The Washington times., 1934-05-21
JOHNSON FLAYS
BOARD, ASKS
ABOLITION
Richberg, NRA Attorney, Joins
Attack on Document; White
House Action Awaited
(COntinusd from Page ~

for the NRA, said:
"The code was designed to
prevent racketeering and cut
throat competition in an indus.
try wherein these evils had be-
come q national scandal.
''It has proved to be very diff
ficult to obtain general agree
ment throughout the industry
upon what constituted fair COM
petition and to obtain an effec.
tive self-government."
The Darrow report held that no
appreciable results could be OBJ
tained by amending the code.
Disagrees On Change
Sol A. Rosenblatt, NRA division
administrator, differed with this,
maintaining that apprectable re-
suits would be effected BY an
amendment to the code.
While General johnson leveled
his attack against the entire
board, Mr.. Darrow and Mr..
Thompson were the only mem
bers Of the board Of six who
signed the report advocating
"Socialized ownership"
Three of the members with Mr..
Darrow and Mr.. Thompson signed
q report on eight Of the 400
codes, and found them monopolis-
tic with the exception Of the
cleaners and dyers act.
The sixth member Of the board,
John r. Sinclair. refused to sign
either report, but submitted an
individual minority report.
Created by Demand
The board was created three
months ago by President Roose-
velt upon the demand Of Senators
Borah (R) Of Idaho and Nye (R)
Of North Dakota.
The Darrow board was in
gtructed to investigate charges
the NRA tends toward monopoly
and is working extreme hardShipS
upon the ''little fellow"
IN addition to pointing to the
monoponStic trends Of the NRA.
the Darrow board asked for the
removal Of q division admins
traitor, the bituminous coal code
authority northern West Virginia,
ON the grounds Of nalfeaSance,
and the divisional authority Of
the rubber footwear division Of
the rubber industry, on grounds
Of undeSirability.
Asking for the removal Of the
board, General johnson confined
his attacks, however, to the re-
port of Mr.. Darrow and Mr..
Thompson, with particular empha-
sis upon their advocacy Of a social.
istic set-up.
JOhnsOn's Reply
In this document the two at
torneyS declared:
"The choice is between mOnOp-
oily sustained by Government
.. and a planned economy
which demands SOciSlized
ownership and control, since
only by collective ownership
can the inevitable conflict
Of separately owned units for
the market be eliminated in
favor Of . planned production.
-. The hope for the American
people lies in the planned
use Of Americas resources fol-
lowing SOcialiZatiOn."
Dwelling upon this PARAGRAPH,
General johnson retorted:
stripped Of ShadOwy verbf-
age, this means that the choice
Of the American people iS be-
tween faSCism and communism,
neither Of which can be
espOused by anyone who be-
lieves in our Democratic in
StitutiOns Of self government;
nor can any public official who
has taken an oath to defend
the Constitution Of the United
States adopt or officially advO-
cate such . program. The sup
Elementary report demonstrates
completely the prOpriety Of my
recommendation that the
review board should be
abolished"
RICHBERG REPLIES
Donald r. Richberg. chief
counsel for the NRA, charged the
review board in its original re-
port "was simply seeking to justi-
fy o preconceived opposition to
the fundamental theories and
purposes Of the National Indus
trial Recovery act"
The members Of the board
which General Johnson wants
abolished include besides Mr.. Oar.
row and Mr.. Thompson:
Fred P. Mann, ST., Of Devils
Lake, N. D., directing official OF
an independent retail grocerS'
association chain.
w. w. Neal, Of Marion, N. C..
operator Of a hosiery mill, and
Samuel C. Henry, retired whole
sale druggist Of Philadelphia and
Chicago.
Mr.. Sinclair, the sixth member
Of the board who refused to Sigr
the majority report, In his
minority document, declared:
'EPrice fixing, limitation Of
production and other factors Of
mOnopolistic control approved
BY the NRA lead us to believe
that In some situations they
tend to strangle the indie
pendent business man in various
ways"
He recommended q "series oi
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