Show weekly news review U S turns to price policing in antimonopoly anti monopoly campaign isy joseph doseph W ba nine I 1 business government prosecution of combinations bi in alleged restraint of trade was known as trust in the days of president benjamin harrison in 1890 the sherman antitrust law began hacking at financial octopi in what was shown to be a legitimate campaign to keep american industry from killing itself by mushroomed growth modern trust busting Is an outgrowth of the new deal its intended victim is not the monopolistic trust of bygone days but usually a group of powerful corporations which dominate an industry but though the 1938 model trust buster can be credited with success 17 victories 12 cases still pending out of 42 filed since march 4 1933 he might also be charged with making political capital of his job thus it has been hinted that solicitor general robert H jackson once an assistant attorney general 1 X ZA ak I 1 ARNOLD new nest technique price policing joined the antitrust anti trust crusade last year largely in the hope of winning new yorks democratic gubernatorial nomination it if politics was the inspiration for same anti antitrust f trust rust suits these same suits have now become such hot potatoes that 6 a vanished political purpose does not justify the justice departments dropping them one possible example may be the trust case against the aluminum t company of aa rica 7 4 to date dale tills year old invest aga tion had failed to unc overmuch uncover much wi except a rehash re hash of testimony and evidence from the 1935 federal trade commissions probe and a private litigation of a decade ago from which the company emerged with a clean bill of health antitrust anti trust division of the justice department has 90 lawyers compared with 15 in 1933 handling monopoly cases and proceedings connected with 31 other major acts of congress trust busting boss is thurman arnold whose fetish isn investigating vesti gating the price policies of industry says mr arnold we are being forced to take control of inflexible price structures and coercions in restraint of trade today just as in 1933 we were forced to take control of the financing and nd marketing of securities much interest now centers in the justice departments newly inaugurated suit spit against delawarek Dela wares columbia lum biaGas gas electric corporation tor for allegedly conspiring to monopolize the natural gas industry of kentucky ohio west virginia and michigan but in a accordance with his probe of price policies thurman arnold Is probably more interested in oil since crude oil prices recently plummeted in the wake of alleged overproduction over production by refineries both the iden andar ar nol nold traver javor a program adfor for state con arol over production ind and harking mackto back to the trust busting days when standard oils case first made we the U S conscious the new probe will examine every pha phase of the oil industry from production to marketing marke though oil lenwill men will welcome an intelligent government program to stabilize crude oil prices observers fall to see great consistency between i this program tor to raise alse prices a an nd dother other monopoly quizzes which prosecute men for or allegedly raising prices agriculture although U M S department of agriculture ri officials admit export sub sidles are not very effective in reducing wheat surpluses the government has committed itself to exporting bushels by next july of bushels thus far exported 16 10 millions have been aided by subsidy payments from the federal surplus commodities corporation all such sales have gone through regular trade channels but wheat export has become a disgusting bust business nesi since every wheat producing nation cation seems to have a surplus this year the export market is ia glutted in early november liverpool prices were the lowest since 1933 34 at such a time the real purpose was obvious when i francis A wilcox left tor for europe ostensibly to study agricultural conditions observers are betting that mr wilcox ts is really attempting to find european buyers for U S wheat and that the government may enter business as a direct exporter of wheat meanwhile secretary of agriculture henry A wallace received re 1 encouragement coura gement for his domestic dumping farm program which congress will debate next january calling fo government subsidy of surplus farm products tor for home consumption the program has received endorsement of objective from sen william E borah denouncing noun cing the economic puzzle that lets americans starve in a land of plenty mr borah said 1 I am informed that 25 per cent of our youngs young men between the ages of 17 and 25 would be unfit tor for army service in case of war because of the want of nutrition during their youth domestic Z last june 10 the U S business index figured on a normal of stood at about 78 70 by Novem november bei 8 it had risen to 90 and as a result Tet retailers ailers throughout the country anticipate itel pate as ai biga big a christmas shopping volume as last year actually it should be better because last years november index while comparable to this years was definite ly on a downhill down hill slide that did not noi stop until well after january 1 on every financial page in the country there are encouraging signs most important impo of which has been re employment in the automobile industry new yorks auto show touching oft off an unprecedented volume of motor sales has gleveri strength to most commodities the only pessimist in this picture has been the weather man whose indian summer lasted well into november and thereby blocked the normal upsurge of retail buying international japan once offered an excuse tor for her chinese aggression to complaints that she had violated To the nine power treaty guaranteeing chi nas integrity tokyo used to answer that she had taken no territory I 1 for annexation therefore had not violated the treaty if someone charged her with violating the kel logg briand pact against war japan answered that the pact said nothing about defensive defens tv e war by some mysterious