New-York tribune., 1919-05-12
Peek Charges
Politics Killed
Price Fixing
Continued from page I


railroad guard as represented by
Messrs. Lovett and Walters and i'm
posed on too complacent director
general, or on a director general too
jealous of his own prerogatives to see
beyond the confines of his little car
dom ?"
Mr. Peek said the public would ode
mand an explanation of the wrecklng'
apparently on the obstinacy of single
individual, of a plan to make an imme-
diate reduction in the cost Of living Of
such an apparent national value"
81 can only conjecture an cxplana-
ton" said Mr.. Peek. "Throughout the
battling controversy the board has
found itself checked by forces in op-
position which it could neither under
stand, reason with, nor overcome, but
which grew in strength until they rem
dered further progress impossible and
forced abandonment Of the plan.
"In theory the plan has been ap-
proved almost unanimously by busl-
ness men and associations and by edi-
over. In practice the plan has been
proved by the order books of steel
prod ecars and the buying revival which
imme lately followed the announce
ment II steel prices and ceased imme-
diately upon the railroad administra-
tion's rejection of those prices.
at is inconceivable that the railroad
Administrations unsubstantial objec-
ton alone was sufficient to Justify the
abandonment of a policy of such i'm
portance.
"Nor toward the end has the Direc-
tor General been alone in thwarting
the purpose of the board. The Secre-
tary of the Treasury has taken stand
i MI
sage to the President urging the crea-
ton of the board. The Attorney Cen
eral has rendered an opinion that the
plan of the board contravenes the
Sherman act, but the facts assumed as
the basis of that opinion are SO lncon-
sistent with the actual course of con-
duct of the board as to render the
opinion inapplcable, yet it has been
used as basis for the abandonment Of
the boards plan.
"In all this opposition the board has
sought in vain for substantial rea-
son. 1t has urged the railroad admin
istration first to aid it by one single
fact, or argument, to arrive at lower
price for steel, and, second, to name a
price which the railroad administra-
tion would consider fair
"The railroad administrations only
answer has been that the steel price
announced by the board is too high
If too high means that the railroad
administration can force lower prices,
by smashing industry, smashing labor,
smashing the public interest and throw
ing production into the hands of the
ducers, the board agrees that the price
is too high
"But it was precisely these results
the board was set up to prevent, and
the case stands proved that lower prices
without these results are impossible.
Still the railroad administration per-
sists and announces specifically that
it's only view of a low price is one
that shall, by inherent attractivenesss
induce buying, not by t. railroad ac.
ministration alone, but also by the old
railroad managements, by the Director
General himself and by Messrs. Lovett
and Walters, who have headed the op-
position to the board"
"That the Administration would COM
nit itself against the public interest
merely to support the ancient and dis
credited railroad slogan, The public be
damned is unthinkable. Yet after al
it is the Administration. not the dl-
rector general alone, who mad power
to thwart the board.
"Thus, there is no question that the
board was set to do exactly what 1t has
done, and was set up with the full
knowledge and assent Of the Admins
tration and was given godspeed upon
its way by Mr.. Glass. The record on
this point is so clear that only quib-
bling lawyer with an imagination in
famed with interest could find an eX-
cuse to pervert it. Yet, exactly this
course has been pursued, and not by
the director general alone. 1t serves
"Members of the industrial board are
experienced business men unframed
in the devious ways Of partisan politics.
They came to their present task with
out hope Of reward or advancement, be-
lieving the wartime adjournment Of
politics in national affairs of economic
Importance had been extended to cover
the period Of reconstruction.
"They have been unable to penetrate
NV cloud in which the political
soud has concealed its escape from
support of the board in a position
which for some unstated reason was
politically undesirable.
"The board cannot answer. It car
only depart more in sorrow than in
anger, and in great disappointment
from a lost opportunity to serve the
country by a simple and sensible plan
to reduce the cost of living and to re.
TURN 10 prosperity. III Qolig 30 ~
leaves a single message.
"The plan Of the board was good. II
is capable of accomplishing what il
promised. The Administration owes il
to the nation to put that plan into i'm
mediate execution at the hands of some
agency in which it can feel political
confidence and sympathy"
In his answer to Chairman Peek, Sec
retary Glass said
"The industrial board, after confer
cnces with the steel interests, but
against the express protest OF the rep
resentative of the Railroad Admins
tration, approved scale of prices
below which, the industrial board an
nounced, the public should not expect
to buy during the year.
THE attempt thus made to fix
minimum prices for the public seemed
to me wholly indefensible and CON
trary to fundamental principles of
economics, Of public policy and of the
Law. Surely the healthy restoration of
Industrial life and activity is not to be
found in the perpetuation and exag-
geration, months after the cessation of
hostilities, Of the artificial conditions
which in war time were tolerated as
necessary evils.
THE Treasury has consistently
strIYen since armistice day for the re-