Speaker 1: Chapter forty four of Philip Drew Administrator by Edward House.
Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain, recorded by
Speaker 1: the Progressing America Project, Chapter forty four, One Cause of
Speaker 1: the High Cost of Living. In one of their fireside talks,
Speaker 1: Selwyn told Dru that a potential weapon in the hands
Speaker 1: of those who had selfish purposes to subserve was the
Speaker 1: long and confusing ballot. Whenever a change is suggested by
Speaker 1: which it can be shortened and the candidates brought with
Speaker 1: an easy review of the electorate, the objection is always raised,
Speaker 1: said Selwyn, that the rights of the people are being invaded.
Speaker 1: Let the people rule, is the cry, he said, and
Speaker 1: the unthinking many, believing that democratic government is being threatened,
Speaker 1: demand that they be permitted to vote for every petty officer.
Speaker 1: Of course, quite the reverse is true, continued Selwyn, for
Speaker 1: when the ballot is filled with names of candidates running
Speaker 1: for general and local offices, there is, besides the confusion,
Speaker 1: the usual trading. As a rule, interest centers on the
Speaker 1: local man, and there is less scrutiny of those candidates
Speaker 1: seeking the more important offices. While I had already made
Speaker 1: up my mind, said Drew as to the short ballot
Speaker 1: and a direct accountability to the people. I am glad
Speaker 1: to have you confirm the correctness of my views. You
Speaker 1: may take my word for it. General drew that the
Speaker 1: interests also desire large bodies of lawmakers instead of few.
Speaker 1: You may perhaps recall how vigorously they opposed the commission
Speaker 1: form of government for cities. Under the old system, where
Speaker 1: there was a large council, no one was responsible. If
Speaker 1: a citizen had a grievance and complained to his councilman,
Speaker 1: he was perhaps truthfully told that he was not to blame.
Speaker 1: He was sent from one member of the city government
Speaker 1: to the other, and, unable to obtain relief. In sheer desperation,
Speaker 1: he gave up hope and abandoned his effort for justice.
Speaker 1: But under the commission form of government, none of the
Speaker 1: officials can shirk responsibility. Each is in charge of a department,
Speaker 1: and if there is inefficiency, it is easy to place
Speaker 1: the blame where it properly belongs. Under such a system,
Speaker 1: the administration of public affairs becomes at once simple, direct
Speaker 1: and business like. If any outside corrupt influences seek to
Speaker 1: creep in, they are easy of detection, and the punishment
Speaker 1: can be made swift and certain. I want to thank
Speaker 1: you again, Senator Selwyn, for the help you have been
Speaker 1: to me in giving me the benefit of your ripe
Speaker 1: experience in public affairs, said Drew. And there is another
Speaker 1: phase of the subject that I would like to discuss
Speaker 1: with you. I have thought long and seriously how to
Speaker 1: overcome the fixing of prices by individuals and corporations, and
Speaker 1: how the people may be protected from that form of robbery.
Speaker 1: When there is a monopoly or trust, it is easy
Speaker 1: to locate the offense, but it is a different proposition
Speaker 1: when one needs to deal with a large number of
Speaker 1: corporations and individuals. Two under the guise of competition, have
Speaker 1: an understanding both as to prices and territory to be served.
Speaker 1: For instance, the coal dealers at the beginning of winter
Speaker 1: announce a fixed price for coal. If there are fifty
Speaker 1: of them and all are approached, not one of them
Speaker 1: will vary his quotation from the other forty nine. If
Speaker 1: he should do so, the coal operators would be informed,
Speaker 1: and the offending dealer would find, by some pretext or another,
Speaker 1: his supply cut off. We see the same condition regarding
Speaker 1: large supply and manufacturing concerns which cover the country with
Speaker 1: their very essential products. A keen rivalry is apparent, and
Speaker 1: competitive bids in sealed envelopes are made when requested. But
Speaker 1: as a matter of fact, we know that there is
Speaker 1: no competition. Can you give me any information upon this matter?
