Stand-By & Indirect

Hardly any Republican in Congress approves of the Truman Administration's floundering stabilization program. Nevertheless, Republicans do not plan to end all wage and price controls immediately after Jan. 20. Key G.O.P. Senators and Representatives want to give the new Administration a chance to work out an attitude toward controls. Michigan's Representative Jesse Wolcott and Indiana's Senator Homer Capehart, who will head the committees most interested in controls, plan public hearings in early February. The general course Wolcott would like to chart:

P:Abandon most direct controls (notable exception: retain rent controls in really "critical" areas). P:Establish a stand-by controls system. P:Use indirect anti-inflation measures, such as increasing the percentage of gold (now 25%) behind Federal Reserve notes.

One big problem: how to set up a trigger mechanism which will throw the stand-by controls into gear if they are needed, but will not keep business in a state of uncertainty.

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