Evening star., 1933-06-25
FATE OF TRADE CONTROL
POLICY in PUBLIC'S HANDS
Drastic Change in American Methods
Revokable at Will of Congress
or President

after the date of enactment OF this
act. or sooner if the President shall by
proclama ton, or the Congress shall by
joint resolution declare. that the emer-
gency 3" has ended
Control Can Be Abolished.
The President. it will be observed.
has power to abolish the control of
industry even before two years are up,
by proclamation that the emergency
(Which is business depression has
ended.
Now let us speculate about the
Presidents state of mind two years
from now or before. Two years from
the date of enactment of this bill. June
Is, 1885, will be sufficiently close to
the presidential year 1896 to cause that
condition to be in the minds both of
the President and of the other Demo-
cratic party leaders. Or we may omit
the nearneSs of presidential year, and
speculate on what would naturally be
the Presidents state of mind at any
time during the coming two years
Which of two alternatives would he
most enjoy? One would be to say, in
effect, The business depression is still
upon us. and for that reason and others
l ask Congress to renew the control
of industry law" Or would he prefer,
SOiiiC OuI JIlt INO years,
to say in effect. partly in words and
partly in the spirit of the words: The
depression from which the country has
suffered greatly is now over; the i'm
pllcatlon of my campaign song IS full
filled, Happy Days Are Here Again
I therefore proclaim. in accordance with
the control Of industry law, that the
emergency for which that law was en-
acted IS now at an end; and that the
law, and all the agencies set up under
1t, shall forthwith cease to exist"
Permanent Change Doubted.
1t would be revolutionary indeed il
the American spirit should really desire
that the control of industry, put in
effect last week, should be permanent
thing. As measure for war against
depression it has the merit and COM
mands the loyalty of any well-designed
wartime innovation. But as a per-
manent feature of the American social
system, it would reflect not the old
American spirit but something so diff
ferent that revolutionary" would be q
tame word for it.
One can illustrate by beginning with
a quotation from a man once greatly
esteemed In America, a philosopher
named Ralph Waldo Emerson. Let ?
man." said Emerson-I quote fro
memory-"devise better mouse tra-
than any other, and the world W
make path to his door"
Now let us consider what would ha--
pen to this mouse-trap Edison, or IL
mouse-trap Henry Ford, if the contrc.-
of-industry bill were permanent fec
ture OF American Government and the
American social system. In stating the
hypothesis, one runs some risk of ur-
fairness, for the characteristic of the
Dill Is that enormous powers are grant
ed, while it is impossible to saw to
what extent the powers would be exer-
clsed in respect to any particular in
dustry.
But let us suppose man in a New
England village devises better mouse
trap Cor better hairpin or a better
steam engine, or a better lead pencil,
or better electric dynamo). He as
sembles some workmen and he pays
the neighborhood rate of wages; since
the demand $50 Emerson assures us)
Will be great, he works his factory
more hours than 40 week; and he
sells the new mouse trap at lower
price than makers of older and more
cumbersome ones can afford to sell at.
promptly, we will assume-since Emer-
son assures us it Is so-the world comes
to buy.
Discipline Is Provided.
Under some of the powers conferred
by the control of-industry bill, this
benefactor of mankind Gas Emerson
assures us he Isl may encounter the
disciplinary attention of the Federal
Government in any of several ways.
He may be required to raise his wages
to nose paid by his competitors in
large cities: he may be required to
reduce his hours of labor, or he may
be told he must not sell his mouse
trap at lower price than others.
Or, most conspicuous of all, he may
be told that the National Association
OF Mouse Trap Manufacturers has
adopted code, and that the Govern
ment has approved the code. In this
code the mouse trap manufacturers
have decreed that all the current orders
for mouse traps must be pro-rated
equltably among all those engaged in
the business. And if the Emersonian
benefactor of the world declines to
abide by any of these various reguIa-
tions the Government is empowered to
tell him he must close down his fac
tory.
One wonders what American public
opinion would do about that? Or an
American jury in a lawsuit? AS an
emergency measure in a war against
depression they might sustain it. As
permanent measure in normal times,
hardly.
And presumably, if Emerson is right.
the people, the world making a path
to the mouse-trap makers door, would
take a good deal of interest in the
Governments suppression of the bene-
factor.
Copyright. 1880