Evening star., 1936-04-09
More Regulation.

0~~9
A Federal Motion Picture Commission
is the latest New Deal proposal served up
TO an expectant public. The proposal
emanates from the research end of the
defunct N. r. A., now merged in the
Department of Commerce. 1t has at
present gone no further than a report.
But with an indefatigable thirst for new
commissions, administrations and what
not, and desire to have the Federal
Government regulate the activities of
business, who knows how far the pro-
posal may go?
The proposed commission would reg
ulate the motion picture industry. How
far this regulation would extend is not
quite clear. 1t might. if carried out,
determine the character of pictures which
are to be shown to the public. At pres
ent the announced purpose is to show
up and prevent monopoly in the industry.
1t seems incredible that these New
Dealers should not be aware of the Fed
eral agency already set up for purpose of
ferreting out monopoly and unfair prac-
tices in business. And yet it has been in
existence since the days of Woodrow
Wilson and his administration-the Fed
eral Trade Commission.
A Federal Motion Picture Commission
would have at least one tangible value.
1t would create innumerable jobs. 1t is
a value which Government agencies,
generally speaking, all possess in addi-
tion to their other uses. To bolster the
suggestion the report Of the N. r. A.
researchers comments upon the 'suSpi-
cion" that the movie business is subject
to monopolistic control Only the Fed
eral Government, it is urged, can deal
with the matter. That is the familiar
| cry of the New Dealers. And not one
Federal agency or even two, are sufficient
| for the task. The Federal Trade Com
| mission, with its investigators, and the
| Department of Justice, with its long arm
extended to punish infractions of the
antitrust laws, are not enough.
If there is monopoly in the motion
| picture business, there is every reason
that the laws against monopoly should
be enforced. But there seems no good
reason for setting up another Govern
ment agency to do the job And as for
the regulation of this business by Fed
eral agency, an agency specifically desig-
mated for that purpose, why is it any
more necessary than Federal agency to
regulate the business of selling food
| stuffs, or clothes or any of the things
that the American craves-along with his
appetite for the movies? Indeed, it
would appear that If there Is to be Fed
eral regulation of business it should
start with the necessities of life. Perhaps
such commissions are to come later.
The idea that the Federal Government
must enter into the regulation Of busi-
ness and into the regulation of the activi-
| ties of the citizens of the country Is
becoming, to say the least, rlonotonouS.
| The Federal Government stubbed its toe
when 1t undertook to deal with the
liquor question and the liquor traffic in
drastic manner-by amputating it. That
was before the New Deal took charge OF
things in Washington and throughout
the country. Indeed, the repeal of the
prohibition amendment to the Constitu-
ton was almost synonymous with the
advent of the New Deal. The New Dealers
however, have given little heed to the
restiyeness which possessed great num-
ber of the people under such drastic regu-
lation. The mania for regulation con-
tinues. The regulation Of American
business as a whole was attempted under
the N. r. A. The country heaved sigh
of relief when the Supreme Court of the
United States, in a unanimous opinion,
put an end to that attempt.