Evening star., 1938-08-14
BY BLAIR BOLLES.

lections are of Switzerland, where
his father, Horace Rublee, one of
the founders of the Republican
party. was President Grants Minister. For
the man who left Washington last week for
London to cope with the problem Of Eu-
ropes political refugees, the air of Switzer-
land the worlds traditional liberal haven,
was probably the very best he could breathe
in childhood.
The late Dwight Morrow, Morgan part
ner Ambassador to Mexico, and Senator
from New Jersey. once told Raymond B.
Stevens now chairman of the Tariff Com
mission, that he valued Rublees judgment
above that of any person he knew. For 80
years ne has been an important figure in
the unfolding of a long list of historic
events, but to the public at large his name
means about as little as the cognomen of
Miss America Of 1925.
Rublee, 10, is quiet and modest He
would rather read Greek dramatists and
play golf at his home in Cornish, N. H..
than help mold the globes affairs. He re-
tired from good law practice in his early
30s and Travelled. Once he was the tennis
partner for almost a year Of King. then
Crown Prince, Gustav, Of Sweden. He is
deeply resourceful and infinitely persuasive.
but it often takes resource and persuasive
ness to get him to put his gifts to work.
But once he accepts a task, says Stevens,
he masters it.
Tall and Thoughtful.
The Swedish Gustav is one OF the few
Rublee companions who stands as tall as
the director of the Intergovernmental
Refugee Committee. who touches 6 feet
with mis- shoes off, When he and Morrow
walked down the street. they resembled
Mutt and JEFF gone intelligent. He is a
gentle-fac thoughtful man with inter-
ested blue eyes. Patient, kind and calm"
they call him in gay moments on the fifth
floor Of the Union Trust Building, where
the firm Of Covington, Burlng, Rublee,
Agheson Il Shorb has its Offices.
Until last week, when he was sent to
London he had gone unnoted for the popu-
lace at large since-and probably he gained
public Of Colombia five years ago the way
out OF its tangle with foreign oil promoters
Rublee. however, has a clear right to fame
He is a large factor in the development of
the political science practiced by the New
Deal
Chief Justice Hughes) has been perturbed
recently by the growth OF the quasi
judicial commission. This sort of board,
with its delegated powers. has fourished
and multiplied since the Roosevelt admin
istration came to Washington. But Stevens
puts its birth in Rublee's head "a years
ago.
Took a Hand in F. T. c.
The original quasi judicial commission
excepting the Interstate Commerce Com
mission, which dealt only with public utili-
ties-was the Federal Trade Commission,
which, until Rublee gave 1t his attention,
was to have been nothing more than an
agency for the collection of information.
The Federal Trade Commission Act as it
passed the House OF Representatives ere
7 dGcu n UOdIu WllCU Udu Ollly pOWClo W
investigate and make recommendations to
Congress and the President. 1t had no
power to regulate IN any way the practices
Of corporations or partnerships engaged in
interstate commerce.
Raymond Stevens, then a Democratic
Representative from New Hampshire, and
a member of the House Interstate Com
merce Committee, which had charge Of the
legislation, considered the bill too narrow.
Representative Murdock, who then headed
a small group of the Progressive party in
Congress, had introduced a bill represent
ing the views of the Progressive party with
regard to the Federal Trade Commission
This bill gave very wide powers Of regula-
ton, and to some extent transferred en-
forcement Of the Sherman antitrust law
to the commission. Stevens, who had been
associated with Rublee in certain contro-
versies in the New Hampshire Legislature
on the railroad situation. where he had
been struck by the tall lawyers resource
fulhess, presented this problem of the Fed
eral Trade Commission to Rublee.
Again Rublee displayed resource. He
wrote what is now Article 5 of the Federal
Trade Commission Act, declaring unfair
methods of competition in commerce to be
unlawful, and instructed and empowered
the commission to prevent the use of such
methods through the issuing of cease and
desist orders after public hearings. Com
monplace as such procedure is now, it was
unheard of when Rublee offered it. Such
delegation of authority is the nub on which
turns the Federal Power Commission. the
S. E. c., the A. A. A. and the NJ L. r. B
It was largely due to Rublee's powers Of
persuasion that the provisions he proposed
secured the support of President Wilson.
those which created Czechoslovakia, and
,,au, oil pces would S,,rarSodo tho ctS of