White House Press Release, Remarks of President Harry S. Truman to the Greater Los Angeles Press Club, Los Angeles, California

259 IMMEDIATE RELEASE JUNE 14, 1948 REMARKS OF THE PRESIDENT TO THE GREATER LOS ANGELES PRESS CLUB, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA -- COCOANUT GROVE, AMBASSADOR HOTEL, 1.30 p.m., c.d.t. Mr. President, Governor Knight, Mr. Major, distinguished guests, and membersof the Press Club: This has been a most rousing welcome in this great city in sunny California. The Mayor of Omaha told me that the greatest crowd that has ever been on the streets of Omaha was there to see me in that great city. At Butte, Montana, there were more people in the arena than live in Butte. I think they must have come from miles around in order to see what I look like and hear what I had to say. At Spkane, Washington, early in the morning, there were about two acres of people in the town, down in the park and in the center of the town. In Seattle the greatest reception, they said, that has been given to anybody in that great city. San Francisco the same way. And here you top them all. The reason I make that refernce, it was said over the radio the other night by a Member of the Senate, that I was stopping at the whistle stops, misinforming the people about the situation. Los Angeles is the biggest whistle stop. NARA I have been trying to speak on the issues on this trip before the country. That is my privilege as President of the United States. I have a right and a duty to inform the people what I believe is good for the country. And Itook this opportunity before Congress adj turned, EX because I think there are some things the Congress has not done that they shouldhave done, and I want to give them the opportunity to find out what the people think of those things that they have not done. Therefore, I took this trip before the Congress adjourned, in order that they may have an opportunity to act. I sincerely hope that they will take advantage of that opportunity. They still have time. And if they haven't time, they ought to take it. owe And I wanted the record to be entirely clear. Congress should pass laws for the benefit of all the people, in my opinion, and they should pass those laws to meet the situations with which we are faced. And we are faced with some very serious situations. The one I think that is most important and is closest to everyeone is prices. Prices have been on the skyrocket ever since July 1946, when the price control law was repealed, by furnishing me with an impossible law which I had to sign because I had vetoed one just as bad on the 30th of June. I had to take the law of July 31st or have none. And I said at that time that it was worse than none, and it turned out to be just that. Now, on the price index, which is made by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and on which everyone in the country relies for the situation in the price setup, at the time that those price controls were released, it was in the neighborhood of 130 or 133. Immediately after those price controls were released, that price index went up 20 points, and it has been steadily climbing ever since. It now stands in the neighborhood of 172 and a fraction. That means that costs of everything that you have to buy -- food, clothing -- everything which you have OVER