Speaker 1: There are many and devious ways by which the law
Speaker 1: can be evaded, and by which the dispoliation of the
Speaker 1: public may be accomplished, said Selwyn. The representatives of those
Speaker 1: large business concerns meet and a map of the United
Speaker 1: States is spread out before them. This map is regarded
Speaker 1: by them very much as if it were a huge
Speaker 1: pie that is to be divided according to the capacity
Speaker 1: of each to absorb and digest his share. The territory
Speaker 1: is not squared off, that is, taking in whole sections
Speaker 1: of contiguous country, but in a much more subtle way,
Speaker 1: so that the delusion of competition may be undisturbed. When
Speaker 1: several of these concerns are requested to make prices, they
Speaker 1: readily comply and seem eager for the order. The delusion
Speaker 1: extends even to their agents, who are as innocent as
Speaker 1: the would be purchaser of the real conditions, and are
Speaker 1: doing their utmost to obtain the business. The concern in
Speaker 1: whose assigned territory the business originates, makes the price, and
Speaker 1: informs its supposed rivals of its bid, so that they
Speaker 1: may each make one slightly higher, which goes to show,
Speaker 1: said Drew, how easy it is to exploit the public
Speaker 1: when there is harmony among the exploiters. There seems to
Speaker 1: me to be two evils involved in this problem, Senator Selwyn.
Speaker 1: One is the undue cost to the people, and the other,
Speaker 1: but lesser evil, is the protection of incompetency. It is
Speaker 1: not the survival of the fittest, but an excess of
Speaker 1: profits that enables the incompetent to live and thrive. After
Speaker 1: a long and exhaustive study of this problem, the Administrator
Speaker 1: directed his legal advisers to incorporate his views into law.
Speaker 1: No individual, as such was to be permitted to deal
Speaker 1: in what might be termed products of the natural resources
Speaker 1: of the country unless he subjected himself to all the
Speaker 1: publicity and penalties that would accrue to a corporation under
Speaker 1: the new corporate regulations. Corporations, argued Drew, could be dealt
Speaker 1: with under the new laws in a way that, while
Speaker 1: fair to them, would protect the public in the future.
Speaker 1: He reminded his commission. There would be upon the directories
Speaker 1: a representative of either the national state or municipal governments,
Speaker 1: and the books and every transaction would be open to
Speaker 1: the public. This would apply to both the owner of
Speaker 1: the raw material, be it mine, forest, or what not,
Speaker 1: as well as to the corporation or individual who distributed
Speaker 1: the marketable product. It was Drew's idea that public opinion
Speaker 1: was to be invoked to aid in the task, and
Speaker 1: district attorneys and grand juries throughout the country were to
Speaker 1: be admonished to do their duty. If there was a
Speaker 1: fixity of prices in any commodity or product, or even
Speaker 1: approximately so, he declared, it would be prima faesee evidence
Speaker 1: of a combination. In this way, the administrator thought the
Speaker 1: evil of pools and trust agreements could be eradicated and
Speaker 1: a healthful competition content with reasonable profits established. If a
Speaker 1: single corporation, by its extreme efficiency or from an usual conditions,
Speaker 1: should constitute a monopoly so that there was practically no competition,
Speaker 1: then it would be necessary, he thought, for the government
Speaker 1: to fix a price reasonable to all interests involved. Therefore,
Speaker 1: it was not intended to put a limit on the
Speaker 1: size or the comprehensiveness of any corporation. Further than that
Speaker 1: it should not stifle competition except by greater efficiency in
Speaker 1: production and distribution. If this should happen, then the people
Speaker 1: and the government would be protected by publicity, by their
Speaker 1: representative on the board of directors, and by the fixing
Speaker 1: of prices if necessary. It had been shown by the
Speaker 1: career of one of the greatest industrial combinations that the
Speaker 1: world has yet known that there was a limit where
Speaker 1: size and inefficiency met. The only way that this corp
Speaker 1: operation could maintain its lead was through the devious paths
Speaker 1: of relentless monopoly. Drew wanted America to contend for its
Speaker 1: share of the world's trade, and to enable it to
Speaker 1: accomplish this, he favored giving business the widest latitude, consistent
Speaker 1: with protection of the people. When he assumed control of
Speaker 1: the government. One of the many absurdities of the American
Speaker 1: economic system was the practical inhibition of a merchant marine.
Speaker 1: While the country was second to none in the value
Speaker 1: and quantity of production, yet its laws were so framed
Speaker 1: that it was dependent upon the other nations for its
Speaker 1: transportation by sea, and its carrying trade was in no
Speaker 1: way commensurate with the dignity of the coastline, and with
Speaker 1: the power and wealth of the nation. End of Chapter
Speaker 1: forty four,