ROLLING READJUSTMENT

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

I do not agree with all the aspects of economic policy the Republican Party has pursued. However, I cannot condone the pseudo-scientific criticism of Republican policy given by Mr. Norris in the September 28 issue of the CRIMSON.

First, may I ask why Mr. Norris did not use statistics generally available for 1955 and early 1956? If he decries the size and behavior of the public debt in 1954, should he not become apoplectic at its movement in 1955? In 1955 gross public and private debt increased $61 billion to $76 billion--more than ever before in a peacetime year.

Further, 1954 was not a boom year. The period was termed even by the Republicans to be one of "rolling readjustment" caused, some say, by the sharp decline in government expenditures of almost $7 billion. Government expenditures fell from $74.3 billion (1953) to $67.8 billion in 1954. Mr. Norris says that government expenditures total $75 billion. If he insists upon using this approach to present his political views he should at least present the correct statistics.

May I ask, also, how Mr. Norris justifies his reference to "a plethora of non-essential consumer items"? I could take exception with the rest of the sentence but the phrase "nonessential consumer items" intrigues me. I am curious to discover how he determines the essentiality of a consumer good. Not being omnipotent, I have a difficult time conceiving of anyone being able to decide what is and what is not necessary for each individual.

The use of half truths and colored prose seem to completely obviate Mr. Norris' call for an "analytical and candid approach" to the present political campaign. Let Mr. Norris take a lesson from Mr. Stevenson who, in referring to President Eisenhower's truth campaign, said "Let the truth begin at home." Arthur T. Anderson 3G.