Evening star., 1928-12-31
COOPERATION FORESEEN
AS POLICY OF HOOVER
Governmental "Interference" to Play
Small Part i'm His Administration,
1t Is Predicted.

recorded, and where deviation was a
matter of accident or compleXity which
| made it difficult to determine III ad-
! vance.
Cooperation Vital.
| The outstanding fact is that If Col.
! Donovan, who is slated to be the next
! Attorney General, should ask business
! to take the Department of Justice into
its confidence, more will be accomplish
ed by cooperation than by interference.
Congress- on the other hand, may
| take the view that some of the large
combinations are really tending toward
monopoly, but unless the law is made
more specific than it is, a certain meas
ure of immunity will probably cCme
from the executive branch of the gov
ment. Members of the House and Sem
ate have been confronted for several
years with petitions from small business
men to leglslate with respect to large
combinations of capital, but it is diff
cult to find a legislative remedy which
is not already covered in the general
statements of the antitrust laws. In
fact, there is pressure from the larger
business institutions to have some OF the
antitrust legislation repealed so as TO
permit expansion and theoretically
greater prosperity.
No President in recent years has been
more closely identified with the asplra-
tionS of modern business than Herbert
Hoover He knows all the pitfalls, be-
cause in the Department of Commerce
he has had an opportunity to study the
diffucltieS of expansion both in do
mestic and foreign trade. 1t has been
his speciality. He has been elected,
moreover, by such big vote that 1t is
natural to assume he will have some
time to come the confidence OF the
American people. Acting with knowl-
edge of that confidence, 1t is reasonable
to expect that Mr.. Hoover will make
recommendations with respect to Gov
ernment cooperation with business or
the exercise of the regulatory power.
Such recommendations will have more
weight with the public than they did
with Presidents in the past. Similarly,
they will affect Congress more acutely.
In other words, Mr.. Hoover, as bus
mess authority, will not as readily be
challenged as would any other Presi-
dent without his background OF knoWl-
edge or training. His objective is
business administration, and that does
not mean merely reorganiZing the Gov
ernment machinery, but extending the
aid of the Government in co-ordinating
business in industry. Mr.. Hoover does
not believe in Government interference
or the use by the Federal Government
of the power that ought to be exercised
by the individual company or trade asso-
ciation. Nor does he believe IN Gov
ernment competition with business. He
has achieved his results at the De-
partment of Commerce by bringing to-
gether warning elements and developing
a policy of voluntary cooperation or
moral suasion 1t is not form of pa
ternalism, because when agreement is
reached between warning elements, the
Government steps out of the picture en-
tirely. 1t is merely that Mr.. Hoover be-
lieves that the influence of the central
Government can be exerted to bring to-
gether groups that otherwise would hes
itate even to negotiate or consult each
other.
The next administration viii make
major effort to develop the business of
the United States, both at home and
abroad, by policies of voluntary cooper
alton rather than undue interference or
excessive legislation.
(Copyright. 1926.)