The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1954-07-02
THE: PRESIDENTS Power
TO override CONGRESS
And THE SUPREME COURT


By ARTHUR JENKINS, In Train Dispatcher
Did you ever stop to think that the Presi-
dent of the United States, by appointing one
or more men to Federal regulatory agency,
can over-rule both Congress and the Supreme
Court on issues vitality important to the Amer
lean people?
That may seem a startling question, but
It's truth is easy to demonstrate by an example.
Last month, members of the Federal Trade
Commission by vote of to L. called off the
commissions antitrust case against the giant
General Foods combine. 1t had been charged
with giving western grocers "cut-price deals
on two pectin products widely used by house
wives-"Certo" and ure-Jell'-while keep
ing their prices high in the rest of the coun-
try, which contains by far the most grocers
and consumers
All four commissions agreed that the
purpose of the cut-price deals was to make
things tough for several small western pectin
manufacturers, and thus keep them from
growing and spreading into the parts of the
country where General Foods has a virtual
monopoly. Obviously, this "price discrimina-
ton keeps pectin product prices high for
most housewives living where there is no COM
petition.
COMMISSIONER MEAD DISSENTS
The three commissioners who called off
insufficient proof that the price discrimina-
ton by General Foods had harmed its small
western competitors.
The commissioner who voted against call
ing off the case is James NJ (Big Jim) Mead,
who began life as a railroad switchman and
was a senator from New York before he be-
came member of the ETC.
Mead said it was obvious to him that the
small competitors were harmed. Even if they
not, he declared, the case should not
be called off. Why?
Because in similar case, the Supreme
Court ruled that, under an antitrust law
passed by Congress, the ETC did not have
to prove competitors were harmed. All the
commission had to prove was price discrimi-
nation"
All four commissioners agreed there was
such discrimination in the General Foods
case, yet three of them killed the case. Thus,
they over-ruled both the Supreme Court de-
cision and the law passed by Congress.
Two years ago, in all probability, major
ity of the ETC members would have voted to
continue the case, ordered General Foods to
obey the law as interpreted by the Supreme
Court, and stop the price discrimination. Why
the opposite ruling now?
The ETC has five members. One of them,
for unexplained reasons, did not vote on the
General Foods case Mead liberal-minded
Democrat appointed by former President
Truman, voted to protect the small competi-
tors and the housewives.
POWER OF A PARTISAN MAJORITY
The three who voted for the General Foods
combine are Republicans, one of them ap-
pointed by former President Truman, and the
other two by President Eisenhower. Those
two replaced former ETC members who
voted consistently for the people and against
price fixing and monopoly.
In this case, the vote was to 1. Thus, it
can be seen that, by appointing even one
partisan of Big Business to the ETC, the Pres
ident assured victory for General Foods By
appointing two, he made the victory douby
sure.
The decision in the General Foods case