Evening star., 1937-10-10

wv WHAT kind Of bird am II
I To tell you the truth. I
wv think that am really .
' ' pretty conservative sort
OF fellow from the old school. per-
haps a school too old to be remem-
bered."
This is the self-appralsal OF a man
whom Wall Street has feared as ap-
preaching too closely to the school Of
wild-eyed New Dealers. the type that
Wall Street feels would like to wrap
a strait-jacket around the Nations
security markets.
Tall, sandy-haired and loose jointed,
it is William Orville Douglas, recently
elected chairman of the Securities and
Exchange Commission. who rates him.
self "a pretty conservative sort of a
fellow" His opinion is more inter-
esting by the fact that he was dis
senter among lawyers and among law
professors before he came to WASH
ington in 1884 to supervise an S. E. C.
study of protective and reorganization
committees.
So we'll did he fit into the S. E. c.
picture that he became member OF
the commission about year after ar
irving here and when James M. Lands
departed to take charge of the de-
velopment Of future brain trusters"
in Harvard Law School Douglas was
the easy choice OF his confreres for the
Craftsmanship.
Lot Nicer on Cape Cod.
vacationing on Cape Cod a. the
time of his selection. Douglas compro-
missed with his usual imperturbability
to the extent Of catching an overnight
train for Washington, conferring with
his associates. delivering a carefully
prepared but Informally worded state
ment. to the press and then catching
the first available train back to Cape
Cod.
Its lot nicer up on Cape Cod
than it is down here" he complained
almost plaintively to his press con-
ference. This is the first time have
had to interrupt my vacation in q
long time"
The style of his conversation under
interview is typical of the character
of this man whose immediate an
cestry is backgrounded by the straight
forward qualities native to Nova Scotia
and Vermont.
Il hesitate to open my mouth fol
publication" he said, somewhat apollo.
getically, but it seems to me that
there is great deal of confusion
around. great deal Of uncertainty
in financial circles and among in.
vestors, and know that one thing
business and finance doesn't like i;
uncertainty. This might be a gooo
opportunity just to have a frank
direct, specific talk to let you know
as clearly as I can state what lies
ahead and what my own personal
slants and point of view as to COM
mission policy should and will be.
and not going to speak in generalities
much. / am going to be as specific as
possible.
I'm general. there are three OBJ
servations that I would like to make
and three points would like TO clarity
The first is: What is the proper role
of the S. e. C. In relation to finance
and investment? The second is: What
kind of a bird am I? The third is
What is my own attitude toward q
number of specific. live problems
that We have before us?"
To the layman, that is. to the
person who simply turns his money
over to fast-talking broker ano
hopes he will get twice as much back
few days later, the chairman's
homespun definition of the role OF
the S. E. c. is somewhat comforting
I'VE are" he says, and We should
be, and I think we will continue tc
be, what I might call the investors
advocate We have got brokers ad-
vocates; we have got exchange advo.
Gates; we have got investment banker
advocates. We are the investors ad-
vocate.
That" he continued, somewhat
wryly, isn't foisting my own eco
nomic and social theories and ideas
into the picture. You find that
within the framework of the three
statutes that We presently admins
ter. That is the one fundamental
underlying philosophy of those three
statutes. protection of the investor
believe in the enforcement Of those
statutes fairly and Justly, directly
rather indirectly, so that people viii
know at all times where we stand.
Must Protect Investors.
This role Of the investors advo.
cate is essential in this society as or
ganized, because the great mass O.
investors. the general investing public
is often without representation unles!
we take up their cause. In man.
cases that have come before US, ane
that will continue to come before us
powerful groups have wrestled fol
control, for power or for profit, ane
in each Of these cases we must stane
between as the investors advocate.
"At the same time, while I an
speaking Of that, want to empha'
size and point out that gQvernmen
can't provide any substitute for in
vestor's judgment. We can demant
full disclosure of the facts; We car
insist upon q market free Of manipu