Evening star., 1934-05-21

| Inc nope OF the American people
lies in the planned use of
Americas resources following social
| iZation."
One member Of the board dissented
from the Darrow findings in a minor
| ity report. This member. John F.
| Sinclair, now resigned. denounced the
conduct of the majority and labeled
It's findings as at times misleading
| and unreliable"
Sinclair urged the President to ap-
point an ABLY stated, non-political
board" to act for the protection of
| small, independent business which he
deemed. in several respects, endan-
| gered under the codes.
Inaccuracy Charged.
The N. R. A. itself, in a reply to
the Review Board which was made
public simultaneously with the report,
defended itself in language as plain
as that of the Darrow document. The
/ N. R. A. administrator, Hugh S. John
son, said:
"A more superficial, incorporate
and inaccurate document than the
report, I have never seen. In my
judgment this board has missed a
great opportunity for a real public
service. AS it is now acting, it is of
| no service to anybody-it is a political
sounding board. In view of its fixed
prejudices and partisanship and its
unfair methods Of taking and report
ing testimony. the conclusion is ines
capable that the board is not proceed
ing in good faith to fulfil its public
| obligations.
Its continuance as an agency Of
Government would enable it to pro-
| mote private purposes at the public
| expense. and in my judgment would
| impair seriously the usefulness of the
National Recovery Administration
N. R. A. took no public issue with
Slnclair's minority report. and John
son gave out today correspondence be-
tween himself and Senator Borah of
Idaho, and Nye Of North Dakota.
which showed the administrator in
partial agreement with the minority
members view.
To Borah he had written last De-
cember in explanation of his desire
for a Review Board along lines sug-
gested by Nye:
However devoted and high minded
our personnel may be, it must be
made up of men trained in industry
and dependent ON industrial employ
fhoir ipir
| influence of immense industrial units
is so great that it at least has power
to tntimidate even the strongest man
who is SO dependent
But there are people in this coun-
try whose standing rests not in their
dependence on, but in their independ-
| ence of, this influence The Senator's
suggestion, therefore, appealed to me
as the missing piece in this organiza-
ton"
Despite the general finding for So
cialism, the board in one connection
held restoration of the antitrust laws,
| amended and invigorated, to be cry
| ing need. That is Borah's position. as
| restated in letter to johnson dated
| March 3:
Il am in full sympathy with the
effort which is being made by you
to deal with the problems presented
| by the N. R. A. touching small busi-
ness anc the consumer.
'Of course, as you know. feel that
you cannot accomplish what you wish
| to accomplish until we restore the
| antitrust laws. But, nevertheless,
anything that can be done, you will
have my support"
The major Darrow report consisted
| of brief synopsis and general state
ment of opinion ending in an assertion
that N. R. A can't do the job assigned
| to it.
| Denounced as Oppressive.
1t contained also separate reports
on the codes for steel, coal, mining
motion pictures, electrical manufac-
turing, dyeing and cleaning, rubber
footwear, ice manufacture and coal
retailing. In more or less degree it
denounced all but one as oppressive
and productive of monopoly, and it
proposed radical changes in most. The
| cleaning code was passed without rec
ommendation on the feeling that mo
appreciable results could be obtained
by amending the code"
Further, the board recommended
the custer of Division Administrator
Sol A. Rosenblatt from supervision of
the movie code.
| 1t urged the dismissal for alleged
malfeasance and misfeasance in office
| of two divisional coal code authorities.
N. r. AS answer paralleled the
Darrow report in size and structure.
1t asserted the board was guilty of
abusing shamefully the confidence
reposed in its membership" and made
the~accusation that:
The board took and reported any
| testimony that would serve its preju-
dice without regard to the competence
,, or bias of the witness or the palpable
| falsity of his statements, and declined
to avail itself of abundant sources of
accurate information which were open
to its investigation"
Charges Denied.
Code by code 1t presented analyses
| or factual evidence designed to back
this up, and to deny virtually every
one of the important anti-N. r. A.
| charges.
In the case of the steel code, how
ever, it pointed to the long studies
for revision which are to result short
ly In a redrafted code. Even on
that the NJ R. A. sought to show on
the part of the board a misunder-
standing of both codes and the un-
derlying economief and "wilful lis