The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-06-17


 wa.nm men and pro-
 ducers never ex- pected to see in this land again 1t was a return of even q faint smell of the embalming fluid with which the Supreme court laid away all that remained of the late and unlamented NRA blue eagle.
 But all-out defense cleans out all And the Idea that industry control might be given legal sanction to- day returns through an interesting but rather complex chain of events which, if you'd care to follow, is something like this:
 OPM Springs the Surprise
 First inkling that something like this was afoot came through the recent sensational announcement from Donald M. Nelson, director oi purchases in the Office of Produc- tion Management, outlining 6 plan to increase defense production cap- acity by limiting the lines of mer- chandise that might be manufac- tured and sold for civilian corsump- ton.
 To make a thing like this effec- tive, there must be some form o1 industry control. Since the Supreme court had outlawed MIRA and since the whole idea of NRA IS repug- nant to Thurman Arnold's antt- trust division of the Department of Justice, some formula had to be found to permit manufacturers of radio sets, for example, to get to- gether and agree to reduce from 20 to 10 the number of home mod els which each would make.
 Canny John Lord O'Brial, gen. eral counsel of OPM, put the prob- lem up to the justice boys and in letter which Attorney General Jackson wrote to MT. O'Brian a couple of months ago, but which is just now being privately circulat- ed in Washington, the whole pro- cedure of Industry Committees" Is outlined and given Department of Justice blessing. This letter will probably go down as the charter authority for whatever industry controls are created, and if the war lasts long enough, 1t is 6 fair- ly safe bet tfat these committees in some way will be controlling practically everything you buy or sell.
 What the attorney generals let. ter okays is the creation of separ- ate Industry Committees to act in an advisory capacity within the framework Of the Office of Pro- duction Management (Knudsen- Killman, Nelson, Biggers, Stettin- ius and company and the Office of Price Administration and. Civil- ian Supply Neon Henderson,. The Industry Committee, in other words cannot become the "code authority for that industry. OPM and OPACS combined retain all the authority as the defense department of internal economy, ministry of supply, or whatever you want to call 1t.
 OPM-OPACS make all policies for the industry, in the public, inean- ing the national defense, interest. The Industry Committees, to be selected and named by OPM- OPACS, would make recommends tons.
 How to Make 1t Legal
 Tn the case of the radio manufac- turers, their Industry Committee might decide that, because the Army needed all the automobile radios or portable radios the in. dustry could turn out they should not make any more sets in these two lines for civilian consumption
 (Please understand they haven't done this yet, and don't let this piece be an Orson Welles scare to make you rush out and buy 8 pock- ct radio, just in case. But 1t might happen.)
 The point Is, if the boys in the industry decided to restrict their output, without being aided or abet- ted by the government, that would be collision, action in restraint of trade, and therefore @ violation of the anti-trust laws. But if the Radio Industry Committee should recommend to OPM-OPACS that no more portable or auto radios be made, and OPM-CPACs should de- eide It q good idea and tell the manufacturers not to make any more portable or auto radios, that would be perfectly legal.
 There is, however, Q further kick CT in all this monkey business. Ac- cording to the Department of Jus- tice opinion, no Industry Commit tee Is to have the authority to com- pei or coerce any manufacturer to comply with any of the OPM- OPACS recommendations. OPM- oPACS not having that legal auth ority either, the only compliance with Industry Committee recom- mendations would be voluntary. Using the hypothetical Radio The dustry Committee as 6 guinea pig again, if any manufacturer decld- ed he wouldn't comply with OPM- OPACE policies and would so ahead and make all the portable and auto radio sets he could sell. no one could stop him. The catch in such procedure. however, might be that the government would decide not to give the non n-complier any War Department contracts.
 They can get you coming or go- ing. you sec, and that's how it's possible to make illegal NRA pro. | cNdtSrN nkAv fYa wsMrkit,aa