definition nippon regarded her chinese conque conquest stasa as a V now that china Is conquered japan feels safe to abandon excuses tokyo has stated officially that it may be necessary to repudiate the nine power pact which is almost tacit admission that she has both violated and abandoned the ka kellogg I 1 1099 briand accord moreover she has named the turncoat chinese war lord gen wu pel fu as leaders leader of a new central chinese government which combines the old and neiping units though an Z r 1 undersecretary the protests protest become outspoken r vexation nex atlon is not mentioned china has been absorbed economically and politically by tokyo the U S has been most stern in its protests since great britain is too busy appeasing dictators to speak up in defense of her chinese stake to secretary lofstate of state cor dell hulls demands now come surly replies that the U S had better keep its hands off china or japan will take retaliatory measures this state of affairs Is probably I 1 behind the latest U S an anti tl dictator outburst more outspoken than its increasingly outspoken predecessors sumner welles undersecretary of state has given gaven the world fresh notice that theu S is ready to protect not only itself but all the western hemisphere from the doctrine of hatred hat reds now threatening civilization the new american policy a la welles As a nation we will assure ourselves that we are in a position to defend ourselves from all aggression from whatever source it may arise and to be prepared to join with our fellow democracies of tho the new world in preserving the western hemisphere safe from any threat of attack heaped atop this plea tor for western hemisphere consolidation will be the eighth pan american conference opening december 9 0 in lima rem peru observers expect a U S delegation headed by secretary hull to furnish plenty of ear burning thrusts at japan italy and germany foreign the european domination won at munich by germany and italy lj Is but a prelude to hitler plans for relegating franco france and great britain into second rate status still to come Is a four power pact put but first must come the groundwork in which france and britain a are re fattening themselves tor for the slaughter ENGLAND sees growing resent ment toward prime minister neville chamberlain who claims our sole concern is to ste sie that this country and her colonial communications are safe but recalling successive british diplomatic defeats in man chukuro ethiopia spain china austria and czechoslovakia chamberlains laan foes wonder what he means by Ba safety fety 11 the real chamberlain policy is appeasement of dictators at any cost thus the prime minister it r has forced a approval of his italian friendship pact in the house of commons thus tou too he has ha s dropped britaina Brit ains elaborate defensive armament plan and urged the rett retirement rement of war minister leslie hore belosha once active in opposing civil war great britain must now grant belligerent rights to both loyalists and rebels still unfulfilled are hillers Hit lers demands dern ands fur return of war mandated colonies and a 31 3 1 air domination over great britain although Britis hers themselves selves look unkindly on nazi colonial ambitions it Is known that english south africans are more than willing to return mandated teril territory tory if it will rivert avert war FRANCE now torn by financial distress resulting from feverish rearmament has welcomed helens fuehrer hillers Hit lers offer of a 10 or 25 year truce this is more groundwork behind the eventual four power pact in return for german renunciation of territorial claims in europe against france paris would reestablish establish re normal diplomatic relations with italy already accomplished shed and possibly turn away from the league of nations to live at the mercy of dicta dictators lors the only other ethl alternative now being politely suggested is that italy germany and japan be lured back into the league by spurge of anti dictator geneva ganeva officials since france faces bankruptcy unless she can halt rearmament any kind of peace is welcome still another sign of F rench french capitulation is Pr premier emler edouard baladi ers renunciation of communist party support a move which gains favor with soviet hating bating nazi fas cist states ITALY AND GERMANY arenow are now so sure of their positions that they find it unnecessary to ask british french advice on handling czecho i SIM Slova slovakian kias minority problem al though we th s treaty of munich stipulated four power action on czech minority problems foreign ministers joachim von and count galeazzo clano ciano have lust just transferred a large part of czechoslovakia slovakia la to hungary for germany recent weeks have opened a wedge permitting a successful economic drive to the east for italy they have brought franco british recognition of her ethiopian conquest placing premier battle won empire in good standing with Eu ropes highest diplomatic society at best the highly touted four power pact will be a mere formality religion fj U S diplomatic relations with the Vati vatican cair were broken off 70 years ago on the ground that the papal state no longer had a territorial domain and therefore did not deserve diplomatic status two years figo when catholic postmaster general james A parley was granted an audience with alth the pope there were rumors that diplomatic relations might be resumed not unnoticed is the spacious new washington headquarters being built for the U S apostolic delegate nor the tact fact that president roosevelt entertained Chi cagos cardinal george munde feln eln when the latter stopped off en route to rome since U S ambassador to italy william phelps dis played unusual assistance to cardinal mundelein Mundel eln on his arrival in it aly and since the visit has drawn wide attention among catholic churchmen it is possible that U S vatican diplomatic relation si mig might ht be on the mend certain it is that pope ppe plus XI sees egeto eye to eye with washington on what secretary secretary of state cordell hull calls In inserni terni lional lawlessness |