Evening star., 1932-02-28

Continued From First Page)
upon the interstate commerce clause OF
the Constitution. giving Congress the
power to regulate interstate business.
or it might be based on the power Of
Congress to levy an excise tax on sales
Of securities.
Senators Capper Of Kansas, Hast
ings of Delaware and Thomas Of Okla
homa, the first two being Republicans
and the third a Democrat, have resolu-
tions proposing Investigations of short
selling. Capper and Hastings attended
the meeting of the committee today,
but Senator Thomas was unable to be
present He probably will appear to
discuss his resolution when the COM
mittee meets Tuesday.
It is the impression Of Chairman
Norbeck that once the inquiry is under
way, a considerable number OF wit
nesses will volunteer 10 appear It. peI0Pe
ington without being subpoenaed, and
that once these witnesses have testified
many others practically will be forced
to appear to give their side of the
story. This does not mean, however,
that subpoenas will not be issued for
list of witnesses by the committee.
Indeed. 1t already has been indicated
by Senator Walcott of Connecticut, a
member OF the committee who has
taken a lead IN the present drive for
the investigation Of short selling, that
he has a list of bears who have
been instrumental in beating the mar
ket down The Connecticut Senator
was unable to attend the committee
meeting today, but he sent statement
which was read into the record by
Chairman Norbeck.
Waited Patiently. He Says.
In this statement Senator Walcott
said:
Congress has waited patiently for a
year for some action to be taken by
| the New York Stock Exchange to curb
excessive short sales made for Specula-
| tive purposes but to date no effective
regulations have been adopted, although
| the president OF the New York Stock
Exchange has been repeatedly urged
! to act
If bear raids occurred to check over
| speculation in high market, or to
| offset the pyramiding Of stocks, they
would serve some useful purpose, but
| the bears wait until the market Is &C.
! pressed by uncertainty and fear and
! then, as it approaches the bottom, they
| put OIl lIIClI plCoouAN, NAhOA6A AoAoS
rumors and depressing statements.
THE first duty Of Congress clearly Is
| to find the culpritS and determine the
| extent of their operations and 1t Is
| proposed to do this at once by holding
open hearings before the Committee or
Banking and Currency, commencing
early next week"
Political Angle Seen.
In some quarters there is an inclina'
ton to view the proposed investigation
from a political angle. 1t is said. fol
example by some of the Democrats that
the administca asked for number
of relief measures, including the $4,000
600 900 Reconstruction Finance Com
mission, and the Glass-Steagal bill Il
help the new finance commission. Hav-
ing obtained this legislation and th<
| stock market still showing signs o
falling of after temporary gains
these Democrats say the administration
is asking that something be done u
prevent any short sales or any sales tina
would tend to bring prices down.
| However. if resolution calling 10
an investigation Of the New York stock
market is brought on the Senate floor
as 1t Is expected TO be. the Snemocrat
are not likely to be found opposing 1t.