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Show THE AMERICAN .WAY , Iv Genr? Peck mm Repeatedly in this column I have endeavored to point out the threat to American enterprise inherent in-herent in legislative proposals before Congress, which would deny to inventors exclusive rights to theijr inventions. In a recent issue of the Galesburg (Illinois) Labor News, there appeared ap-peared an editorial by Edwin R. Wright, former president of the Illinois State Federation of Labor. What he had to say was said so well and makes such good sense that I wish to pass it along. From here on I quote from Mr. Wright's timely and most excellent ex-cellent editorial: A fairly large shipment of American - made labor - saving tools has just reached the Soviet Ukraine. All are precision-made and similar to those utilized in our most progressive industries. With them Communist workers will take their place in world rehabilitation. If this shipment is a typical one, it indicates a determination to release workers in the Near East from the drudgery drud-gery of slow and hard manual labor through the. substitution of power-driven, speedy machine production. . . . A Bill is pending in the Congress Con-gress of these United States that, if enacted, would have greatly hindered this shipment of desperately des-perately needed tools to the hungry hun-gry Near East. The proposed legislation leg-islation would open a door to 1 any interested manufacturer. through a method of compulsory licensing that is, through compulsory com-pulsory granting of a franchise to, go into production of these or any other American patented device. Even if there were some temporary tem-porary advantage in such a system sys-tem which we do not concede the Congress would necessarily necessar-ily have, first, to provide an entirely en-tirely new bureaucratic body for administration, for regulation, and for appeal purposes. American Amer-ican laws must always be subject sub-ject to appeal, if such demand is made. What would the effect of a compulsory licensing system have upon industry and, especially, espec-ially, upon workers? A company is now producing a patented article and is maintaining main-taining a high standard of quality qual-ity was well as fair wages and good working conditions. A competitor, after securing a compulsory franchise, might not feel obligated to maintain either the quality of the article, the fair wages, or to install reasonably reason-ably good working conditions. He would violate the principles of "Fair Enterprise." Do you know of a single quality qual-ity product that could not be cheapened by an unconscionable competitor? Under a compulsory compul-sory franchise system wouldn't this be done? Is there anything in the proposed bill pending before be-fore the Congress that could or would prevent such a procedure? If there is we haven't been able to find it. . . The Patent Office does not decide de-cide on the utility of devices or of formulas and processes coming com-ing before it. Only upon the originality or-iginality of the brain-child submitted sub-mitted to it for investigation and decision the patent. It is a question ques-tion of parentage, as it were. The idea of compulsory franchise fran-chise may appeal to "do-gooders" and politicians, but we doubt its appeal to inventors, scientists and workers skilled in the production pro-duction of the finest goods in the world, at fair wages, in modern mod-ern factories and plants. Why should a compulsory franchise system appeal to them? Their present feeling of a reasonable rea-sonable measure of security would fly out the window. They, we believe, want "Fair Enterprise" Enter-prise" for themselves and for their employers. Not another political po-litical monstrosity that would ' differ only in name from totalitarian total-itarian government through political po-litical bureaucracy. Make our Patent System better, bet-ter, speed up its operation, give it a more adequate staff and pay better salaries to its personnel. Do this by all means. But don't wreck it and "Fair Enterprise" through compulsory franchises. |