Evening star., 1938-10-07


speeches.
Actually, progress toward better
understanding between business and
Government has been directly impeded
by the outspoken comments Of the
members of the cabinet and admins
tration generally who, in the last
several months, have missed few op-
portunities to denounce business men
as un-co-operative.
Unfortunately, there are many
counts on which business men could
be convicted in court Of public
opinion, for they all too often have
been so preoccupied with their own
affairs as to neglect the sources Of
economic discomfort which have pro-
duceo large antagonisms against them
fl the political world and particularly
at the polls. But If, in the aftermath
Of the Nations extremely nervous ex-
perienoe recently over possible war,
an era of reason and mutual trust has
been ushered in domestically, the first
requisite that will be urged is revival
Of the ancient quality of candor.
Innuendoes Infiame Wounds.
Thus, the practice of speaking
through a White House spokesman,
which has lain dormant since the old,
old days Of the Coolidge administration,
doesn't make for mutual trust, because,
behind the anonymity of officialdom,
blanket charges and innuendoes fall
with i'll grace and only provoke more
resentment rather than spirit Of con-
formity. Business men, like any other
set of human beings, do not like to be
blamed for producing an atmosphere
Of friction when 1t Is well-known
fact that not few of the admins
tration's policies have contributed to
the dissension between classes in the
United States.
Thus, for example, the White House
spokesman's reference to seven T. v.
AS as sort of myth is received by
utility men with nothing short OF
amazement. The Presidents own
tribunal, known as the National Re-
sources Committee, has outlined the
seven-T v. A. plan, and there have
been bills introduced and supported
by the same group of administration
leaders in Congress who successfully
fostered the T. v. A. itself. Under
such circumstances, it is puzzling to
know how businessmen can suddenly,
on the basis of an anonymous assur-
ance about supposed dismissal Of the
seven T. v. A. bogey, erase such an
apprehension from their minds.
Utility Investment Suffers.
Where Mr.. Roosevelt is apparently
misinformed,' or else uninformed alto
gether, is on what has been happening
with respect to investors in the utility
industry. All he needs to do is to look
at the financial records or have one
OF his brain trusters do little re-
search for him, and he will find that,
for some reason possibly still unknown
to the White House, the people of
America haven't invested very many
nickels in the common stocks of util-
tiles during the last five years.
The reason, of course, is that there
doesn't seem to be much future for
private investors, who take risks in
the buying of common stock and who
now see no money at all being paid
to common stockholGer when the
Government buys a property or sub
sidizes a municipality to finance a
purchase of a utility company. Like
wise, Secretary Ickes has the sole
power to judge when and where Gov
ernment money will be put into COM
petition to force private utilities out
Of business.
The preachment Of the administra-
tion's experts has been that business
should be financed as much as possible
not through bonds, but through stocks.
This means that the stockholder must
see real return Of profit coming If
he is to risk his money, and, when he
sees hard-boiled Government COM
petitor driving bargain in Tennessee
and holding gun to the heads of pri-
vate utilities, forcing them to sell, he
doesn't rush around to oversubscribe
utility common stock issues in other
parts Of the country as yet untouched.
The main reason why common stock
fiotations of utility securities are so
rare is that the fact of Government
competition is thoroughly imbedded
in the minds of the investors gen.
orally.
If, on the other hand, the White
House spokesman is speaking propheti-
cally and wants investors to know that
the seven T. v. AS are dead and
Government competition is to be lin
tied only to the Sudeten areas Of the