Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-07-30
'Foir Trode'

'Fuir Trude'
The Star deserves praise for It's nom
partisan treatment Of the current fair
trade" dispute. After all the phony
arguments that have been advanced
since s. 3297 was introduced in Con-
gress, it is indeed refreshing to have
the issues defined so that residents of
Washington can see for themselves
the booby-trap features Of the proposed
law.
A point mentioned in your July Is
article, however. warrants additional
comment. The article notes that the
Self-same interests which vigorously
opposed ceiling price controls are. in
the vanguard Of the carpet-baggers
who have descended on Washington to
ram through q bill which would control
prices at the opposite end by placing
floor under them. Obviously, how one
looks at price control depends upon
whose OK is being gored! But there is
an important distinction between the
two types of price control: The aggra-
waiting wartime controls were admins
tered by the Government which, while
it may not have batted 1000 at the
job, was at least representing the pub
lie interest; the proposed fair trade"
controls to keep prices high are di-
rected by private parties who, through
the sham of having one manufacturer
sign q contract with one retailer, can
saddle the local voteless citizenry with
prices up to the level of whatever the
traffic will bear"
According to The Star, proponents Of
-; A..oS oD Aiv.k o. All HAla AeO
prevailing in local retail circles and
the alleged threatened "chaos" in "fair
trade" States. Such "chaos," II indeed
there is anything deserving Of that
Characterization, is nothing compared
to the situation which will come to pass
If the Hobbies and pressure groups put
over fair trade" law for the District.
To the proponents, of course, COMPETE
tive pricing Is "chaos." Even now in
flair trade" areas, as for example. In
New York City. the fair trade" price
line is extremely difficult to hold. Some
merchants just don't seem to be able to
swallow the flair trade" hokum and
persist in giving consumers the benefits
Of competitive pricing. If fair trade"
takes over here where consumers are
conditioned to getting their moneys
worth, will the result be any different?
CongeSted court dockets are being
increasingly loaded with law suits as
the flair traders" seek to hold together
a structure which is falling apart
across the country. Courts In Florida,
Nebraska, Georgia. and elsewhere,
which have had flair trade" laws, have
given the "fair traders" little comfort,
declaring such legislation unconstitu-
tional and an invalid use Of the police
power for a private, not a public pur-
pose." And If Washington thinks 1t
has seen fair share of investigations.
wait until every merchant becomes
"snooper" and "informer" upon his
competitors and investigative experts
been sandbagged into going along with
"fair trade" get into the act. Yet. hui
man ingenuity and American enter
prise being what it is. we may reason
ably expect that in due course way
will be found to cope with whatever
problems a flair trade" law might
create. Private enforcement will then
become next to impossible and extreme
ly expensive. What happens next?
The next step in the fair trace"
campaign (and don't think it won't
Gomez will be drive to make price
cutting a violation of criminal law. That
way the local governments VIII do the
investigating, with the help of the tby
that time) well-trained informers. saw
ing the flair traders" the expense in
volved And as for merchants selling
across State lines at less than "fair
trade" prices, maybe the FBI can be
brought into the picture to put the
wicked price-cutters in the peniten-
tiary until they see the error of their
ways and conclude that the right"
price is a high price.
Unselfish businessmen and most resi-
dents of the District hope that "fair
trade" never gets it's foot into the door
here. But there are hosts of super
statesmen making the rounds in Con-
gress. What is most ironical about 1t
is that they come from all over the
country to tell Congress what's good
for the people of the District. But the
people of the District, speaking through
the most representative organization in
their midst, the Federation of Citizens
Associations, have unequivocally said
how they feel: Fair trade? No fair!
No thankS!"
Joseph ]. Saunders.
Ceiling prices were put into effect
during the last administration to pre-
vent over charging. When the cell
ings" were discontinued, the reason
given was that "the practice of price
controlling violated the principle Of
free enterprise"
The American people accepted the
change with traditional philosophy
with the consoling thought that an
open competitive market was a guar
antee against monopolies. If the fair
trade" law is passed setting consumer
prices, what becomes of the free enter
prise" principle so piously propounded
by these same interests?
It seems there should be. some
middle-ground on which industry and
consumer alike can be protected from
arbitrary price-fixing on the one hand
and cut-throat price cutting on the
other.
Harry Traub.