The Washington times., 1921-06-14
FINANCE
~ AND
|BUs1NEsS| IN
~ =. Q. voRsEA

developing radical" tendencies. This
man has followed events very closely
and has done lot OF serious think
ing. Here are the chief points he
raises In support of his sweeping
statement that business is rotten to
the core:"
The minute the sesrchlight is
turned upon any business and hidden
things are revealed the public re-
ceives a shock. / don't know why the
public should feel shocked; they ought
to expect IL by now, for they have
seen the same thing happen over
and over and over again ever since
Hughes showed up the life insurance
| rascals. Nothing of this kind shocks
me any more. ! have long since
learned to expect it--and ! am not
often disappointed.
INVESTIGATION sMEARCHEs.
"Whst industry can you name that
has come out of any deep probe with
out dtgcredit7
"The newspapers have been full
of nefarious practices which have
been going on for goodness knows
how long in the fire insurance busi-
ness. The public, 1t is shown, has
been gouged by the New York fire
insurance people at every turn. They
were all working In league against
the poor, defenceless public. Laws
evidently were laughed at. But viii
| anybody go to Jail? My guess Is
that nobody will.
"A few days ago IL was the people
in the building business that were be-
ing shown up. Brindell, the grating
labor leader, is in Sing Sing, but how
many Of the corrupt employers who
have been exposed are wearing stripes
| alongside him? II every employer
! connected with the building industry
| who was guilty of wrongdoing had
been sentenced to Sing Sing there
would be no room in IL for anybody
| else. II was shown that the whole
business was honeycombed with graft
| ard bribery and corruption. But you
bet II was the dear public who had
to pay for 1t all. IL some of those
scoundrels who made building i'm
! possible were led through some of the
East Side streets and into a lot of the
overcrowded novels there. they would
see what their devilish doings have
| brought about-and /. don't think
they would feel very proud of them
| selves. Instead, however. they are
driving around in their limousines
| and occupying swell homes from their
loot
RAPs COAL MEN.
And then the coal people: They
are a beautiful bunch, aren't they
They certainly got theirs while the
getting was good. And they got so
accustomed TO raking in profiteering
profts that they can't make up thejr-
minds to get back to. doing business
| at fair prices. We read in the news
papers not. so very long ago that
soft coal was being given away by
some mines at the pitmouth: but try
to buy some and you fnd a different
state of things. The anthracite gang
are doing business at the old stand
| in the old way. Every now and again
they emit a saueal about the poor
prices they get at the mine mouth
But when a poor devil scraping along
trying to make ends meet goes to buy
ton he is lucky IL he gets IL under
SIS. who's doing the robbing IL 1t
isn't the big fellows at the top? IL 1t
is only a lot OF little fellows. surely ii
shouldn't be very hard to get hold OF
them by the neck. If the anthracite
coal prohteers are not steering things
straight toward Government owner
ship l miss my guess
You can't pick up a newspaper
these days without reading state
ments from Cabinet officers or big
bankers or men like Judge Gary that
| retail merchants are gouging the
public right at this moment The
public don't need to be told this-they
are learning IL to their cost every
day. Farmers and fruit growers have
practically to give away a lot of their
products. but when you look around
for some of this cheap stun you get
a rude. disappointment--itm manages to
lose it's cheapness on the way from
| the grower to the consumer. There's
| plenty of talk. but Is anything being
actually done to stop this form OF
robbery of the public? III there is
haven't heard of IL.
PUBLIC SEES LIGHT.
"The public's eyes are being open
cd about the meaning of all those,
innocent looking associations gotten
up in about every industry and
trade in the country. When the lid
is ripped OF. II turns out that these
associations nine times in ten have
, been hatched in the brain Of, some
scheming lawyer who then shows
the people in the industry how they
can get around the law against
rrice agreements. The public have
been shown pretty often that there
isn't any law that smart lawyer
can't cheat II his clinets supply him
with enough money. This live-nnd-
let-Iive policy that is so rnuch
talked about when these associations
hold their conventions or their ban
ouets sounds very besutiful-and II
| Is very beautiful for those In the
game. But the public Is never let in
on this Iive-and-let-live business. IL
is confined only to the gentlemen
who do the selling, not to those OF
us who have to buy.
There is not much credit in being
honest when you cant be otherwise.
The test of a mans honesty comes
when he has chance TO be dis
honest. That chance came, as never
before, during the war. And how
honest were the men who run our
L.