanted freely fluctuating 

 prices at a higher level. 



There is one premise on which there was universal agree- 

 ment. Everyone wanted low prices for articles he bought. 

 This held true for farmers, laborers, school teachers, and 

 manufacturers, whether they were liberals or conservatives, 

 Republicans or Democrats. In time of war the government 

 became the great consumer and government officials, like 

 other purchasers, wanted to buy at low prices. 



There was a second premise on which there could be uni- 

 versal agreement. Everyone wanted more income. This held 

 true for farmers, laborers, school teachers, and everyone else. 

 The time-honored way of raising one's standard of living was 



