Test to Come

The new head of the National Association of Manufacturers, Mr. Frederick C. Crawford, last week introduced a new word into the lexicon of that association.

Speaking before the Detroit Economic Club, Mr. Crawford rarely mentioned the Association's oriflamme of "free private enterprise" without interpolating the word "competitive" in lieu of "private." Whereas most of the resolutions passed by N.A.M. at its December convention in New York rarely mentioned competition, Mr. Crawford came back again & again, to the theme. Said he:

"Competition is the real key to the enterprise system. . . . Every unnecessary curb on competition is a curb on opportunities for Americans--a curb on jobs, on higher standards of living. That's why the principles of the Anti-Trust laws are endorsed by American industry."

If Mr. Crawford's speech truly reflects N.A.M. sentiment, there is indeed something new in the leadership of U.S. business, and the long-standing suspicion that N.A.M. is the mouthpiece for those elements in big business most addicted to "sticky" fixed prices is no longer justified.

Mr. Crawford's speech was also noteworthy because it edged, however gingerly, towards a doctrine of freer international trade. "If we want a market in China, Russia, India and other nations for the goods we can produce best," said he, "obviously we must not bar those nations from our own market." He carefully omitted any reference to Great Britain, which happens to constitute the crucial postwar trade problem for three reasons: 1) British and American trade before the war was the biggest slice of all world trade; 2) discriminatory U.S. tariffs played a large part in driving Britain to discriminatory Empire agreements and may do so again; 3) British industrial exports are precisely those which will compete with many a product made by members of N.A.M.

Real test of Mr. Crawford's international philosophy will lie in how the National Association of Manufacturers throws its weight when the Hull reciprocal tariff policy comes up for its Congressional test this spring.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.