Evening star., 1938-04-30

AloA hCec SUA PooclSAy oIoSA0 VA eAA
accumulation Of dangerously large in
ventories for which there is no OBJ
vious need.
Special Treatment.
It Is, Of course, necessary to en-
courage rises in the level Of those
competitive prices, such as agricultural
prices, which must rise to put our
price structure into more workable
balance and make the debt burden
more tolerable. Many such competi-
tive prices are now too low.
It may at times be necessary to
give special treatment to chronically
sick industries which have deteriorated
too far for natural revival, especially
those which have a public or quasi
public character
But generally over the field of in
dustry and finance we must revive
and strengthen competition If we
wish to preserve and make workable
our traditional system of free private
enterprise
The justification of private profit
ID pIlNdVC IlSA. VIC CdllIlOG 6dlCly
make America safe for the business
man who does not want to take the
burdens and risks Of being a busi-
ness man.
The Course to eB Taken.
v. The choice before us.
Examination of methods of con-
Quoting and controlling private enter
prise which keep it from furnishing
jobs or income or opportunity for one
third of the population is long over
due on the part of those who sincerely
want to preserve the system Of private
enterprise for profit.
No people, least of all democratic
people, will be content to 60 without
work or to accept some standards of
living which obviously and woefully
falls short Of their capacity to pro-
duce. No people, least of all people
with our traditions of personal liberty,
will endure the slow erosion of oppor-
tunity for the common man, the op-
pressive sense of helplessness under
the domination of few, which are
overshadowing our whole economic
life.
A discerning magazine Of business
has editorially pointed out that big
business collectivism in industry COM
pels an ultimate collectivism in Gov
ernment
The power Of few to manage the
economic life of the Nation must be
dif1used among the many or be trans
ferred to the public and its demo-
cratically responsible government. II
prices are to be managed and admins
tered, If the Nations business is to be
allotted by plan and not by competi-
ton, that power should not be vested
In any private group or cartel, however
benevolent its professions profess to
be-
Those people, in and out of the halls
of Government, who encourage the
growing restriction of competition
either by active efforts or by passive
resistance to sincere attempts to
change the trend. are shouldering
terrific responsibility. Consciously, or
unconciously, they are working for
centralized business and financial con-
troll. Consciously or unconsciously,
they are therefore either working for
control of the Government itself by
business and finance or the other al
ternative-a growing concentration of
public power in the Government to
cope with such concentration of pri-
vate power.
The enforcement of free competition
is the least regulation business can
expect.
Program Outlined.
VI. A program.
The traditional approach to the
problems I have discussed has been
through the antitrust laws. That ap-
proach we do not propose to abandon.
On the contrary, although we must
recognize the inadequacies of the ex-
isting laws, we seek to enforce them
so that the public shall not be deprived
of such protection as they afford. To
enforce them properly requires thor
ough investigation not only to discover
such violations as may exist but to
avoid hit-and-miss prosecutions harm
| full to business and Government alike
To provide for the proper and fair
enforcement of the existing antitrust
| laws I shall submit, through the bud
| get, recommendation for a deficiency
appropriation of 100000 for the De-
partment of Justice.
But the existing antitrust laws are
nadequate-most Importantly be-
cause Of new financial economic con-
ditions with which they are powerless
to cope.
The Sherman Act was passed nearly
40 years ago. The Clayton and Fed
eral Trade Commission Acts were
passed over 20 years ago. We have had
considerable experience under those
acts. In the meantime we have had
a chance to observe the practical
operation of large-scale industry and
to learn many things about the COM
petitive system which we did not know
in those days.
We have witnessed the merging out
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Of enterprise. We have learned that
the so-called competitive system
works differently in an industry where
there are many independent units
from the way it works in an industry
where few large producers dominate
the market.
Protection to Community.
We have also learned that a realis-
tic system of business regulation has
to reach more than consciously i'm
moral acts. The community is inter-
ested in economic results. 1t must be
protected from economic as well as
moral wrongs. We must find practi-
cal controls over blind economic forces
as well as over blindly selfish men.
Government can deal and should
deal with blindly selfish men, But
that Is a comparatively small part
the easier part-of our problem. The
larger, more important and more diff
f1cult part of our problem is to deal
with men who are not selfish and who
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