Evening star., 1936-08-07

grant such an allowance, but for the
buyer knowingly" to receive such
benefit.
Enforcement Different.
Now insofar as allowances con-
etitute a form Of commercial bribery
and have as their primary objective
the souelching Of competition and the
creation of a monopoly in any given
field they are merely another one OF
the many forms Of restraint OF trade
which the Sherman law and later the
Clayton law were designed to abolish.
But the new development is the way
the law Is to be enforced and particu-
larly the way the Congress has set
I'D to determine what Is and what is
not a price discrimination. II dis
count is given for quantity purchase.
can it be justified on the grounds OF
economy in production or in selling
expense? II there is an economy,
should all the customers, even those
who buy small amounts, be given the
benefit of the same economy in
porportionate amount, for If there is
q saving of overhead Is it proper to
charge all that saving to the Dement'S
obtained from single quantity sale?
These and kindred questions which
the law raises will require the most
complicated and minute system OF
bookkeeping and cost accounting
that will mean for years to come-if
the law Is retained-a governmental
supervision of business operations
comparable only to the red tape
which the railroads have to go
through before theysAcan increase a
freight rate or abandon a branch
line.
May Mean United States Control.
But railroads have always been
acknowledged to be public utilities
and, as such, subject to Government
regulation because they are natural
monopolies. If the Robinson-Patman
law is upheld by the courts, it will
mean that every business can be
regulated as are the utilities and
hence what was denied under the N.
r. A. would be accomplished by the
Robinson bill.
Thus, for instance, Congress has
delegated this time 10 the Federal
Trade Commission, the power to fix
quantity discounts If in the judge
ment of the commission the quantity
classif1cations are so large as to afford
the benefit of low price to only
few customers. 1t will have to be
proved, of course, to the satisfaction
of court that the price differentials
for large quantities are "unjustly dis
criminatory or promotive Of monop-
oily" and the court records show that
mere bignesS is not evidence or proof
Of the existence of monopoly.
If the Federal Government has the
constitutional right to say what is or
Is not proper quantity discount for
the sale of goods at wholesale, it has
the right to fix what is or is not a
proper price for the consumer to pay
at retail. 1t would have the right to
determine whether resultant profits or
surplus are such as to constitute a
potential weapon of injury to a COM
petitor. It would have the right to
determine every factor of business
operation wherein there was a natural
or even developed advantage on the
part of one competitor over another.
None of these things according to the
unanimous opinion of the nine justices
of the Supreme Court of the United
States in the Schechter case, can be
lawfully done by the Federal Govern
ment. But Congress and the Presi-
dent have shown tendency to dis
regard the warnings Of the unanimous
Supreme Court opinion in the N. r. A.
because of q belief that the people in
o political year, especially, will not be
interested in the usurpation argument
but in other questions that are less
difficult to explain on the stump.
May Raise Living Costs.
Yet the effect of the Robinson Pat
man law may be to increase prices at
the retail stores and cause gradual
rise in the cost of living. 1t may also
increase the profits of large producers.
It may not help the independent at all
because a manufacturer who special
izes in large orders can pick his own
customers and the law, while profess
ing to forbid such discrimination, ac-
tually has loopholes enough to permit
It,
The independent may find it harder
than ever in some fields to do business
because the idea of giving customers
q rebate out of profits is now being
developed as a means of competition
by large chain stores. Large chain