Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1919-11-27
The, Governor Trade Cohau,issioas

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In his message TO the lesisature governor Frazier
recommends that the railroad se6na4nission lie invested
with the powers Of astrade cornmissionS to actin co-oper6-
ton withsthe federal trade commission for the. preven-
ton Of profiteerins and other things which are injurious
to the public.
The governor aahas., not stated the manner in. wrhich*h
expects this commission to function. but from his refer
ence to the federal trade commission 1t may be assumed
that he regards, with favor athe methods of the federal
bodx and would like 10 see a state commission follow
suit. One of the favorite activities of the federal trade
commission has been that Of discovering mares nests.
Il has learned with pain and amazement, and has passed
the information on to the startled public. that, some COR
porationsl have been making considerable more than Sr--
binary interest rates in profits on their capitalization,
and the commission has pointed. out over and over again
the awful iniQnity Of a1rsuch procedure. st has ignored
entirely the fact that very large volume Of business
may be transacted on a relatively small capitalization,
and that when this is done. IL profits are made at all,
tho ratio OF profits to capital is very high It has never
seemed to dawn on the consciousness OF the trade conf
mission that the consuming public is not particularly in
terested in the profits on a share Of stock, Gut that It is
very intensely interested on the profits on a ton Of coal,
a yard of cloth. or a pound Of meat. The commission,
however, insists on considering everything from the
standpoint OF. the shares Of stock and leaves the things
in which the public is interested to take care Of them
selves. II it is the governors intent that the proposed
state commission shall operate in like manner its useful
ness would be limited to that of providing Jobs for inn
pecunious followers who: are loyal supporters Of the
|Townley machine. .. s. ~
1t may be that the governor expects his commission
to depart somewhat from the federal. program and oper-
ate In a manner corresponding to that which has been
employed in some other states, among them Montana,
where IN certain cases it is. required that the retailer in
dispcsing Of goods must have marked upon them. the cost
price and the selling price, so that the profit made on
each sale may be readily computed by the purchaser. The
adoption Of that plan has resulted in endless confusion.
Goods are purchased at various times by different people
at various stages Of the market SO that on a given day
the recorded cost price of a given line Of goods Will vary
greatly among the several retailers, but, in order to do
business their selling price must be approximately the
same, otherwise the man with the lowest price would sell
all 1.-the goods. In the same town,.therefore, at the same
time, profits on the same line OF goods may run from
reasonable through the various grades Of unreasonable,
up to absolute. extortion with resultant gnashinr OF teeth
by customers. who suppose that they are being outraged,
and wild charges of profiteering being banded back and
forth. ri =. u
The application Of either of these methods. n car
ried to its logical conclusion, would be to destroy every
kind Of private business, and there, are indications that
this Is what the governor desires, IT hi. has any mind; of
his own in the subject. tits certainly what a good many
Of the real leaders of the movement in which he is eMnxas-
ed so desire, and they have made no secret Of this fact.