facts be brought down to date by the Department of Justice. This will not interfere in any way with any further investigation which the Federal Trade Commission may find it proper to make." The obvious inference is that the then Attorney General regarded it is as his duty to proceed against Mr. Mellon's Aluminum Trust. Very quickly, however, Mr. Stone was removed from that law-enforcement position by being promoted to a place on the Supreme Court. Whether or not his endorsement of the Federal Trade Commission's disclosures in this connection had anything to do with that sudden change of Attorneys General, we cannot say; but there are well-informed observers in Washington who believe that therein lies the explanation. At any rate, it would be interesting now to know exactly what the present Attorney General is doing, or expects to do, with respect to the Aluminum Trust. concerns. Mellon, one of the world's richest men, is the dictator and principal owner of one of its greatest monopolies, the Aluminum Company of America, and it was the exposure of its unfair practices which led President Coolidge to determine to "reorganize" the Federal Trade Commission. At the time that Mr. Hoover entered the public service he and his associates controlled organizations said to employ 175,000 men. When he gained a position of world power he began the formation of a gigantic human machine whose personnel penetrated all the departments of the Government at Washington and had a part in the administration of almost every activity of business-in-government abroad. Big Business found in him an energetic and powerful ally when it went out to destroy the Federal Trade Commission. Soon after he became head of the Commerce Department moves were inaugurated to transfer certain functions of the Trade Commission to his branch of the Government. Hoover personally addressed a questionnaire to the then Attorney General, Harry M. Daugherty, citing certain practices of Big Business which were forbidden by the Federal Trade Commission and asking for an opinion as to the legality of such acts. Daugherty very promptly answered with a decision that the practices were unlawful. Following this Hoover became an active crusader against "Bureaucracy by inference," classing the Federal Trade Commission with the little bureaus and commissions which should be abolished. In a speech before Big Business' propaganda organization in Washington, The National Chamber of Commerce, Hoover noted the fact that there were 200 different bureaus, boards, and commissions, employing several hundred thousand persons. Then he backed up Commissioner Humphrey, of the Federal Trade Commission, who was attacking that body before the same audience, by saying that one of the greatest dangers of the period was "the steady tide of Federal encroachments into State authorityand beyond this a steady thrust of the arm of the Federal Government into our private business." Hoover's Department of Commerce has already been given control of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, the Bureau of the Census, the Bureau of Standards, the Bureau of Fisheries, the Bureau of Lighthouses, the Bureau of Navigation, the Coast and Geodetic Survey, the Steamboat Inspection Service, the Patent Office, the Bureau of Mines, and now inspired newspaper statements promise to him control of the Tariff Board and the Federal Trade Commission. SE Norris Sums It Up ENATOR NORRIS, in a press report of an interview, on May 7, thus summed up what President Coolidge had been doing to destroy the usefulness of the Federal Trade, Interstate Commerce, and Tariff Commissions: "As a result of the deliberate policy of this Administration to destroy the independence and effectiveness of these agencies, originally intended as independent, judicial regulatory bodies, and to pack them with reactionaries, obedient to the will of the interests to be regulated, the usefulness of all three Commissions has ceased. "They are now nothing more than rubber stamps for the railroad interests and high tariff seekers. By putting Humphrey on the Federal Trade Commission, President Coolidge, perhaps unconsciously, but no less effectively, destroyed at one stroke the whole purpose of that body. It is being shown daily in the wholesale dismissal of complaints against business concerns and the policy of secrecy upon all proceedings. "Everybody can see what has happened in the Tariff Commission. Commissioners Lewis and Culberson were the two who fought against the evil practices in that body and who had the independence to recommend a cut in the sugar duty. Culberson has been ousted via diplomatic appointment and Lewis was forced out after he refused to take a hint, that, in order to stay, he would have to obey the wishes of the high tariff powers. "The Interstate Commerce Commission is just another example of the same thing. President Coolidge put Woodlock, a railroad man, whose whole life and whose entire interests were wrapped up in defense of the railroads, into that judicial body. However honest these men may be personally, it is a mockery to put such biased judges in these places. "I cannot understand the total indifference of the public to these things. They are going on under our eyes and save for one or two of us, who perhaps foolishly continue to believe in some of the fundamentals and principles at stake, nobody seems to care a whoop about it." "You can order what you please, but you'll eat what I give you!" The Present Personnel THIS Commission was created in 1914. Ex-Presi dent Wilson then appointed the following five Commissioners: Joseph E. Davies, Wisconsin, for seven years; Edward N. Hurley, Illinois, for six years; Wm. J. Harris, Georgia, for five years; Wm. H. Parry, Washington, for four years; George Rublee, New Hampshire, for three years. The Republican Old Guard in the Senate refused to confirm the appointment of Mr. Rublee. All the others were confirmed March 2, 1915. Later, in 1917, John Franklin Fort, New Jersey, was appointed. The present Commission, whose functioning we have described, is composed of Vernon W. Van Fleet, appointed by Harding, whose term expires September 25, 1928. John F. Nugent, appointed by Wilson, whose term expires September 25, 1927. Huston Thompson, appointed by Wilson, whose term expires September 25, 1926. Chas. W. Hunt, appointed by Coolidge, whose term expires September 25, 1925. Wm. E. Humphrey, appointed by Coolidge, whose term expires September 25, 1931. The Searchlight Believes That America faces political disaster unless our young people be given the fullest information about public affairs and are taught their responsibility to their government. Their need is great. They are eager for knowledge, as these characteristic letters show: Every year we answer thousands of letters like these from students, and the burden has become too great to carry alone. Will you help? A year's file of The Searchlight makes current history accessible to each student, easily read and understandable. Give two or more subscriptions to High School Boys and Girls in your state. The regular price is $2.00 a year; but we will furnish these special student subscriptions two for three dollars. THE SEARCHLIGHT ON CONGRESS Lenox Building Washington, D. C. Getting out The Searchlight is only a small part of the job. By far the most arduous task just now is to meet the demand ury Industrialism and the Government - 10 The Coming Senatorial Elections 11 12 12 12 12 13 14 14 What Our Readers Think 15 Fletcher on Cloture THE for detailed information covering the record of Senators whose SEARCHLIGHT terms expire next year. The interest in these coming elections appears to be keen and general, which is as it should be. Help us to help all who desire enlightenment, both as students and citizens. The need is real; the results will be of lasting benefit to the Republic. ON CONGRESS And on the DEMOCRACY which goves it EXISTENCE LYNN HAINES, Editor DORA B. HAINES, Business Manager |