Montana labor news., 1933-12-07
HOW THE WOLVES
OF WALL
DO BUSINESS

WASHINGTON-(FP)- How the
big, bad wolves of Wall st. closed in
on him and snatched from him the Fox
Film Corp. was related by William
Fox to an enthralled audience which
filled the Senate banking committees
room, No. 1924. The inside story of
the refined technique of grab, as prac-
tised in the Wall st. Jungle, followed
closely the narrative in the book, Up
ton Sinclair presents William Fox.
Fox, a pudgy, bald-headed man, re-
vealed himself as merely another dar-
ing Spectator who built a staggering
corporation, topped by expansive
stock and bond issues, on a founda-
ton of movie palaces from coast to
coast. His tale, which led into the
White House, the Chase Natl. Bank
and the biggest brokerage houses of
lower Broadway, laid bare the pro-
cess Of gyp and take by which mill
lions are made.
His friends" no less than his
enemies, participated in the looting of
his corporation when he was caught
short after the stock market crash
of 1929, Fox testified. When Dillon
Read and Hayden Stone and other pri-
vate banking houses, following the
lead of Chase Natl. Bank, refused af-
ter the crash to advance him any
money, he broke through the boycott
ring to get the Bancamerica Blair
Corp. to grant a loan. In order to
get 100000 for As days, Fox was
obliged to pay the Blair people $780,
900 plus 6 per cent-or at the rate of
81 per cent yearly interest. Against
the loan he deposited collateral valued
at S20,000,000. 1t was a reasonable
charge" he said, as Wall st. charges
to hard-pressed borrowers go.
The movie magnate told of the stony
indifference he met in most of the
Wall st. gambling centers when he
appealed for help after the crash. The
terms invariably called for the sur
render Of all his voting stock in the
Fox Film Corp. Houses which had
been friendly suddenly joined the TAB
solute boycott" in an effort to ruin
him, he said.
perhaps you would like to cut out
M of my kidneys ?" Fox asked a
partner Of Hayden, Stone, after he
had been refused a loan on collateral.
Il would like to cut out both of them"
came the answer.
Fox's trouble dated from his ac-
QUESTION of 400, 900 shares of Loew
theater stock, with the approval of
the Department of Justice. Later, he
said, the Department of Justice rec
ords were changed, allegedly by Louis
B. Mayer, Hoover henchman in Cali
fornia. When Fox appealed to Hoover
to correct the records, he got no.
where. Later he was put in touch
with Claudius Huston, Republican ma
tional committee chairman-the Mr..
Fix-it of Washington in those days.
Dry the hunger marches, the Bonus
Expeditionary Force and the CHASTITY
night when Hoover ordered the burn
ing Of the veterans city. LaGuardia
fought against sales taxes. Costigan
and LaFollette fought for billions in
federal relief for the unemployed.
Communists demanded that the Black
30-hour bill include minimum wage
rates and a guaranty of regular work
40 weeks a year. The MIRA was
born. The 40-hour week was made
standard for basic industries. But
throughout all this confusion the cap
italist rule of the lives of American
farmers and wage workers has not
been shaken. Security of livelihood
has not been won by the producing
class. Partnership in the economic
unit which is the United States is
still unrealized. 1t remains the es-
sential goal.