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Show MONEY & MARKETS - i By James McMullin rko Teleojrem'i Eicluilve Obnnn Alooe Wei Street NEW YORK Four members of Secretary Roper's business planning and advisory council called on President Roosevett at Hyde Park last week, ostensibly to Invite him to dins with the council later in the year. When Interviewed afterwards, the group denied that the discussion had dealt with wages-and-hours legislation, legis-lation, the stock market break, the undistributed profits tax or any other topic of vital interest to business men. Keen New York observers caustically comment that the council is probably the most futile body in the country. It goes into a huddle every now and then and submits . recommendations to which nobody in the administration administra-tion with the possible exception excep-tion of Secretary Roper, and he doesn't count pays the slightest attention. Mr. Roosevelt evidently wants to keep the council in existence to give the impression that he Is not ignoring the views of business busi-ness entirely. At that, it is the --only remaining channel or Tlalsorr between the White House and industry. Some members of the council resent the role of stooge that has been thrust upon them, but hang on in the long-shot hope that some dsy they may be given a chance to do something worth while. The leader of the Hyde Park expedition waa W. Averill Harri-man, Harri-man, chairman of the Union Pacific Pa-cific railroad and head of the advisory council. Mr. Harriman is in a strange situation. His family and the Franklin Roosevelts have been close friends for years. He has publicly approved ap-proved many new deal objectives and waa connected for a time with N R A. Lately he has sharply criticized current administration policies in private conversations with New York associates, but he still remains on terms of personal per-sonal cordiality with the president. presi-dent. It usually gets into the papers when he calls on Mr. Roosevelt, which insiders figure is useful to the latter. Harriman Is a name to conjure with through the country coun-try as representative of big business. busi-ness. If the president consults with a Harriman doesn't it indicate in-dicate to the popular mind that he is willing to listen to large industry in-dustry that economic royalists who say ha isn't are maligning him? In reality, Mr. Harriman has about as much weight In business busi-ness circles, outside his own railroad, rail-road, as a pacifist would have at a meeting of the Japanese general staff. Another member of the visiting delegation waa Clarence Francis of General Foods. That may seem odd until you realize that probably the largest single stockholder in that corporation ia Mrs. Marjorie Post Hutton Davies, wife of the American ambassador to Russia. Can General Foods afford to convey the impreasion that it is unwilling to cooperate with the president? Perish the thought! Colby M. Chester, chairman of the corporation, has never been exactly a new deal enthusiast But ha was notably discreet in his attitude towards the administration adminis-tration during his term as head of the rabidly antlnew deal National Na-tional Association of Manufacturers. Manufac-turers. Copyright, 137, for The Telegram |