Milford chronicle., 1947-05-02
WASHINGTON
HIGHLIGHTS
BY j. f. JONES
At The Crossroads

/ WASHINGTON. ID. c. Some
people have the -mathematicaI
notion that our big industries car
Keep right on raising wages and al
the same time lower the prices ol
their products.
The biggest item in the average
family budget is food But farmers
VINO raise food are not going tC
cut their prices to please a few mil.
lion strikers. In a great manv in
dustries the largest item in the
cost of production goes into wages
One thing is certain-that is that
small and big business will he
plowed under if they keep on rails
ing wages and lowering prices
Most businessmen will not lower
prlces-they must raise prices.
The National Recovery Admins.
tIatlon. famous in the early New
Deal days, encouraged price boost.
ing ana the turning over of new
profits to employees.
Apparently the man who said
TINS great country of ours is at
the crossroads" is supported Inv
public opinion. A very large part
OF Americas millions of union mem.
DerS are either on strike, or pre-.
parlnS to engage in them. That ties
up american economy. Perhaps we
may Wl&gle out of those conditions
the way we recovered from the first
/ world War before we jumped into
the second one.
The Dollar Line
FIRST, before the war. came the
German submarines. BY the time
the United States entered the wa,
the United States Maritime Com
mission had been elected cock-of-
the-walk in control of ships.
III SO happened that in 1897 the
Dollar Lines were having head
acheS and financial pains-a condi,
tlon quite common to American
business enterprise. Quite naturally
the Dollar Line accepted the helr
OF the United States Maritime Com
mission in the shape of loan
common stock of the comnanv wac
pledged to the Commission as seq
urlty Tor that loan. The name of the
organization was changed to Ameri-
can president Lines. In 1943 the in
ueDtedneSs to the United States
had been paid in full. But the Com
mission refused to return the stock
that mad been pledged as collatera
lof the Indebtedness. Believe if or
not, the Commission claimed own-
ershlp OF the steamship lines and
Went out on the end of limb when
1t offered the shares for sale-evi-
IDENTIFY seeking more profits.
The Dollar Line felt that thew
were victums of strange nor
lormance-so they promptly went
10 court. The District court held
tlat private company could NOT
prlig SUIT against the United States
government. Whereupon the case
was taken to the United States
supreme Cortland Justice Dong
las, with Justice Reed concurrino
sent the case back to the District
court. as the lower court could "re-
turn the plaintiffs stock now j.,
the name of the Maritime Commits.
sion. or delivery Plaintiff wants
property now in the possession of
the Maritime Commission and to
secure this relief the lower courtc :
may recognize the responsibilitv
OF reestablishing the Dollar Lima
under its rightful ownership. at thp
mead OF which is r. Stanley Doll.,
me San Francisco Argonaut save
that the return of ownership to tho
Dollar stockholders would be moth
ing less than "a victory for the
pflhclple of private ownership of
transportation the fewer ser
vices performed by the Federal
Government the further this Nation
VIII be from socialism the moi
lars idea pioneered many profit
abie innovations never previousIv
heard of in shipping circles ou,i,
as publishing scheduled denartura
ana arrival hours of shins and
placing of Americans in charpe nf
an lhelr foreign offices They receiv-
ed the recommendations of Amo,.;
can business institutions interastad
IN foreign trade and were rated ~
largest single factor in the devalon~
ment of the modern American Mop