Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1937-04-29
THE NATIONAL
GOVERNMENT
By PAUL JOHN KvALE, M. C.

Another week has elapsed in which
Congress has marked time on vital
issues, for all legislative purposes.
True the House has started the huge
agriculture department annual APP
preparation bill on its way to final
passage, and it is now before the
Senate. 1t has done few other
tasks that cannot be classified as of
grave moment, in comparison with
what awaits consideration before ad-
journment can be had. Likewise, the
Senate has provided news chiefly
with its conclusion of committee
hearings on the Presidents proposal
to add to the membership of the SUI
preme Court. That committee now
begins an extended set of executive
hearings, to draft the form of the
bill that is to be reported, if any bill
can come out of the closely divided
group.
The legislative branch may have
marked time, and by that much set
back the date of adjournment that
now looks like Labor Day or after.
Not so the administrative part OF the
government. It has taken decisive
and far-reaching action in bringing
peace into the war-torn labor diff
culties that have been marked by
strikes and violence and i'll feeling.
It has instituted action against one
of the greatest, if not the greatest,
monopolies in the United States IN
dustry. that of the Aluminium Com
pany of America, headed by the Mel
Ions of Pennsylvania. AS is generally
known that corporation owns not
only an enormous plant that has a
virtual corner on the trade, but its
subsidiaries include not only cook
ing utenSil companies, but conStruc-
ton materials, railway trains, and a
vast variety of smaller items. In
addition, it controls the raw depoS-
its from which aluminium is refined
and produced, and also the greater
shares of all foreign competing inter-
ests. Then it is protected by tar
iff so steep that its grip on the mon
opoly is indisputable. And in spite
of huge and increasing profits, it is
raising prices sharply to consumers.
Hence the action, which has been in
contemplation ever since Senator
Walsh died in 1888 just as he was
about to lead the same movement.
That presages a drive by the gov
eminent under the antitrust laws to
break up some of the great monopo-
lies, and accompanies another drive
which the administrative branch has
just launched to punish corporations
shown to have been guilty of col
fusion in bidding on government con-
tracts Some of these evils were cor
rected at the time that the writer
sat as a member of a subcommittee
that long into the summer investi-
gated similar practices and irregu-
larities in the War department. That
investigation is stated to have saved
the government literal millions, and
to have put competing corporations
on their guard against such vicious
procedure, inimical to the public good
and productive of inefficiency and
corruption among government off,
Gals. The current threat may serve
a similar purpose on a larger scale,
for this will reach all departments
and divisions, and all corporations
who deal with Uncle Sam.
The Executive department also is
laying plans for an exhaustive sur
WOW of ACKNOWLEDGMENT conditions ,,,J
relief needs. Sadly, in these four
desperate and turbulent years, no
such complete information has been
made available, and it now appears
that something may be done about it.
And as for the Judicial Branch,
the Supreme Court cannot be said to
have marked time, for it is about
ready, after long consideration, to
hand down a series of decisions that
will be of vast importance to those
interested in old age security, social
security and unemployment insur-
ance. They never make their an
nouncements of the time of their ac-
ton, nor do they ever indicate what
the nature of the decision may be.
So all that official Washington and
executives of the various states
can do it to wait in the knowledge
that these decisions are almost GER
tain to be handed down within the
next five weeks. They are always
read on a Monday noon. That is
decision day. in the court.