Evening star., 1948-11-11
Powerful Drive Aimed
Al Antitrust Laws,
Pricing Probers Told

A Federal Trade Commission at
torney today told the Senate SUBJ
\ committee investigating industrial
pricing practices and FTC policies
that campaign is under way to
hamstring the antitrust laws.
Walter B. Wooden, associate gen.
eral counsel of the FTC, told the
Capehart Subcommittee on Trade
Policies that much has been made
of the alleged confusion, uncertainty
and fear" created by the court de-
cision banning collusive basing point
pricing in the cement industry, and
by other decisions.
"As see.it," he said, 1--WE are here
witnessing recurrence of what has
happened again and again in the
pasta powerful drive to emascu-
late the antitrust laws on the
ground that they are so vague and
uncertain that business does not and
cannot know what the law requires
or else that the law is basically ire
concilable with business necessities.
To Seek Commissions Views.
MIR. Wooden, who began his testi-
mony yesterday and returned to the
witness stand today, said: 1--WE are
IN danger Of becoming mired in al
morass of semantics." He, as well
as other FTC attorneys who ap-
peared, made it clear they were
testlfying as to their own views and
not giving the views of the COM
mission.
Subcommittee Chairman Cape
hart said the FTC had designated no
one to speak for it. He said an effort
would be made to get the views of
the commission itself.
MIR. Wooden was to be followed
today by number Of witnesses who
are industrial buyers of steel.
The steel industry, acceeding to an
FTC order. has given up the mul-
tiple basing point system of pricing
and now sells its product (: O. b. at
the mills. Many businessmen con-
tend that recent decisions of the
courts and rulings of the FTC out
law the basing point system by which
company quotes identical prices
to all buyers regardless Of the freight
haul involved.
i Law Held Confusing.
Mr.. Wooden followed to the wit
ness stand two other FTC attorneys.
In answer to questions by Chairman
Capehart, they had testified there
definitely is confusion in the law as
to what pricing policies are legal.
They were Lynn G. Paulson, as
sistant chief trial counsel of the
commission, and Allen c. Phelps,
chief of the commissions division
Of export trade.
Mr.. Wooden asserted that all the
Supreme Court really decided in the
cement case was that the commits
sion had established "the existence
of price-fixing conspiracy of which
the basing point system was the
an-pervading mechanism"
He found 1t "a puzzling fact" that
such q great outcry should have
been raised so promptly after the
application of the Robinson-Patman
anti-discrimination statute to a
price-fixing conspiracy.
Unless the members of industries
other than cement are cooperating
to maintain basing. point system
under which purchasers everywhere
are unable to buy more cheaply
from one seller than from another
anywhere, they do not come within
the law Of the cement decision" he
said.
Similarly, Mr.. Paulson said the
Supreme Court has not passed on
the legality of freight absorption.
But he said that Court Of Appeals
decision in another case seems TO-
have the practical effect Of requiring
sellers to sell exclusively fob. mill"
He added, however, that the FTC
has said that that decision Is not
as broad as industry is saying 1t is.
Mr.. Phelps said that, to all prac-
tical purposes, 1T Is now presump-
lively unlawful for any suppHer to
sell his product at uniform delivered
prices which do not take into ac-
count differences in transportation
COSTS"
The original legislative intent of
the Robinson-Patman Act has been
disregarded or altered in the II years
since it was passed, Mr.. Phelps said.
Discussing trends in the enforce
ment Of this act and of the Trade
Commission Act, he said they have
reached the point where business
men may be prosecuted "for failing
to compete or to conduct price wars
with one another"