The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1951-01-04
Lop-Sided Educational Group
A Lobby House Group Declares

Washington LPA) - First you
get yourself a highsounding name.
Then you get few very important
persons to serve as a board of dir
ectors and perhaps board of ad-
visers.
Then you hire some writer's who
share your views and you start
peddling books and pamphlets to
Congressman, universities, schools
and churches denouncing labor
unions and spreading the word that
the New and Fair Deals have been
dragging the country toward the
hot place.
But you stress that you are an
educational service. On all your
publications you say that the auth
ors' opinions are their own, that
you aren't responsible for them.
You're simply sponsoring free and
independent research into all sides
of every question. That way you
figure you don't have to call your
self lobby because you're educat-
ing people including Congressman.
You're not trying to influence leg
islation. perhaps people won't
notice that all your writer's think
along identical lines.)
That's essentially the way the
American Enterprise Association
works, according to a report filed
by the House Select Committee on
Lobbying Activities. The commit
tee, headed by Rep. Frank Buch-
anan Cd, Pa, thinks the associa-
tion ought to register under the
Lobby Registration Act of 1916.
BY no coincidence, the associa-
tion's baokers, by and large are the
same people who back such anti
labor outfits as the Committee for
Constitutional Government, h e
National Education Council and
Foundation for Economic Educa-
ton.
President of the American En-
terprise Association is Sinclair
Weeks, one-time Republican Sena-
tor from Massachusetts, Republl-
can National Committeeman and
chairman of the board of the Unit
ed Car Fastener Co. Other eXecu-
tives of the organization have
similar backgrounds. Chairman OF
the board of directors is Lewis II.
Brown, who also chairs the board
of the giant Johns-ManvilIe Corp.
Board of advisers is studded with
conservative college professors,
business men and writers.
The associations main activities
are publishing. It's publications in
clude a series of "studies" OF ma
tional economic problems and once
included as economic survey series,
Until recently, Weeks, Brown and
company paid a Washington law
firm $4,000 a year to "analyze"
| bills before Congress. This service
probably will be resumed.
The association, whose annual
budget is about $4,000, makes nc
secret of its big business backing
A list of firms contributing $500
or more to its support looks like a
roster of the nations financial
power. Among til m: General
Motors, Ford, Lammot du Pont
Chrysler, Carnegie-lllinois Steel
International Harvester, Stude'
baker, National Steel, Socony-
Vacuum, Gulf Oil, Remington
Rand, Johns Manville, Republic
ST. ee |, Allis-Chalmers, Pullman
Standard Railway Equip m n t
Guaranty Trust. The list is long.
However, the Buchanan commit
tee may have missed the main point
in reporting on the American En-
terprise Association. According tC
recent stusy of monopoly in rail
roading, the association actually il
an offshoot of the railroad lobby
which in turn fronts for large seq
ments of big business.
Several documents appended tC
the report indicate ties between the
| q, anI un,t h