The Washington herald., 1921-11-20

GIT WASN'T q pound Of butter she sot,"
J. said Huston Thompson. chairman OF
he Federal Trade Commission, somewhat
warmly, This housewife had come down
10 tie market, had asked for 4 pound OF
butter and had been handed this package.
It was al refrigerated and wrapped up IN
transparent paper With lots of reading
matt.r on IL Up in one corner was
blurred line which stated that there was
fifteen ounces in this package. The house
wife never read it She had asked for
pound, thought she had paid for a pound
and bad received 4 package an ounce less
than q pound An the housewives between
Maine and Mexico were being deceived.
Nearly all tho batter people were prac-
tcing this deception.
Nov all these butter people did not want
b put up q short weight package. Some
few Of them did II, however, and the others
were driven to It that the competition might
be met Finally the practice came to be
nearly universal. Complaints rained in on
Us Keeping track of the fuctuating
packay. Of the competitor was the trial Of
their lives
$50 We called the people together who
were producing the butter of the Nation.
We asked them il they didn't think this
Unfair method Of competition They said
1t was and asked Us to help them We
emphasized that it would be better In the
long run for the industry to purge itself
They took the suggestion. They got
together and signed an agreement as to what
the industry itself believes unfair and agreed
furthermore to discontinue such practices.
1T Was q great relief to them to do this.
It obviated the necessity of elaborate plans
It deception which gave them no advantage,
because al practiced them. OF course, it
ave tie treacherous producer a chance to
cut under the rest and reap a harvest. But
the trade vonid be vigilant and the danger
vas great It was . step toward making
buxiness honest"
nlH1S big, b&se-eyed chairman, this noun
L tain climber, this son Of 4 preacher who
5as tie son Of . preacher, this football
Mayer who had worked his way through
college By stokins the furnaces in the homes
Of tie professors this lawyer from Colorado
Who had come down to Washington half a
dessn years ago TO take up this new task
for the Government, was full of his subject
he believed that the Federal Trade Com
missiea was to give business its chance to
become honest, was to force it to become
honest where il had no desire. Here was q
law prohibiting unfair competition, the first
such law in the world. Gradually the COM
mission was building up the structure for its
enforcement.
"Deceivtng the buyer" continued Chair
nan Thompson" to the weight of the
package which he acquires is obviously a
method Of unfair competition. The same is
tus II q bottle or a can is supposed to hold
Q ptat or . quart and contains less. The
same L. true Of any carton which has q
capacity which Is less than it is believed to
have, Or which u not well filled. The
purchase is not likely to miss q small
shortase In his small package, but saving
this small shortage would enable the manu-
f,cturer to cut below the wholesale price of
his competitor and have . material .advan-
tass over him. Steady progress is being
made toward eliminating this method of
unfair competition
"A much more br.Den method Of unfair
eompetition Is that Of commercial bribery. 1t
.ppsars In many lines Of business, but may
b. veil illustrated In the operations Of the
hip-ehandlers- A boat, for instance,
comes into the harbor Of Baltimore after
:. long cruise. In a few days it 10 to put
mt arain on another equally extended
voysse. 1t must stock up at Norfolk,
baltimore, New Orleans or elsewhere with
. supply Of provisions of all classes that
are to meet its requirements on this voyage
The ship-ehandler is the merchant who deals
IN the supplies that are needed on their
Journeys By those who put to sea. There
are q number Of ship chambers in these
dtes. and from one Of these the captain of
~, shiS VIII buy bis stock.