Slightly Confusing

It was all a little confusing. Six weeks ago, the Department of Justice had asked the courts to break up the Aluminum Co. of America. Last week another federal agency, the War Assets Administration, approved a deal to make Alcoa bigger. It sold to Alcoa, for $5,000,000, the Government's $19 million aluminum reduction plant at Massena, N.Y.

As part of the deal, Alcoa agreed to let the rest of the industry use its alloy patents and several of its most important fabricating patents without charge. WAA thought that this put the industry on a competitive footing. But the Justice Department's trustbusters hit the ceiling.

The deal, they charged, violated the anti-trust laws; the department will press its charges against Alcoa. Washington wondered if Justice would now prosecute WAA.

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