Evening star., 1938-04-30
Monopoly
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growth of bank holding companies
and eventually to abolish them.
2. A 100000 appropriation for
studies by the Fedaral Trade Commits
sion. the Justice Department and the
Securities Commission of "the concen-
tration of economic power in American
industry and all aspects of the effect
of that concentration on the Nations
economic life.
3. A 100000 appropriation for the
Justice Department to use in addition
to its other funds in "the proper and
fair enforcement of the existing anti
trust laws"
Would Go Beyond Revision.
The investigation which Mr.. Roose-
velt proposed would 60 far beyond mere
revision Of the antitrust laws and
could result in the development Of new
legal concepts Of Federal regulation
of business. finance and industry He
laid down a seven-point program for
study.
In addition to improvement Of anti
u ASb ltC tAlot
the studies cover the questions of
business mergers and "interlocking re-
lationships" between individual enter
prises; financial controls OF industry
as exercised by investment trusts,
bank holding companies and insurance
companies; the activities of trade as
sociations, the monopolistic tendencies
Of present patent laws and the de-
velopment Of tax policies which would
give affirmative encouragement to
competitive enterprise"
For his last point he suggested the
creation OF q Bureau of Industrial
Economics which would collect and
dispense, through trade associations,
information on market conditions in
an attempt to balance production with
demand.
Congressional reaction to the mes
sage was divided. Some House leaders
said it was doubtful whether any legis-
lation could be put through at this
session. They based this on the prob
ability Of adjournment by June. Others
predicted that the studies would be
approved. but said there was little
likelihood Of action on bank holding
company legislation.
Volumes Collecting Dust.
Senator Borah, Republican, Of
Idaho, longtime advocate Of tighter
Government control over monopolies,
declared the message embraced all
phases Of the problem except what to
do about 1t. He said the studies prob
ably would wind up only as q row Of
volumes collecting dust on some top
shelf"
There Is no need Of any further
study now" he said. Except as to
how to remedy the situation" He
added that he and Senator OMa-
honey, Democrat, Of Wyoming would
60 forward with efforts to enact their
bill for Federal licensing and regula-
ton Of interstate corporations.
Senator OMahoney said he vel
coined and would cooperate with
the proposal for an investigation, but
that he believed 1t would "only
strengthen the position already es-
tablished by Senator Borah and my
self that . national law defining the
powers. duties and responsibilities of
corporations engaged in national
commerce is essential"
The reaction of business men was
slow to become apparent. but one
ofdcial Of q national association, who
would not permit use of his name,
questioned the practibility Of bureau
OF industrial economies. He said
some individual industries had tried
exchanging information as q means
OF preventing production and ex-
cessive inventories and had found the
system unsuccessful.
Strawn Says Laws Are Adequate.
Silas Strawn, former president Of
the United States Chamber Of Com
merce, said at Chicago, 1T seems to
me we have plenty Of laws on the