Evening star., 1947-08-03
Commissioned Ayres
Keeps Sharp Eye
On Tricksters
By Henry Lyon

Commission. He Is. the eldest OF
the five men who constitute the
guardianship of United States
business practices-four Of them
having a total of 50 years tenure
and he is second to none of then,
in efficiency and devotion to serv-
ice. He is william A. Ayres, former
member of Congress, whose peren-
nial success from a traditionally
Republican Kansas district was for
years a political phenomenon.
Although Mr.. Ayres' appointment
by President Truman followed the
policy of previous appointments to
the commission by President Frank
lin D. Roosevelt. namely to
strengthen the commission by en-
couraging long service by able men,
several were considered as possible
successors up to the time the ap-
pointment actually was made.
Strangely enough, Mr. Ayres did
not seek reappointment. 1t came to
him by means of unsought in
dorsements by his friends in Con-
gress and through the Presidents
high regard for him.
Respected by Bryan
Confirmation by the Senate fol-
lowed a short, friendly conference
at the White House, where Mr..
Truman asked him If he wanted tc
retain the post.
We'll, l haven't been seeking it.
but I'll take it'd like to have it
again." replied the commissioner
who once was included in a list
of men whom William Jennings
Bryan thought would make good
Presidents of this Nation.
Such is the political force and
self-reliance of man whose po-
litical fences started to rise in the
days of "Sockless" Jerry Simpson,
the 1905, and before. Senator Cap
per of Kansas. though a Republic
can, has been through life a stanch
friend, as was also Charles Curtis,
to mention two Kansans from a
host of Republican admirers. OF
course his friends among leaders
of the Democratic camp are legion
and he still gets Kansas mail that
begins: Dear Congressman"
Liberal and Fair
Mr.. Ayres first came to Congress
in 1915 at the age of Al but from
the time he was admitted to the
Kansas bar in 1898, he was extremely
active in politics in Sedgwick County
and the old Eighth (now Fifth Dis
tract making friends by his spirit Of
Hnefality and fair play among Re
publicans. Democrats and Populists
alike. Much of this activity had
rough and ready flavor that blended
nicely with the type of political
gatherings that prevailed in those
early times when fist fights were
common on convention floors and
where a presiding officer could be
ruined politically by making a wrong
move. Mr.. Ayres was prominent in
such gatherings long before he ever
ran for office.
Much of this rugged courage fol-
lowed him here. The same fortitude
that permitted him to defy the
advice Of. his political contempo-
raries and stump Kansas for AL
Smith has made him sensitive to
efforts to alter what he considers to
be the duty of the Federal Trade
Commission in prosecuting those
who violate the statutes. When
fraud, monopoly, price fixing and
Misrepresentation are proved he
believes in letting the chips fall
where they may.
Funds Not Earmarked
This is all the more significant
because the Office of Trade Practice
Conferences and the Division of
Stipulations are currently under his
jurisdiction as commissioner
Business periodicals have been look
ing long and hard at a. movement
launched by President Truman and
backed by Commissioner Lowell
Mason in the hearing before the
Senate, Subcommittee on Appropria-
tions, which movement would swing
the commissions emphasis and
finances more and more in the di-
rection of industry-wide conformity
to rules supposedly violated by
great many more firms than are
served with cease-and-desist orders.
But in the showdown on the bill
iIist rn seed M, fI1pds ware srNacifcal