Evening star., 1938-01-19
Holding Company Blues
The Grouse Discovers What He Says Is Perfectly
Good Example at the White House.

ests in the Federal Communications
Commission. Elliot is also interested,
believe, in trade association, q
Richberg type Of holding company, a
border-line case, where, instead of
financial control, there Is the price,
conference type Of community OF
interests
"The Press Syndicate"
"As for Eleanor, she Is q whole hold
ing company in one person, and still
affiliated with the top company. In
one slim person she combines q press
syndicate, from time to time radio
program, school. one and possibly
now some manufacturing interests, an
artist-sponsoring project and venture
in publishing.
But to continue" said the Grouse,
"the syndicate for which Mrs. Roose-
velt writes is a holding company.
so you see that there Is pyramided
up under the White House roof, in
terests In agriculture, publishing, radio,
insurance and even, believe, In bak-
ing powder, through mamma. All the
operations enormously facilitated by
the fact that they are all under the
White House roof. Furthermore each
operating company files separate in
come tax return, and thus escapes
what 1t would have to pay If, instead
OF being holding company, it was a
solid trust. And, according to Mr..
Lundberg's mathematics, they must
represent an enormous amount of
ownership"-
Who is Mr.. Lundberg?"
"Mr. Lundberg is the author Of Mr..
1ckes' protocol Of the elders OF Zion.
He estimates your fortune by multiply
ing your income by 2O."
But that's non-sensical. That i'm
plies that if you have an income Of
$4,000 year you have million dol
lars in the bank"
Sure, it's non-sensical. But who am
I to challenge the figures of a book
praised and quoted by an ofiicial of his
majestys government But II you add
up the income Of each member OF the
Roosevelt family and multiply the total
by 20. they'll end in the class of the
4-inch tail.
Waggling an Economy.
OF course" suggested the Grouse,
i often think that the President in
his more expansive moods is a 1877
mlllionth of a tail, which, if it does
not Wag the whole economy, certainly
Waggles it. To waggle means to wobble
something while in motion: to shake
and you can waggle an economy so
violently that not only its false teeth
out Its good ones come out.
You see." concluded The Grouse.
the idea back OF the assault on
holding companies is that business
ethics are violated by one person or
company combining in himself con-
flctlng interests. You can't do one
thing and have an interest in some
thing else, because the diversity will
lead to conflict and interfere with the
purity Of your trusteeship.
Now, that seems a reasonable idea.
So, I think the S. E. c. ought to try
to segregate each member Of the
Roosevelt family. That would be a
beginning But then, OF course, it
consists of personalities who. in them
selves, are multiple and diverse and
full Of conflicts, so each member
ought to be cut up. There ought to
be a paragraph II to force each with
in a stated time to separate that
part of himself with one interest from
that with another. Jimmie, for in
stance. ought to be cut into at least
two pieces. Poor Eleanor would have
to be dissected in detail. particularly
the press part of her ought to be cut