Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1937-12-21

not bow to the AM 20
will of the ad- ~. -,
ministration.
The question arises now because of
the extraordinary course followed by
Assistant Attorney General jackson,
head Of the antitrust division, in car
rying to the public press his contro-
versy with Judge Geiger of Milwaukee.
The Jurist declined to allow the grand
jury proceedings to be tempered with
by the agents of the Department of
Justice and discharged the jury His
action was in line with steps he had
taken in previous cases and goes to the
heart of the problem Of fairness and
justice. the question being whether the
Department Of Justice can threaten
criminal proceedings and use the club
OF criminal indictments to compel or
coerce citizens to sign q civil decree
covering matters over which the Fed
eral Government claims Jurisdiction.
Letter Goes to House Group.
Judge Geiger courageously refused
to allow the grand jury proceedings to
be interfered with and now a formal
letter has gone from the Department
OF Justice to the House Judiciary Com
mittee attempting to imply that the
Milwaukee judge deserves censure or
impeachment. The letter was given to
the press on the eve of its delivery to
Chairman Summers, an unusual pro-
cedure.
Here is an instance in which a Fed
eral judge applies the law and the Gus
tom Of Federal practice as he con-
scientiously sees it and the Depart
ment Of Justice, dissatisfied with his
ruling, in effect warns all other Fed
eral judges that unless they do the
bidding of Government attorneys they
must expect to be threatened with i'm
parchment.
It is doubtful whether Chairman
Summers of the House Judiciary Com
mittee will allow his committee to be
used to undermine confidence in the
judiciary and it would not be surpris-
ing II, when all the facts are gathered.
there were reason to ask whether the
Government attorneys themselves were
not guilty of grave improprieties.
The matter before the court con-
cerned the alleged statement that the
automobile factories and their finance
company afiiliates in some way CO.
creed dealers into using certain
1nstallment finance plans covering
the sale of automobiles on time pay
ments. Abuses there are no doubt
In this field but. like other questions
OF unfair competition and fair trade
practice, they are subject either for
Federal Trade Commission INQUIRY
or for civil suits under the antitrust
statutes. 1t is unthinkable that the
threat OF indictment could be used
by Government attorneys to secure
compliance with civil consent DEGREES.
Grimes Should Be Prosecuted.
II any individuals are guilty of
criminal practices, they should be
prosecuted to the limit and there
should be no deals or negotia tions
whereby acceptance Of a consent de-
cree would free them from such
prosecution.
That there was coercion is evident
from a letter signed by Henry M.
Hogan, assistant general counsel of
General Motors Corp, and introduced
into the court record last week in
Milwaukee, in which he wrote to
Assistant Attorney General Jackson
under date of December 6:
AS we already have explained to
you, even under the threat of crimi-
nal proceedings We prefer to have our
rights and obligations determined in
an atmosphere free from coercion,
by some authority constituted by law
to carefully try on the merits the
questions % whether the finance
business Is subject to Federal regula-
ton, and, II so. what are the appro-
PIRATE rules and limitations; and CD
whether there have been any viola.
tions thereof AS you are we'll aware,
the subject is already regulated by
statutes in 18 States, and the conflict
between State and Federal jurisdic-
ton should be clarified in order to
insure uniformity Of obligation and
make compliance reasonably effec-
tive"
Public Inquiry Needed.
The whole case is one on which
the light Of public inquiry should be
thrown. The Department of Justice
put its criminal case before a grand
Jury in Milwaukee last month and
then received representatives from
the Ford, Chrysler and General Mo-
company affiliates to discuss the terms
Of q consent Decree civil action.
1t Is true that the first approach was
made on the initiative Of one Of the
motor car companies lawyers, but
1t Is also true that the department
convoked conferences thereafter and
discussed and urged the consent de-
cree. The attorneys for the finance
companies told Judge Geiger they
were given to understand that If they
signed the consent decree there would
be no criminal indictments.
The Government representative in
Milwaukee denied this, but one won-
ders why for six weeks the Department
Of Justice and the attorneys would he
comforting If the motor car officials
were going to be subject to criminal
prosecutions anyway. Usually q con-
sent decree ends litigation and in this
instance no civil suits had been fled.
1t is well within the right Of the
department to attempt by consent de-
cree or by civil suit and then settle.
ment through consent decree to define
economic issues which are causing
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