The producers news., 1926-11-05

WASHINGTON = (FP) - Huston
Thompson, recently dropped from the
Federal Trade Commission at the end
of his term because he rejected the
muzzle offered by President Coolidge
to members of all federal regulative
bodies, has given a new slogan to the
Democratic campaign. H asks-l
care you for government by Sc
crecy ?"
This is an issue worth while to the
Democrats if they determine to take
liberal line in the coming Congress.
Thompson is liberal in the sense that
he wants the government to enforce
| in good faith its antitrust laws and
it's Federal Trade Act, and he is stub
bornly opposed to the taking over of
the government by the industrial cor
porations. He is no radical. If he
were he would not have stayed eight
years in the Federal Trade Commis-
sion. He does believe that competi-
ton in business can be made to work
to the benefit of the bulk of the pop
ulation. He sees that big business
does not want real competition and
is blocking every effort of govern
ment to protect competition.
care you for control of prices by
colossal combinations Thompson
asks. "Do you favor the closing of
the door of opportunity to your chill
dren? If you do, then you will be
for President Coolidge's policies as
President Coolidge typefies the Re
publican party of today"
He quotes Coolidge's address at
Amherst in which great aggregations
of private wealth are lauded as the
source of all encouragement to art
and culture, science and charities.
Abraham Lincoln, Thompson says,
saw in great private wealth the ORR
gin of corruption Gin high places" in
government.
eve Democrats have no quarrel, :"
Thompson explains to the anxious
Bourbon partisans, with the accu-
mutation of wealth built up by honest
endeavor and foresight. Indeed we
encourage such accumulation to the
fullest. But we do object to depriv-
ing the people of the benefits that
flow from competition . to the the
consequent corruption in high places
=. g.. the oil scandals, the primary
debaucheries and the like"
How Coolidge nominated Charles
Beecher Warren of the beet sugar de-
partment of the sugar trust to be at
toney general of the Federal Trade
Commission, under domination of the
Coolidge members, dismissed a COM
plant against one of the companies
that had intimate relation to War
ren's Michigan Beet Sugar Co., and
the public had no knowledge of it.
This complaint was filed two DAYS
before Warren resigned hins sugar
trust job because Coolidge had nom
mated him. The Senate refused to
approve Wren. Later came the
: bread trust scandal, when the Cool
idge members of the Commission
rushed through a consent decree to
save the chief elements of the COM
bine, without permitting the minori-
ty commissioners to examine the
document. Then there was the crush
ing by Mellon and Coolidge of the
attempt to investigate Melons alu-
minum trust. Again the Coolidge
brigade, led by Humphreys, did the
trick.
Thompson may be a candidate in
1926 for the vice-presidency on the
Democratic ticket. He is a resident
of Colorado.
Denunciation of extreme pacifists
of the country and American foes OF
preparedness genarally," for their ap-
proval of the Geneva protocol for
bidding the use of poison gas in war
} fare is voiced by the chemical manu-
facturers' lobby. 1t quotes an Off
clal announcement Of the American
Legion, pleading that gas is hu-
manitarian weapon of warfare.
: Shifting from the humanitarian
ground, the Legion statement declares
that, human nature being as it is, no
nation threatened by invasion or de-
feat in time of war can be trusted to
keep an agreement to forego the use
of any mode of fighting. 1t recalls
the use of chlorine gas by the Ger
mans in the battle of Ppres in April
1915, in violation of anti-gas agree
: ment.
r Back of the Legion action is seen
the enthusiasm against the protocol
of the Chemical Warfare Service of
the army.
WASHINGTON-(FP)-A joint Sc
cret caucus of leaders of the 2 old
parties in the en- ate, who ar e
staunchly reactionary, will probably
result from the revenge the voters
will take on the Coolidge senatorsh.
Democratic experts have for the
past four years looked upon the old
border states as definitely republi-
can. Kentucky, Missouri, Maryland
and Oklahoma, are no longer normally
! democratic, but republican. The pres
ent situation indicates the election OF
democratic senators in these states.
Further defeats for the administra-
ton now predicted include Wadsworth
) in New York by Wagner, Steiwer and
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