The Bismarck Tribune Newspaper, April 24, 1935, Page 4

The ® An Independent Newspaper THE STATE’S OLDEST NEWSPAPER (Established 1873) ‘State, City and County Official Newspaper by The Bismarck Tribune Company, Bis- Marck, N. D., and entered at the postoffice at Bismarck ‘@8 second class mail matter. Daily by carrier, per year Daily by mail, per year (in Bismarck) . .%. Daily by mail, per year (in state outside of Bismarck 5. by Weekly by mail in state, per year . mail outside of Ne Member of Audit Bureau of Circulation Member of The Associated Press ‘The Associated Press is exclusively entitled to the se for republication of all news di ch. 1 it or not otherwise credited in this per he local news of spontaneous origin pu lished in, au rights of republication of all other matter herein are Iso reserved. Inspiration for Today Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.—Proverbs, 9:17. ‘The world is governed only by self-interest.— And Probably Worth It Some readers may be shocked to learn that the top man in Sears, Roebuck and company gets $85,139 a year in salary and his first assistant gets $81,818, as reported to the fed- eral securities commission. It is a lot of money and many people will undoubtedly take the position that no man’s services are worth that much. It all depends upon the point of view. If the so-called social thinker wishes to contrast these princely emoluments with the low incomes of so many of our people, he has at least the beginnings of a case, but if the decision hinges upon the results obtained the argument takes on a different complexion. The men to whom these salaries are paid can afford to make few mistakes. They must not only set merchandising policies but select the man to carry them out. They must have the ability to grasp the details of a far-flung business organization and keep it working smoothly. They must bring satisfaction to the customer and profits to the stockholder. Bismarck Tribunell THE BISMARCK TRIBUNE, Yehind the Scenes in Washington @ Own Files Shi NRA Tends to Solidify Monopelistic Practices Real Fire in Henderson's Findings Is ‘Well Banked . . . Collusion in Bidding Still Alive. Washington, April 24—NRA knows how to be honest with itself—but not with the rest of us. would like to know whether, as Senator Borah has always said, NRA has had the effect of fos- tering monopolies, monopolistic practices, and monopo- istic prices. ‘There's plenty of evidence that it has and the evi- dence is to be found in NRA’s own files. But investigat- @ lot deeper before they get it. Operating with NRA codes, monopolistic industries have frozen high prices solid. Even federal, state, and city governments, despite a special exempting order by NRA aimed at correcting the evil and saving the tax- payers a lot of money, can’t get discounts on their large- scale purchases of many types of supplies. You can read about it in the NRA research and planning division's study of the effects of Executive Or- der 6767, issued last June to permit bidders on public contracts to quote prices not more than 15 per cent below those allowable to private purchasers under their’ codes. (if you can get a copy! Very few are available.) se ‘FIRE’ IS SUPPRESSED But you'd never imagine the true state of affairs if you merely read the official report on the study, pre- pared and addressed to the president after Senator King had asked for it. It isn’t clear just who wrote it, but it’s signed Executive Order 6767 was an answer to # great howl from federal, state, and city purchasing agents who) claimed taxpayers were being soaked by a flood of tie- bids (identical bids) on public contracts. It was assumed lower bids within the 15 per cent margin would be submitted by supply industries and that there'd be a greater variance of bids. But look at a few excerpts from Henderson's sum- of obtainable evi- enly sporadically effective in increasing competi- tive auction bidding upon contracts te be let by MANY BIDS INCREASED “Out of a total of 85 sets of contracts studied (a total including practically all purchases of the procurement division of the treasury and the bureau of supplies and accounts of the navy), 41 showed an increase in the amount of tie-bidding after the order was issued, 10 showed no change, while 34 showed a decline. “The percentage of tie-bids increased notably in such industries as iron and steel, paper and pulp prod- ucts and building materials. It remained about the same in such industries as automotive, paint and varnish, chemical and glass containers, and decreased substan- tially in such industries as asbestos, scientific apparatus and cement... “. + practically no evidence was found that the or- der secured to the public exchequers even a fraction of ‘upon most universally bidders upon public offer a discount... That sort of genius is not found in every poved individual. Such jobs require not only train- ing but natural aptitude. If, by employing them, their stockholder employers earn a profit instead of showing a loss, they are well worth their pay. Certainly they do far more to earn it than the men who get rich quickly by the devious processes of high finance and by putting high values on worthless pieces of paper sold to the public under the name of stocks or bonds. gir Relations With Japan Belie All War Talk During the last three or four years, the average American has come to recognise the word Japan as a Synonym for trouble, Japan was doing this, that, or the other thing in China and Manchuria; Japan was refusing to abide by the Washington treaty; Japan was fortifying mandated fslands in the Pacific; some day Japan and the United Mates would get together and fight it all out. ‘That was the burden of most public references to @apan in this country. And since cultivation of an atti- ude like that is a necessary prelude to war, it all had a Pretty ominous sound. But of late the keynote seems to have changed. We annually. These sales constitute the largest single item fn America’s agricultural export trade. Last year the United States’ sales of cotton to Japan outvalued the total of all Japanese exports to the United 4 al ie Hilt E if § £ rs | HY All of which was considered too hot to pass on to the public. The official report on the study is full of weaseled phraseology. It even says tie-bids “may indi- cate the closest kind of competitive »” to which With Other sDITORS aE FALE Bre sed feee er & i i if idea of a real gentleman is one who would woman bis seat on the stock exchange. ida ing senators, considering new legislation, will have to dig|_ i fl g2 £3 Russian Envoy HORIZONTAL Answer tu Previous Puzzle tO Black bird. (1 Ten cents. (2 Epochs. i (3He is the —— TT | INBRCIAIRIE TT) vepresentative [AITMET IU/L |) IP) 56 Solitary. 87 Toward sea. 58 His title is Prrrrir. Pitt t Egfs sér ase i i #7 ab ; H 4328 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 1935 REET EY ASE The Crown Jewels | tte meal hit tele Heh i | 1 i rat ath iui if a i i if bit a a tla a eltobe HEEL iat ae tia all dt fel tH ‘ Hi if if if Hit 3! 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