Evening star., 1933-11-12

not more than $7o0, Is put ON the mar
ket, the department officials. particu-
larly Eugene L. Vidal. director of aero
nautics, are confident that thousands
OF persons will take up private flying.
Here would be an industry rivaling in
size and importance the automobile and
radio industry and providing new OUT
lets Tor capital and labor. Further
more. every pilot of one of these fiivver
airplanes would be potential military
pilot in the event of war Today there
are $4,000 licensed pilots, IL 900 Student
pilots and $500 licensed mechanics,
and yet there are only 1000 licensed
aircraft. Since the announcement of
its plans for such widespread develop
ment OF private flying of low-price air.
planes, the department has been del
ugeo With requests for information
Where such planes may be obtained. A
questionnatre has been sent by fhe de-
partment to all the licensed pilots. stu
dent pilots and licensed mechanics tn
ascertain whether they would be in
terested in the development of these
n1VVer planes. The industry is said to
pe ready and able to produce 10 600
Such planes by next Spring provided
a market can be found.
Seeks Mass Distribution.
The problem of raising American
mass distribution and mass consunnn-
tlon to the same satisfactory level at
famed oy our mass production, In the
opinion OF Mr.. Roper, is a major chal-
lenge IN the economic situation.
In the question of mass consump-
tioh' ne SAID, we are confronted by
the necessity of augmenting the pur
cnaslng power of underprivileged mil
mons. rms, as every one understands,
Is the dominant purpose of the N. r. A.
and the A. A. A. 1t is also. and this
L think Is not so generally realized,
one OF the controlling motives in many
other measures and agencies of the
PRESIDENTS new deal. The obliteration
OF racketeering, the curbing of wild
speculation, the correction of banking
evils, the reasonable safeguarding of
investments, all these things will have
the effect of building up the purchas-
ing power OF the masses, though they
are less directly impressive than the
immediate raising of wage levels, the
prosecution of Unemployment drives
and the Inauguration of great public
works"
Mr.. Roper said inevitably the prob
lem OF mass distribution Is different,
more complex and difficult and less
susceptible to alienation through broad
collective measures
If we are to achieve higher stand
ards Of mass distribution" said Mr..
Roper, we must strive to wipe out
the shocking waste in distribution, the
duplications and superf1uities, the ter
rif1cally high costs of needlessness and
inefficiency. Distribution needs to be
more adequately planned"
Council Studies Problems.
Mr.. Roper in this connection called
attention to the formation of q "busi-
ness advisory and planning council for
the Department of Commerce" This
organization, which includes leaders in
all branches Of business and commerce
has a twofold purpose In the first
place. it was set up to study the de-
partmental problems and advise period
ically with the Secretary of Commerce,
to enable the business communities to
express itself concerning the practices
and policies of the department. In the
second place this council is concerning
itself with the study and analysis OF
general economic conditions. One of
the first tasks which the council tackled
was immediate departmental reorgan-
1zations tes meet budgetary requirements.
The council has been subdiyided into
committees and subcommittee. As for
example, the Committee on Statistical
Reporting and Uniform Accounting for
Industry, headed by Walter F. Clifford;
the Committee on Industrial Relations,
OF which Walter c. Teagle has been
chairman, and the Committee of Inter-
national Trade Relations, with Alfred
P. Sloan, jr., as its chairman. One OF
the problems which the committee
headed by Mr. Clifford has tackled Is
the degree Of uniformity and extent Of
detail in which balance sheets and in
come statements Of individual corpora
tions should be published to the stock
holders and to the public.
The Department of Commerce recent
ly has set up Committee on Com
munications, of which Secretary Roper
Is the acting chairman. This commit
tee Is engaged In a study Of national
needs with respect to wire, radio and
cable regulations The primary pur-
pose is to work out more definite in
terdepartmental arrangement in the in
terest of better service, more econom-
given much attention himself to the
problems of transportation and COM
munication He headed the commit
tee which drafted the act providing for
the Office and present functions Of the
railway co-ordinator.
Important Changes Made.
He said important changes in the
set up Of the department to secure
heightened efficiency had been made.
"First of all, he said, "the Bureau of
Mines has been re-transferred to the
Interior Department, to which it origi-
nally belonged, and to which its char
acteristic functions legitimately apper-
tanned Second, the Department of
Commerce has received major acceS-
sion in the formerly independent unit,
the Shipping Board, which has now be-
which has always been concerned in
many aspects of navigation aids to
mariners and protective service to the
public when 1t travels on the water.
Important shifts have been made in
the matter of executive direction Of
the department. 1t has been reorgan-
lied so as to place it on a two-branch
basis. One Of the assistant secretaries
of Commerce, Mr.. Dickinson, Is to have
jurisdiction, under the Secretary, over
all the work Of a commercial and in
dustrial nature. The other assistant
secretary, Mr.. Mitchell, is no longer an
official merely for aeronautics, but Is
exercising now authority Of an extend
ed scope. He is in charge Of the work
connected with the merchant marine
and other transportation agencies His
branch comprises the Shipping Board,
the aeronautics branch, the Lighthouse
Service, the Bureau of Navigation and
Steamboat Inspection and the Coast
and Geodetic Survey"
Contains Two Divisions.
The aeronautics branch now is two
major divisions-air navigation and air
regulation. Certain of the commercial
standardizing activities Of the depart
ment's Bureau of Standards, comprising
simplified practice, building and hous-
ing, specifications, trade standards and
safety code work, are in the process of
being transferred to the American
Standard Association in New York, q
national cooperative non-profit agency.
The transfer is being effected in a grad-