Evening star., 1933-07-07
Continued From First Page.)

Overstocking Feared.
johnson said he did not think indus
try was deliberately piling up stock
serted some members of industry are
''piling up an unmanagable surplus"
and he feared that at the rapid rate
industry Is now going I'VE will again
be overstocked."
The Commerce Department said in
q business survey that available indices
of purchasing indicate for the most
part that goods are not moving into
consumption as fast as they are pro-
duced
johnson intimated industry should
slow down its activity to await the
approval Of trade agreements for fair
competition: He declared he had re-
| celved assurance some of the ma jor
industries were completing their trade
covenants and would soon be ready to
file them with him.
He said the coal industry was nearing
An agreement and that the oil industry
had reported it soon would be ready
to submit its code. The same. he said,
applied to the steel group. He said he
realized the publics impatience because
members OF industry are slow to reach
agreements. but 1 think they will be
coming along as fast as we can expect
them"
| Cotton Report Incomplete.
johnson explained the cotton textile
group was the leader because he and
leaders Of the industry had been talk
ing an agreement over since last
March" He said this industry was
pretty much disorganized" and anxious
to reach some fair competition agree
ment.
! The administrator said he had not
/ completed his report to President
Roosevelt on the cotton textile code. on
which hearings were held here last
week. He said he was attempting to
boil down" the huge transcript. but
other business matters were pressing
him to an extreme
One matter still to be threshed out
in relation to the cotton code was the
proposal for elimination of the stretch
out" system from cotton mills. This
is method whereby individual en-
ployes are given increasing numbers
Of machines to tend
However. it did not appear that the
report on this angle would be awaited
before the code was put before the
President for study. and the admin
istrator announced he was sticking to
the idea of having this agreement pro-
| MuI8atco uiSt SilCc Tie COttOQ men
had led business in submitting their
proposals.
johnson said he wanted to emphasize
that industry could include trade prac-
tlce stipulatlOnS in codes However. he
explained. the administration had been
pushing for agreements dealing first
with wages and work hours
Il have emphasized. however. and
the President has said. and his state
! ment is our bible" johnson asserted,
! that the first job is to try to create
employment. That doesn't men that
there is any holding back on the other
part Of the job-which is industria,
self government. We prefer that instead
OF getting into the refinements of this
thing that they come in two bites,
+ because what We want first is shorten
these hours and increase wages In
order to increase purchasing power.
That doesn't mean that We don't
want them to come in as fast as pos
sible with the trade practice and in
dustrial Self-government. Sterilization
OF self-government is just as necessary
as the other. The emphasis now is on
the creation OF purchasing power. We
/ want that to come in first and the
other stuff can be brought in later"
Cummings Making Study.
The Attorney Generals warning fol-
lowed speech by Donald Ricnberg,
general counsel of the recovery admin
| iStration, in which he told the Mer-
| chants Association Of New York that
unless business takes advantage Of the
! chance for self-government. the ad-
! vance Of political control over private
industry is inevitable"
Cummings already is studying the
Aluminium Co. of America and steel
rail concerns to see whether they have
an international monopoly. He saw an
inevitable conclusion" that these two
have fixed prices.
! In response to questions. the Attorney
General told newspapermen the price Of
steel rails and aluminium had shown q
steady rise" while other products had
dropped -.
1T is almost an inevitable conclusion"
he continued. that artificial fixing OF
prices has been obtained by some de-
vice"
Cummings said that in the aluminium
company you have the most complete
monopoly in America" The Mellon
family Of Pittsburgh has large In
terest in the concern.
Complaints TO Be Probed.
Cummings also said the department
was in entire agreement with the De-
| partment of Agriculture in its effort
| to prevent what 1t considered excessive
| increases in the price of bread and
was prepared to investigate any spe-
, cific complaints received.
| In q formal statement. Cummings
asserted that the impression in some
quarters that the antitrust laws have
been repealed or suspended. in whole
or in part" was entirely erroneous"
Industrial and other groups must
the antitrust laws" he said, unless
and until they obtain actual exemption
| from certain of the requirements
thereof by formulating a code under
the national recovery act and obtaining
| its approval by the President"
Discussing the statement at his press
! conference, he said it applied likewise
to the agricultural legislation and that
I'VE are trying to see that the power
of the Government Is used to protect
the people generally and prevent i'm
proper practices"
with regard to the Aluminium Co.,
the Attorney General questioned why
aluminium was not imported If it could
be brought into this country below the
price fixed by the American monopoly"
Some people have made this query"
he added. rs there very pleasant
understanding between the American
monopoly and what might be called for
! eign competition?"
The Attorney General said the Alumi-
mum Co. i've years ago ,''dispossessed
itself" of foreign holdings to Aluminium
Ltd, Of Canada.
investigations were started by the
previous administration, but the Attor-
ney General said the one into steel rails
had dragged along very slowly" while
the one into the Aluminium Co. had been
"languid"
His statement on the departments
position toward antitrust violation fol-
lows: '.'+.'-..'.
There seems te be an in1resison In