Evening star., 1934-05-02
CODES MUST STAY,
HARTMAN WARNS
BUSINESS LEADERS
"Chaos of UnbridIed Com
petition" Cannot Be Per-
mitted, He Says.
COMMERCE CHAMBER
OPENS 22D MEETING
Fears Autocratic Acts of Govern
ment Will Interfere With
Recovery.

Business men gathered in Wash
ington today from all parts of the
country were told by one of their own
leaders that the codes are here to stay.
Addressing the opening session OF
the twenty second annual meeting OF
the Chamber of Commerce of the
United States, at the chamber audi
torium, Henry I. Hartman Of Boston,
the president. said:
Il am sure that in basic industries
codes of fair practice are essential,
that the chaos of unbridled compe-
tition cannot be permitted to return
and that some Federal agencies CO.
operating with business must continue
to carry out the major functions ex-
ercised by N. R. A. and A. A. A.
This does not mean a regime of
bureaucratic control, but, rather, a
regime of orderly economic freedom
in which the industries themselves
play their responsible part"
Refers to Criticism.
In the course Of his address, which
reviewed the economic trends of the
past few months, and expressed a
conservative optimism" for the fu-
ture. Mr. Hartman took cogniZance
of the criticism that has been leveled
at business and, while admitting there
have been abuses, declared it cannot
be judged solely by these ANY more
than the merits of civilization can
be weighed by its jailS and prisons. Il
He emphasized
American business by and large has
behind it a century and a half of
unparalleled achievement which in
dividual misdeeds cannot obscure
A like note was sounded by A. w.
Robertson of Pittsburgh, chairman OF
the board of Westinghouse Electric,
who, In an address, asserted that 1.-The
case against business is being tried on
the front page of the newspapers, u
and predicted that the future would
see more Government in business and
more business in Government. which
will be beneficial to Government as
we'll as to business"
Robertson asserted that planned
economy is undoubtedly necessary"
but added that I'VE need better plans,
not more plans"
In his speech, Hartman dealt at
length on the national recovery act
and the agricultural adjustment act.
Declared Answer to Congress"
He described the former as the
ANSWER of Congress" to the recon-
mendation of the chamber made more
than two years ago for self-regulation
OF business, to bring about 'preven-
ton of cut-throat and unfair compe-
tition and the abolition of unmanage-
able surpluses."
1T is" he amplified, "a direct and
flexible method of regulating business
because the rules are formulated in
the first instance by those who know
the conditions to which they apply,
who are intimately concerned with
their enforcement, and who are
equally interested in progress and in
the cure of mistakes Most of us will
concede that the major difficulties
with which trade and industry are
concerned are the outgrowth of mis-
directed and over-zealous competition,
which, in the long run, benefits no
body. This, in turn, was the result of
an unplanned increase in productive
capacity, which caused output to out
run. for the moment, ability to con-
sumo 1t goes without saying that
some sort of ccntro is necessary to
prevent the carrying on of predatory
trade warfare to the point of self
destruction Blu. this regulation
should come primarily from co-opera-
tive action by business, rather than
from governmental compulsion. II
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