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Show Is answered, the American people can be trusted trust-ed to see to It that Uncle Sara himself doesn t get off the reservation. Conspiracy for Easy Money THREE associations of contractors, eight national manufacturing concerns and two labor unions have been indicted by a federal grand Jury in Detroit on charges of violating antitrust laws In the creation of a monopoly of all tile construction work in Detroit. Specifically the group is charged with combining com-bining in a conspiracy to drive 60 Independent Detroit tile contractors out of business by depriving de-priving them of tile and labor. The set-up pictured by the grand Jury is typical typi-cal of many such combinations in effect today In various phases of business all over the country. coun-try. It's a slick scheme for insuring fat profits, high wages and a monopoly for those engaged In the conspiracy at the public's expense. Here Is the general pattern of the scheme: Business concerns get together to form an association asso-ciation which Is in fact a closed corporation. They establish a scale of prices which guaran- tee nice tat profits, and agree to eliminate competitive com-petitive bidding or any undercutting of the established price scale. The unions are in on it, too. In return for a high wage scale, they agree to keep independents out of the running by depriving de-priving Independent employers of skilled labor, threatening them or, in some cases, by wrecking wreck-ing their business or committing various acts of sabotage. . It's Just a racket an "I win, you lose" , scheme which takes all the spirit of competition, all the need for enterprise and economy and efficiency, ef-ficiency, out of business and makes It about as safe and soft as taking candy from a baby; the candy being money, and the baby John Q. Public It's good to see Uncle Sam going after these combinations whose sole' aim is to create an artificial monopoly, kill competition, insure fat profits and high wages at the public's expense. It's one of the most hopeful signs we have seen from the new deal lor American democracy, tree enterprise and that much maligned rugged Individualism. For such combinations of business busi-ness and labor are as great a threat to American free enterprise as are government restrictions and regulations. LJ Uncle Sam sees to it that the first threat f |