Evening star., 1948-10-28
Letters to The Star
Political Persecution of Doctors.

i s.
To the Editor of The Star:
only political expediency and desperation
could have motivated the Justice Departments
announcement of antitrust action against the
Oregon State Medical Society. The historic
medical antitrust trial of 1941 proved this
method of twisting ancient laws to meet the
social and economic dynamics of modern need
to be futile, hypocritical and a peril to our
political liberties. The political prosecutor goes
back to July 2, 1890, for legal justification to
compel disSident doctors to accept regimenta-
ton by the bureaucratic state. The reference
is to the Sherman Antitrust Act. This first
antitrust law simply declares: Every contract,
combination in the form of trust or otherwise,
or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or COM
merce among the several States :. . is hereby
declared to be Illegal
The antitrust prosecution of doctors for
theological dissent is futile, because Congress
mad no thought of applying the Sherman Act
to anything but the tangibles of commerce.
All available evidence indicates the Sherman
Act only was to apply to trade and commerce
as those terms commonly were understood in
1890. In 428 prosecutions listed as of January,
1898, even the Department of Justice never
had regarded medical disputes and medical
economics to be proper application of anti
trust restraints and Jurisdiction. AS need
developed Congress enacted pertinent legisla.
tion purposed equitably to solve problems Incl
dent to national growth ands maturity. For
instance, we have the Clayton Act of October
Is. 1914, whose section declares: "The labor
OF human being is not commodity or article
of commerce" There is the Norris-La Guardia
Act, limiting the use of injunctions in labor
&c tol
under prevailing economic conditions" it is
necessary that the worker "have full freedom
of association :. to negotiate the terms and
conditions Of his employment" The National
Labor Relations Act has been operative for IL
years. 1t was passed to protect workers in the
exercise of full freedom Of association, self
organization and designation of representatives
OF their own choosing for the purpose of nego-
tiating the terms and conditions of their en-
ployment."
Old Statute Invoked.
II Candidate Truman honestly wanted to
enforce fair Interpretation of the sovereign
will of Congress, why did he elect the futile
method Of the Oldest and least applicable
statute?
The method is hypocritical because Candi-
date Truman piously processes to be the sole
champion of human rights and the rights of
labor. Doctors are too small a minority to
inspire this noble passion. Yet doctors are
laborers in vital vineyard of essential pro-
duction. In war and peace doctors have the
inescapable duty Of safeguarding and guaran-
teeing the Nations health. Their record
for doing their full duty is beyond the indict-
ment Of Candidate Truman, humping political
drums to get gullible voters into his medicine
show Of bankrupting bureaucratic paternalism
Why does Candidate Truman elect to get tough
with doctors, yet grovel like sycophant before
any other working group with decisive polit-
tcal power? Why does he ignore the right Of
the American Medical Association, representing
10000 Of the 165 900 qualified doctors to bar
gain collectively for the healing arts? Why
does he insist that medical economics be dis
cussed in the secrecy Of the grand jury room
because he is not satisfied with the progress
of open hearings by Congress? The ugly truth
is that Candidate Truman wants votes and
he is Indifferent to the means to the end.
Master cartoonist Bergman was quick to
satirize the antitrust prosecution Of doctors
dissenting from New Deal radicalism as q peril
to our political liberties When organized
medicine was criminally indicted as a con-
spiracy Of restrain of trade, his incisive wit
gave thoughtful readers Of The Star q chuckle
with warning. Thurman Arnold was carica-
tured as the jailer of the bewildered doctor
The worried priest and lawyer were awaiting
their turn. Mr.. Bergman meant that II New
Deal revolutionists could Jail the doctor under
the archaic Sherman Act they could do the
same thing to the other two learned profess
sions This was how it could happen here
The political. prosecutor now had a method
which would subject the intangibles of mind
and soul to the rule of steel, food or freight
rates. Eventually the marriage contract could
be ruled a commodity in interstate commerce
The police state would be here and Candidate
Truman would be its fuehrer
THOMAS E. MATTINGLY, NJ D.