The Waterbury Democrat., 1933-07-26

Washington, D. C., July B. Testifying before the National Re. covery administration on the oil industry code, Thomas F. Henry or Detroit, Mich, president or the American Automobile association, today urged that the industry pe required to take drastic steps 70 improve it's marketing practices before any consideration IS gwen to higher prices for motor fuel
 MT Henry, who appeared at the invitation of the recovery admin istration, presented the consumer viewpoint on the code O. fair com petition for the petroleum indus try.
 The A. A. A. president referred particularly to the need for federal control of distributing facilities, as represented in multiplicity of gasoline stations in metropolitan areas: recommended that retail outlets be required to post on each pump reasonable evidence of the quality of the fuel justifying higher or lower price than regular gasoline, and called attention to the widespread variance in gaso- line prices and the rapidity with which prices change within small areas where basic conditions are the same.
 When an industry asks the fed eral government to help secure for 1t an adequate return on its invest ment, as the petroleum industry is now asking" said MT Henry, "the government should in turn de- mand that that investment be on a sound basis.
 There are in operation today some 24,0o0,000 motor vehicles. The owners of these vehicles an- nually purchase 15,000,000.000 gallons of gasoline, or around 90 per cent of the gasoline used for all purposes. The estimated cost of this fuel is approximately In addition, there is purchased each year about 495.- 000,000 gallons of lubricating oil. Thug it is readily apparent that the owners of motor vehicles have a vital stake in the code now un- der consideration" He continued in part:
 'If the government is to attmept to control production and storage, 1t should also give attention to dis tributing facilities. It should de- mand that the first step of the petroleum industry be the elimin- ation of duplication and waste. particularly as regards the multi plicity of filling and service sta- tions. This condition is. of course, more noticeable in large metropol- itan areas.
 "The United States census bu- reau reports that there are 210,- 826 outlets for fuels and lubri- cants. This is an average of one to every IA motor vehicles. Of the total, 178,949 are listed as strictly outlets for motor fuel and lubricants, and the remainder con- sists of garages and parking sta tions handling gasoline and oil.
 "It is evident from the conflict ing expressions in the proposed code, that the in.ustry itself is unable to reach an agreement as to how 1t can best handle the problem of distribution. Thus, there is ample opportunity for this administration to step in and. re- quire that the industry give more consideration to public demand in extending its distribution outlets. We believe that this can be ac- complished without destroying competition.
 Another important provision in the proposed code relates to the posting of prices. We heartily con- gur in this rule, and believe that the posting bf prices with the amount of federal, state and local taxes listed separately, is only fair and just to the buying. public.
 And we recommend, also, that 8 new rule be inserted whereby every retail outlet would be re. quired to display in conspicuous place on each pump reasonable evidence of the quality of motor fuel being sold which justifies a charge above or below the basic retail price of so-called regular gasoline. H
 Prom the standpoint of the mo- torists, the provision governing the fixing of prices by the president is the heart of the proposed code. To many millions, the decision as to