Show begin i whaling mellon trust takes down TR s B big in stick aluminum Coin company pany Is object of determined attack by EARL GODWIN ASHINGTON shades of W washington old Theo theodore dorel 1 this new roosevelt takes down ted dys big stick and begins whaling the aluminum trust which believed it had a lease of uninterrupted life now that its best known stockholder andrew mellon has given the nation a art collection at the same time this attack is made on the trust which manufactures and sells americas kitchen pots and pans attorney general homer cummings writes a letter to the president saying that the whole business of trust busting must be studied all over again because there seems to be grave doubt that courts anywhere at present would put a trust in the dog house or any trust official in jail in effect mr cummings is setting out to nail the aluminum trusts hide to the barn door while he thinks other trusts might fully defend themselves against prosecution why is this the answer is that official washington believes that the aluminum company of america is a trust beyond all doubt no matter how the courts have coddled the other trusts and drawn the governments teeth one by one the aluminum trust apparently is a complete monopoly behind this surprise move against the mellons is the story of the administrations M change of attitude toward prices and monopolies the depression which bred and its support of high prices is behind us trusts got into good graces during the life of although it was not so intended but if high prices to cure depression and spread wealth ever were justified and many economists believe the opposite they are apparently no longer in favor with the new deal which is hinting that markets in every commodity are too high ew day there is a n new day dawning in washington economically speaking it looks back to the time when the federal trade commission had sharper teeth than it has today and bit a huge chunk right out of the aluminum trust a bite that made even the cautious coolidge wince eral trade commission to congress signed by all the members of the commission republican and democratic alike the thing disturbed president coolidge and it is is reported that he took steps to see that nothing ever came of the report the event made a nine days wonder in the newspapers andrew mel ion who was then secretary of the 1 i treasury pooh the whole thing and congress completely republican refused to accept the report as anything but a political effort on the part of democrat chairman huston thompson but there was one man in that administration who wanted to do something about it he was attorney general harlan harian F stone he wanted to prosecute but as he was getting gettin g ready to launch an attack president coolidge appointed him to the supreme court should the government I 1 now go ahead with a suit it might at least settle the pending question whether or not this huge business combination is in violat violation ion of the laws prohibiting monopolistic restraint of trade and the fixing of prices the information already brought to light many times shows that the aluminum company of america controls the mines producing the minerals which make aluminum that it makes 95 per cent of sheet al aluminum owns more than a third of the largest manufacturer of aluminum products mainly pots and pans owns all the stock of the second largest manufacturing concern and nearly all the stock of still another corporation in the same general line with all of this information nothing ever happened until the establishment lish ment of when the aluminum company Compan 3 of america sought certain privileges under the blue eagle on the ground that it was a monopoly for under monopolies had an inside track where upon with this admission in the open a certain rival concern promptly sued the aluminum company of america charging that the mellon monopoly had hurt the plaintiffs business it looked as if the question of the aluminum trust would be settled right there but before the final court could be reached cached the dispute was settled privately and the legal question still remains nearly fifty years ago the government began bega n to agitate against the large groups of corporations which combined to kill competition by making it impossible for smaller concerns to compete in the open market marl et that agitation resulted in in the sherman antitrust anti trust law which prohibited combinations in restraint of trade and agreements between corporations to control prices thoe were the days when uncle trusty Tru siy of the cartoons used to indicate just how much more inore money he wanted to squeeze that day out ot of the little average com budget yet household mon man s that same thing is going on today in the steel business and in other heavy commodities the galep government itself cannot get competitive bids for the construction action of its public works in more than one line there is no way apparently to prevent all of the s teel steel companies in the country from figuring identical pr prices ces on steel jobs everywhere yet it is almost impossible to prove collusion the small steel concerns merely follow the leadership of the large concerns which announce a price the smaller concerns use knowing th that at the same figures otherwise they will be in for a commercial licking the government had the trusts of 30 or 35 years ago almost ready to quit when none other than the late gh chief lit ef justice edward white whit e of the supreme court kindly old coi conservative that he was came to their rescue and perpetuated trusts from that day until now in 0 one ne famous opinion he propounded what has since been called the rule of 01 reason which allowed some trusts while it forbad dorbad others this gave rise to the idea of good and bad trusts A good trust is one which has established itself and has a place in the social and economic background of the country the supreme court practically ruled you will disturb business if you break up this combination that was the end of the trust busting of the early the curb which chief justice white then laid upon the antitrust anti trust laws still remains I 1 if this government actually intends to break up trusts and prevent price combinations the bials involved should make up their minds that they will be mercilessly attacked in a large section of the press those who can be bought off will retire from public life to handsome private salaries the others will find their business careers are hampered if not ruined big business has great power to smear in the harding administration the government went after afeei the meat packers who resisted th the attack with unsuspected power the antitrust anti trust section of the government was successful in interfering with the large packers piracies pi to the extent that in a single year 30 per cent of the big packers business was going to the independent packers where it belonged then the big packers showed the methods employed by them to control government ern ment they lobbied through congress the repeal of certain laws and the enactment of others which put control of the packers under the department of agriculture where everything was hunky dory under the benign rule of secretary wallace father of the young man who now has the same job but but diamen the supreme court showed common sense and statesmanship but by a hairline majority of five to four when it freed a young negro communist sentenced to 20 years in in prison under a rickety geor georgia gia statute of the reconstruction days this negro herndon had been convicted in georgia of the high sounding crime of inciting a rebellion actually all he had been doing was trying to scrape up a few votes for the communist party which throughout the whole country counted only 80 ballots for earl browder its candidate for president this tiny vote in contrast with for roosevelt and for landon is unimpressive and herndonsr Hern dons part was quite inconspicuous but a negro agitator in georgia certainly has little chance to begin with this brings up the subject of communists who are always moping around washington trying to pick a row with the police so they can be arrested and complain about denials of free speech yet what they are working for is a form of government like dussias Rus sias where free speech is denied to anyone out of sympathy with the ruling administration if the negro communist herndon had been returned to the georgia jail ail by the supreme court he would have been the prize exhibit for american communists for years to come and professional agitators could point to his case as the supreme example of american injustice As it is herndon goes free and the agitators will have to look for a another no ther martyr when the court refused to 0 k herndonsr Hern dons sentence it was in effect pointing out that this country is not like italy germany or russia where political disagreements will land one in m jail or against a firing wall with little or no trial the present american method of combating I 1 revolution revolutionary ary and radical measures is the common sense reginae regime of liberal policies rather than repressive measures such as georgia would have inflicted on this man herndon there is much in the idea of colby chester who says the success of our democracy is largely dependent upon the consumers having a large enough purchasing power the secret of the new deal was to liberalize life and processes to an extent that would prevent radical agitators from getting anywhere one of the tough things we had to stand was the way the supreme court for two years thwarted the achievement of that ideal but it seems now that under the leadership of chief justice 1119 hughes he the court is definitely headed toward a policy of showing that the constitution can be made to work tor for the lasting good of the american people and the expansion of our democracy to meet the changing needs sl 0 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