REGULATION AND CONTROL

As an outcome of his investigation of conditions in the mining and distribution of coal, Senator Oalder has introduced in the Senate a comprehensive bill providing for regulation of the coal industry by the government. A licensing system based on the furnishing of required information; taxation of brokers' scales above certain margins; and the provision that in an emergency the President may deal in coal and control its production, movement, and distribution, are the most important features of this new bill.

While the resolution primarily purports to provide for impartial publicity for the "benefit of the public," it is not difficult to realize that its possibilities do not end there. Indeed, Senator Caider himself admits that it is an opening wedge for additional legislation. And although the bill does not set up any new governmental machinery, it is nevertheless an effective step toward even broader control.

As a relief measure for the present situation, the bill is undoubtedly a valuable one. But its danger lies in the fact that it paves the way for complete nationalization--a danger which outweighs the bill's momentary merits. Were there in this country an effective Civil Service, or were it possible to eliminate party polities from the actual machinery of the government, nationalization would be the logical remedy for most of the problems affecting those industries essential to public welfare. But unfortunately there exiate in the United States no permanent system of disinterested administration. Governmental control is only too apt to mean but one more card in the hands of these who make politics, and not business, their study; and as long as such a condition continues to exist, just so long must any trend toward governmental control be considered unwise.