The people's voice., 1958-11-28

locked. Shipments were halted in de.
pots and airports. Some were sent
to Washington for storage until
claimed by the owners. The public
was alerted to the fact that perma-
nent disfiguring injury was being
offered for sale by the sweater mer-
chants. Within days not a flammable
sweater was left on the open market.
At its next session Congress passed
the Flammable Fabrics Act.
Editors Note: Mr.. Grandey was
head of the Anti-Deceptive Practice
Division during this period.)
The Commission is frequently de-
scribed as an administrative court.
1t differs from the usual court in that
it exercises investigational, trial and
judicial functions.
The Commission attains it's obiec-
tives by two basic methods, the first
of which is investigation, trial and
order in individual cases. The second
is by informal procedures admins
tered primarily by it's Bureau of Con-
sultation.
THE PRESENT OUTSTANDING
ACTIVITY =. of the Commission is
it's effort to enlist the support of all
business and consumer groups in the
nation in a program of voluntary en-
forcement of fair practices in COM
merce. For that purpose, the Bureau
of Consultation operates within the
limits of the Commissions jurisdic-
tion to prescribe those methods of
commerce considered unfair, and to
seek complete abandonment of them
by all businesses within an industry
on an industry wide basis.
The Commission, since the creation
of it's present Bureau of Consultation
in 1854, has through the efforts of
that bureau adopted Advertising
Guides for the Cigarette Industry and
the Tire Industry, and most recently,
Guides Against Deceptive Pricing.
The latter are applicable to all in
dustries subject to the Commission's
jurisdiction which engage in decep-
tive pricing practices condemned by
the Guides.
All Guides now in effect have been
adopted by the Commission on the
Commissions own initiative and not
as result of the application for that
procedure from either the industry
or industries involved. Further, the
Guides may or may not, within the
Commissions discretion, be adopted
after informal conferences with rep
resentatives of the industry concerned
and organizations interested in the |
self-regulation of industry to pre-
vent the use Of deceptive practices. |
The Guides are also administered by |
the staff and thus serve to obtain |
prompt abandonment of questionable |
practices through voluntary means. |
They also serve to unite the efforts I
Of local, private, public, state and ma
tional organizations interested in the
particular problem of obtaining vol
lntary compliance with their pro-
visions. The most notable and sue
ccssful example of this latter func-
5ion is the response received to date
to the Guides Against Deceptive Pric-
ing adopted by the Commission for
the use Of it's staff on October 2,
1858, and released to the public for
The pun pose of encouraging and fos-
sering voluntary compliance with
heir provisions.
1t has been conservatively estimated
hat over 100000 copies of the Guides
nave been printed and disseminated
20 individual business concerns by
he National Association of Better
Business Bureaus and local better
business bureaus and nearly 1000
copies have been distributed by the
American Newspaper Publishers AS
whose membership includes
more than 900 of all newspaper
circulation in the United States and
Canada. Similar support has been
siven the Guides by the Advertising
federation of America through pub
ished statement not only to it's mem
,ership, but through the press to all
business concerns engaged in the
PRACTICES condemned by them.
The net effect of the Commissions
.fforts is to discourage all untruth-
ul advertising, and to eliminate re-
traints of trade which are eventually
,aid for by consumers through in
reased living costs. The field is the
argest covered by federal regulation.