The Washington herald., 1918-07-06

big business concerns is measured in dollars and
cents Of profits. The commission places upon the
wrong side in this time of war the profiteerng coal
barons. steel magnates copper companies, and even
milk Gamers upon whose product hundreds Of thou
sands of little children must live.
No honest person can read the commissions re-
port. study those figures of profits, and not come
to the conclusion that these profiteers have helped
the Kaiser in this against the nations fighting
for freedom for all, forever. They have increased
the cost of living both here in France, Great Brit
ain and wherever else American products go to aid
in fighting this war; By thus increasing the living
cost to fatten their poeketbooks in such greedy
fashion they have done their best to weaken the
morale of the people and the soldiers fighting for
us. They have done all they could to make the
burden OF war harder for the American people to
bear. They have been of greater assistance to the
enemies of democracy than the whole collection OF
pro-German Germans and antiwar Socialists in
these United States-and they have done this not
for principle but for dollarsi
All this the Federal Trade Commission has bar
ed 1t isn't pleasant No uncovering of such rot
tenness and disloyalty could be pleasant But it
had to be done. 1t would have gone on, growing
worse until it might have threatened the very
fabric of the nation and invited defeat "over
there"
Fighting America owes debt of gratitude to
the Federal Trade Commission for this report
Every honest American who places patriotism
above profit cannot but applaud the commission
which so thoroughly dug into the mire of prohteer-
ing.
And no man on that commission has larger
share in that report nor is entitled to the
peoples thanks than William B. Colver. chairman
Those people who have come to know Colver
expected that he would go to the bottom of the
matter. They didn't expect any half-hearted in
vestigation with Colver in charge. They never saw
Colver mixing whtewash and they knew full well
that he wouldn't let any whitewash artist cover up
any disloyal prohteering the commission might find
For Colvef isn't that sort of an investigator
When he investigates he doesn't turn over to the
suspected person or corporation the reins of in
vestigation. There in Colver's life was time
when patriotism and pro6teering went hand in
hand. For him capital never marched ahead OF
human beings, and dollars were never as precious
men, women and children.
Years ago Colver came to see the value OF
publicity. He arrived at the understanding that
publicity is greater punishment for the big busi-
ness prohteer than prison penalty in any anti
profteering law Congress could pass for big busi-
ness has way of evading such penalties but
it cannot escape the whip of public opinion.
If Colver had lived hundred or more years ago
he would have been a wonderful pamphleteer. and
no doubt would nave spent consioeraoie uiile III
prison for daring to attack greed in business in
politics in-whereyer he might have found it For
Cover has been afraid to fight greed, and the
bigger the greed the enthusiastic he has been
in his warfare upon it. And he was unsfraid,
so he the sort OF man who could not be pur-
suaded from the fight by offers of friendship, politi
cal preferment wealth.
AS long as Colver is at the head of the Federal
Trade Commission we may rest assured that at
least one member of the commission will always
stand with the great American people upon the side
of right and justice and true Americanism.
The day when America entered the William
B. Colver said: From until win there
is nothing so important this Winning the
war is the nations business, and nothing else ap
proaches it in importance
Since then he has given two days every twenty
four hours to help his country and ours in this
greatest OF all wars. This latest report is merely
one of the ways in which he has fought here at
home to aid our boys in their fight "over there"