Evening star., 1939-02-06
Business Stock
Purchases By
u. 5. Urged
Town Hall Speaker
Champions Active
Participation

Active Government "participa-
ton" in business through ownership
of to 10 per cent of stock in firms
in definite major "areas" of busi-
ness was proposed last night to a
Town Hall audience at the Shore
ham Hotel by William Yandell
Elliott, head of Harvard University's
department of government.
At the same time and in limited
agreement with Mr.. Elliott, Nicholas
Roosevelt, author, diplomat and
journalist, warned the audience
against a too centralized Federal
control of the Nations economic set
up, pointing out that participation
in any form tends to reach out for
more and more power" and that
once a government controls major
part of the nations economy it may
also control to large extent its
peoples way of life.
Mr.. Elliott urged that full-time
salaried director represent the Gov
ernment and vote its stock" in
each of the corporations in such
fields as public utilities, natural re-
sources which, he said, would ulti-
mately include coal, and large corpo-
rations which assume price leader
ship" He cited the British Gov
ernment's participation in Anglo
Iranian and Royal Dutch Shell Oil
interests as examples Of his program.
Linked to Defense Plans.
Applying the principle to power
companies Mr.. Elliott said, There
is a brilliant opportunity for this
at present in conjunction with our
rearmament program which con-
templates an expansion of the power
utilities"
Among the other business inter-
ests which Mr. Elliott included as
appropriate for his program were
railroads, telephone and telegraph
and the radio.
Much of the hostility between gov
ernment and business has arisen
| through the formers attempt to
control the latter as an outsider"
| by means of various commissions
| and agencies, he said At the same
time, he continued, every one in
cluding business, labor, the farmer
and even the veteran "excepts the
| Government to underwrite his
position"
THE Government is up to its neck
in our economic system Mr.. Elliott
declared. "At present it acts in
punitive terms from the outside
when IL wants to restrain part OF
the economic system and In so
doing it acts through its various
commissions as combination pros
ecutor and policeman"
Warns Against Overcontrol.
In his warning against too
centralized Government control OF
business and its possible results, Mr..
Roosevelt cited as an example the
Governments control of agriculture.
The control of agriculture was
begun to meet the problem Of the
moment back in 1888" he said.
There was an excess of certain inn
portant crops. including wheat, corn,
cotton and tobacco The A. A. A.
was devised to temporarily check
overproduction of these crops. AL
though this control was necessary
as an emergency measure, it was
later extended from to IA Of the
Nations major crops Each control
seems to invite pressure for further
control. Measures which have great
value as temporary means OF meet
ing temporary situations only pro-
long crisis or problem when they
become permanent measures"
In the case of power companies,
Mr.. Roosevelt said that wider dis
tribution of power centers means an
increasing number of power plants.
A wide distribution of power centers
would make our whole power sys-
tenn less vulnerable in time of war,
he said. AS a further argument
against centralization, he said that
"the further away the center of con-
troll is, the more out of touch is it
with local problems and conditions"
Mr.. Elliott said that the Govern
ment should be wise senior part
ner" and silent policeman who
interferes only when it is necessary.
Mr.. Roosevelt replied that if this
could be insured "our troubles would
be over, but the great weakness in
the control over business activities
arises when the power is in the
hands Of broken-down political
hacks"
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