The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-12-09
HAROLD SPEAKS OF HEARING BEFORE THE
 TRADE COMMISSION
Commission Will Is- sue Complaint Against Pittsburg Single Easing Point, Is Opinion of
 Secretary

That the federal trsds commission will issue complaint against the Pittsburg single Casing potnt of making steel prices is the opinion Of c. L. Harold, secretary manager of the Civic association, who re- turned yesterday from Washington. where he appeared refore that body.
 "oaee this complaint is issued it means that We have the strong arm of the fed eral government assuming the role of prosecutor said Mir Harold, and then the southern association and the Civic as sociation and tpc western association will simply co-4Ierate with the trade com mission in it's prosecution seeking to abol- ish the Pitts5urg basing system.
 T have never gone through an eXperi- ence demonstrating the value of team work more than the hearings of last week before the commission, when southern and western manufacturing and civic in- terests joined hands in their attack upon
 the practice of basng all steel pr'ces upon PittsburS Both interests are more or less common in this vital matter, as the arguments N hich the western attcr- neys made were very much the same as those made by the southern attorneys.
 The south was represented by W. w.. Groere- president of the Southern Asso- ciaton of Rollel Steel Consumers; Attor- ney Elliott Gheatham of Atlanta; Frank $. White of the Pittsburg plus ommittee -of the Civic association n H. Brown, traffic manager of the international Ship
 building company at Pascagoula Mr. Baxter of the Oscar Daniels ShipbuildrnS company of Tampa J. o. Smith, attor- new general of Alabama and Fred G.
 Monroe, city attorney of Birmingham. The representa- tives of the shipbuilding industr.r in the south made interesting statements to the commission, making it
 plain that they could not see how the in
 dustry in the south could exist longer under competitive conditions if the Pitts
 burg Hasing point practice is allowed. MT
 Brown stated that shipbulding on the gulf coast enJoreG freight rates steel from Birmingham to their respective yards practically a parity with ship builders at Delaware river and the north Atlantic coast points who have to draw
 upon the Pittsburg district for their sup plies.
 The western association was there and was represented by some of the most fa- nous manufacturers in America such as James k. MacMurray president of the Acme Steel Goods company of Chicaso: George M. Gillette, president of the Min neapois Steel and Machinery company; Ii. A. W agner or MllWaukee, president ol the Wisconsin Bridge and Iron company; George Lasker and M. F. Moore, repre- sentnS the Chicago Boilermakers' ass9- ciatio1 Not representative of the federal goY- 1 ernment appeared against our petitions, but the United States railroad adminis- | tration the United States navy and war l departments, perhaps the largest single 1 purchasers in tbe steel industry, all sent | their message to the federal trade com l mission, conforming the Pittshurs base
 system as placing an unearned element
 of price upon purchases paid ~for out ot l the |. treasury. 1"It will probably take the trade com I mission several weeks to reach it's con cuslon in this matter, during which time | their regular investigators will in all
 prob tbilty make certain detail investisa- | tions