Evening star., 1941-04-22
Senator 0'Mahoney
Cites Significance Of
7. NE. {. Report
Importance of Free
Enterprise Stressed
In Radio Forum Talk

Senator OMahoney, Democrat, Of
Wyoming, chairman of the Tempo
rary National Economic Committee,
discussed the final report recently
submitted by that committee in an
address last night in the National
Radio Forum, arranged by The Star
The talk was broadcast over a
national hookup of the National
Broadcasting Co.. and was heard
locally over Station WMAL.
The text of the speech follows:
In June, 1898, the Congress of the
United States, acting upon the rec
ommendation of President Roose-
welt, established a 12-man commits
sion, comprising representatives of
both the legislative and executive
branches of the Government, to con-
duct comprehensive study of the
: economic problem, a problem the
solution of which for almost 10
years, had baffied the best minds in
both business and Government. The
life of this commission termi-
mated on April of this year by
operation of law and its final re-
port, embodying its findings and
recommendations, came off the
presses last week at the Government
Printing Office. It is this docu-
ment which the Washington Eve
ming Star has graciously invited me
to discuss this evening.
Heavy Demand for Reports.
This I am happy to do, for, al
though the air waves ad the press
are filled, almost to the exclusion
of everything else, with news and
comment on the war, the public
interest in the work of this COM
mittee has been evidenced by an
unusually heavy demand for the
report. From every part of the coun-
try, from business executives, from
Government offlcials, from schools
and colleges, from publiciSts and
economists and persons in all walks
OF life, come the requests for copies,
thus demonstrating a widespread in
terest among our people in the study
and its results.
We have already published more
than 80 volumes of verbatim teSti-
mony and 43 monographs upon al
most every phase of the economic
structure. Already fully 250,0OO
copies have been distributed and
the demand still continues. It has
been source of much qualification
TO the members of the committee
thai for the most part, those who
have followed its work have un-
derstood that its members have at
all times endeavored to pursue an
impartial and objective course.
Those who may bave expected the
report to contain the blue prints of
fantastic new order-and some
there were who made such predic-
tlons at the outSet-will not find
their fears justified, for the report,
in essence, is only a restatement of
fundamental American principles of
freedom IN both business and gov
ernment. Its value lies in its ex-
position of the underlying causes
which threaten the ideals of free
enterprise and free government.
The committee was so constituted
that it made anything but an i'm
partial inquiry difficult. The con-
gressional members, three from the
Senate and three from the House
Of Representatives, were appointed
as all legislative committees are
selected, on a bipartisan basis, so
that both parties were represented
The executive members were chosen
from the agencies having special
experience with the economic prob
lens to be studied, namely the De-
partments of Justice, Treasury,
Commerce and Labor and the Fed
eral Trade and the Securities and
Exchange \ Commissions. Though
each of these agencies was repre-
sented on the committee by one,
member or alternate, their work was
frequently done by regular Civil