The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1943-11-04
Washington
Roundup
BY PETER EDISON

charge OF the antitrust division
held his first press conference ~
announce the filing of civil cow ~
plant against Meek Co., NAV,
featuring chemists accused -.
maintaining a cartel aorenn,o,t
with E. Merck Chemical Worts u.
Darmstadt, Germany, an assista9t
took a box of cigare froo, N.Y.
.Berge's desk and passed it aroma
to correspondents. On the Ed ~
the box in big letters was +ba
name Union League Club
What was this? Was the No,n
Deals antitrust division goinn
al ch-conservative all of a sudden2
1t was just the band name NJ
Bryce hastened to assure. and tha
cigars were from the Union Lea.
que Club of Chicago, not the one in
i New York. But this Union L9aono
Club of Chicago is the one that
used to have an "anti-New Desl
ROOM" all black. with q star for
every one Of the nmfre. or NOR,
New Deal agencies. So the laugh
was still on Mr. Berge,
Even if Thurman Arnold's suc.
cessor as champion of the Sber.
man antitrust law does like P..
publican capitalists brand of cigar
he is giving no indications that he
will ease up on prosecutions of Il.
legal cartels, monopolies and com.
binations IN restraint Of trade.
The Merck case is the first of
what Mr.. Berge says Will be
number like it to be developed
during the next year to keep alive
the American idea of free entr.
prise and open competition as A
pattern for planning postwar in.
ternational economy.
In the Merck case, the charge
reduced to simplest terms is that
the American Merck company in
1882 made a treaty" with German
Merck whereby the American com.
pany had use of the Merck trade.
mark in the sale Of some 400 chot,.
Gals and pharmaceuticals, incud
ing quinine, sulpha drugs, and the
vitamins, in the United States and
Canada, while the German COM
pany retained cT"'us''e r 'hts for
practically all the rest Of the
world. The American company
was, for instance, shut out Of the
South American market-that is,
until the British blockade of 1899
made it impossible for the Ger
mans to deliver.
Then the American company re
v1ved an old and inactive subsidi-
airy, Powers Weightman Rosen-
garten corporation, to take over
the German business in L in
America for the duration, with eV
cry understanding that all the Lat
in American business would be re
turned to the German company at
the end of the war. The Depart
1nent of Justice suit is to dissolve
the treaty between the two COM
panies and to enjoin American
Merck from refusing to fill orders
from established dealers in drugs
il foreign countries.
It so happens that while Mi.
Wendell Berge was explaining all
this in the Department Of Justice IN
Wa shington. and while the actual
suit against the Merck compan es
was being filed in Trenton, N. j.,
I'd on Capitol Hill the Senate was
about to begin its fourth day Of
debate on the Connolly postwar
foreign policy resolution. In that
debate, Sen. Harold H. Burton Of
Cleveland O.. made speech for
broadening the Connolly resolution
and he was questioned by SeM
Abe Murdoch of Beaver, Utah, on
the meaning Of the word "assTeS-
SION in the text of the RESOLUTION
where it declares:
THAT the United States
(shalD join in the establish
n7ent of international authoIi-
ty to prevent aggression ana
preserve the peace Of the word
Was it just military aggfeS-
SON" as had been stated IN me
original draft of the resolution? VI
was economic aggression also
included?
without perhaps realizing it at
the time, the senators were lhell
CONSIDERING tnat w =" II
the question of International car
tels-tne world-trvsis sJc.' rs
fostered in Germany and parucl'
pated in by business monopolleS
of nearly every ration. |eH I
aggression OF this sort has oeeN
part and parcel of the Nazl ScheHl {,
of world conquest which mace ~
impossible to do business with nv
Ter.