Montana labor news., 1945-03-15
NAM HEAD TIED UP
WITH MONOPOLIES

(COntlnued from rage INV
board Of directors is directly connected
with the American Optical Co.
To make the picture complete, Ameri-
can optical is owned by the Wells fam
ily. which controls a big part Of New
England banking and industry, John
Wells is a member Of Moshers board ana
Mosher is a director Of the Wells bank
in s~outhbridge. Wel-informed sources
says the Wells family pulled the strings
that got Mosher the job es NAM presi-
dent. Mosher may be a small business
man, but he eats willingly from big busi-
ness hand. And the kind Of big Dusl-
ness that is the worst threat TO post
war peace and prosperity
Indicted in Monopoly
Early in the war the Justice Dept. in
dicted virtually the entire optical indus
try for a patent price-fixlng conspiracy
that deprived 20 million Americans OF
care for their eyes. The conspiracy CEN
tered around American Optical co. and
Bausch & Lomb Optical Co. Of Rochester,
N I. MDolltl Wuo NAAN VI NAN FN"+N-F
defendants named IN the Indictment.
Efforts to break up the monopoly were
postponed for the duration but nor until
evidence revealed that the big optical
firms forced glasses which could be sold
at $3.50 with profit to be sold through
out the industry at a fixed price OF 20
a price that 20 million Americans wiyn
bad eyesight could not afford.
The Army and Navy asked for ad-
iournment of the suit because the trials
would seriously impede the wal effort
Of the principal defendants. But Moth
ing that would come out in the trial'
could impede war production more than
did the domestic monopoly Of which the!
we're the prime movers, unless it was th0
part played by Bausch & Lomb in al
International cartel.
Vital to modern mechanical warfar
are the precision instruments made Of
special high quality glass to permit find
ing the exact location of a target ant
accurate aiming. About the time O
Pearl Harbor the government sent gu
an urgent plea for all private citizens
give their binoculars to the armed force
There was a shortage of military optici
instruments. Behind the shortage wa
the international optical cartel, heade
by Carl zeiss of Germany and Bausc
& Lomb, American Opticars co-dictatC
in the domestic monopoly.
= An investigation leading to an ant
trust indictment of zeiss and Bausch
Lomb in March, 1910 revealed that u
cartel as far back as 1921 helped &c
MANY evade the Versailles treaty al
start large-scale manufacturing Of mil
tarv equipment. Secret U. S. militia
information was given by the America
firm to the German firm not only b
fore but after Hitler came into pow'
Even after the shadow Of war doomed
the U. s., Bausch & Lomb disobey
- government edicts Of secrecy to he
: their cartel partners.
Because Of their secret agreement WI
the German firm, they refused to s
military equipment to England al
~
France and used threats of patent
fringment to frighten competing fir
from bidding on military equipment
the U. S. Army. AS do all cartels, Il
one restricted production, control
markets and fixed prices in a way I'll
put private international business abe
of the nations interests.
A key question for future peace y
be the destruction Of international CT
tells that can undermine the effecti
ness of a world peace treaty through
private business agreement which mis-
help Germany build up another war n
Z chine. A key question for future pr
perity here will be eliminating
monopoly's practices Of high price-fiX
and restricting production.
Though Mosher is advertised as a sn
businessman who has the American p
pies welfare at heart, actually he I
resents the kind Of big business t
-: endangers the peace. And under
guidance the NAM isn't likely to spr
wings. IL