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Show Bruckart't Washington Digest Harass Business With Suits While Seeking Its Co-Operation One Government Agency Presses Litigation Against Industry, While Others Urge It to Get Ready for War-time War-time Production; Lollypops Being Investigated. By WILLIAM BRUCKART WNU Service, Naitlonal Press Bldg., Washington, D. C. WASHINGTON. There were two news stories emanating from official offi-cial sources here recently that seemed to emphasize an unusual contradictory situation that obtains m present national government policies. pol-icies. One of the stories had to do with a projected expansion of our military services. Representative Vinson of Georgia is prepared to ask congress at Its next session to spend an additional $1,300,000,000 on our navy. Other house leaders are submitting an army expansion program pro-gram that will cost a record-breaking $1,670,000,000. Now, no one can deny the Importance Impor-tance of national defense. They may differ as to how much of a structure is required, but not as to the principle. prin-ciple. It always is well to remember remem-ber that few nations, or individuals, pick a fight when they know they are due to meet real trouble which Is to say that a strong army and navy are essential to peace. These two announcements concerning con-cerning military plans were made known on different days. It so happened hap-pened that on the day that the army ery which the national defense requires re-quires even demands? I used the Aluminum company only as an Illustration, and it happens hap-pens to be a good one. There are something like 50 army officers, concerned con-cerned . with Inspection, consultation, consulta-tion, guidance, In the various plants of the Aluminum company. There are dozens more, yes, several hundreds hun-dreds of army officers and naval officers doing like work in scores of other great manufacturing plants. You can see them crawling all over skeletons of ships in shipyards. They have to make inspections to make sure the specifications are met. They are to be found in experimental laboratories, lab-oratories, using private funds and private facilities for tests looking to improvement of the various things used in war. All of which is fine; it is a co-operation business ought to give, but, again, there is posed that question of how can government govern-ment get all of these things done while a group of theorists, paid by the same taxpayers, devote their time to prosecution of the most flimsy flim-sy interpretation of law violations? When I was digging around on the program was given to the newspapers, newspa-pers, the department of Justice was distributing a statement telling of what it believed to be a great victory In court over a corporation. That story concerned the anti-trust action against the Aluminum Company of America. The department lawyers were obviously In high glee because a New York Judge had admitted some 36 documents into evidence In the proceeding. Mention was not made that the Judge had rejected something like 140 other documents, or exhibits as they were called, but much glory was claimed for the government's side. It is not for me to say whether the gigantic Aluminum company has violated vi-olated a law; that Is the function of the court. The thing that I object to is the apparent role of the government govern-ment lawyers in this and numerous other proceedings. Their attitude is almost the same as though they were engaged In private litigation Instead of serving and seeking Justice In behalf be-half of all of the people. It is an attitude that is dangerously near to persecution, rather than prosecution, and it is wrong. Business Being Harassed By Whole Flock of Suits list of pending government prosecutions prosecu-tions I found the so-called "big three," Ford, Chrysler and General Motors, In the automobile field, were being prosecuted for alleged violation viola-tion of anti-trust laws in automobile Installment financing upon what surely is a strange basis. When the suit was started it was simply a charge of unfair competition in the matter of financing. The thing has simmered down now, however, and the issue actually is whether it is violation of law for using methods of financing installment buyers in a manner that results in less cosi to the buyer. Hold It's Wrong to Provide For Cheap Auto Financing That is to say, the present issue is whether it is a violation of law to set means of cheap financing. From all of the facts I have been able to gather, our government, through its department of justice, actually is as- j serting in court that It is wrong for the automotive companies to maintain main-tain financing corporations which will result in a saving to the purchasers pur-chasers of motor cars. If that is not silly, then I have a cock-eyed mentality. One ought not pass over the tem- The announcement regarding the Aluminum trial recalled that there were a whole flock of other suits being pressed against nearly every kind of business in the nation. The department of justice seems to be trying to get some kind of a record In its efforts to harass business, and this is mt surprising when one considers thatThurmand Arnold, the former professor, Is guiding this policy and that Attorney General Frank Murphy is more of a crusader crusad-er than even the late Theodore Roosevelt. Thus, upon examination I found that there were some 25 or more proceedings being pushed by the government, actions that may be called "major litigation" In that they Involve some of the main units of American industry. I have no Intention In-tention of offering a defense for any of them because I do not know the facts. It is, however, significant signifi-cant that these actions are going forward from one governmental agency while other groups are calling call-ing upon American business to make itself ready for wartime production in event of need. It will be recalled how President Roosevelt told a press conference not so long ago that there were "raids" being conducted on our war resources by some foreign powers. That is material usable in war was porary national economic committee commit-tee which has been sitting, off and on, for more than a year. The committee com-mittee is supposed to be leading the way to a new national economic policy, a new method of doing business busi-ness in the United States. It may. but I doubt it. Thus far, about the most tangible results certainly, the most Important effect of the investigation in-vestigation and hearings is the opportunity op-portunity that has been accorded government theorists to expound their Ideas. For them, it has been a great opportunity. Dozens of them have been able for the first time in their lives to see their opinions set down in printed form In the committee com-mittee record of the hearings. Of course, in referring to the T. N. E. C, one surely ought to call attention at-tention to the great number of witnesses wit-nesses from commerce and industry indus-try and the gouging and sniping of them that has been going on by a group of "thinkers" who serve as lawyers for the committee. One ought to mention also to the ha'f-baked ha'f-baked testimony presented in a number num-ber of instances by witnesses whose chief gripe seemed to be that they or their businesses were not making mak-ing money. Lastly, reference should be made to the effort that has been made throughout the hearings to discredit dis-credit every line of business that has grown big. being bought here, and there was little lit-tle control of these purchases by our military services. Whether this condition brought about the creation of a control board within the army and navy, I do not know. It is nevertheless a fact that the control board soon was created and purchasing missions from England Eng-land and France have to ccmult with that board. Long Range Planning for War Reserves Proceeding Mention should be made, in this connection, of the frequent statements state-ments from official sources of the long range planning for war reserves re-serves that has been going on. This program has been in process of development de-velopment since 1921, but it obviously obvious-ly has taken on new impetus since fire broke out in Europe. Business has been advised repeatedly and in various ways that it must consider consid-er itself at the beck and call of its government in event of war. And that is thoroughly sound. But how. I Wonder, can these two things go hand and hand; how can business be encouraged en-couraged to make itself ready in case of national emergency and go about that job wholeheartedly while the same government, supposed to be operating op-erating as a unit, is attacking and leeking to destroy the very machin- Lollypop Industry Actually Is Under Investigation I have no way of knowing what the government is spending in all of these trials and investigations. Nor is it possible to know what the cost to business has been. The T. N. E. C. has had half a million dollars and it will get some more. The department of justice has been hiring hir-ing lawyers by the bagfull. The federal fed-eral trade commission likewise has been jumping onto business practices prac-tices from great industries like steel and cement on through the list to the manufacturers of lollypops. (Don't laugh at that last one. The lollypop industry actually is under investigation, for some official believes be-lieves that there is a large monopoly of lollypoppies.) But to name a few others among the nation's industries that eager government prosecutors are using to make reputations for themselves as lawyers, we find these: milk, oil, steel, building material in all phases, sulphur, rubber, glass, motion pictures, pic-tures, telegraph, telephone, utilities of all kinds, food distributors, tobacco, to-bacco, insurance, typewriters and trade associations. The effort tc show that medical doctors art tradesmen, and subject to the antitrust anti-trust laws also should be included. |