Sherman Act, and more

[Marshall Price]

     Here's an entry I found in "The New American Desk
Encyclopedia," a paperback I picked up recently at Border's
for about $1.50.  I highly recommend it for avoiding Foot-
in-Mouth Disease (along with another paperback, Oxford U's
"Concise Science Dictionary," which will set you back
eleven dollars, but get you years ahead in science).

          SHERMAN ANTITRUST ACT (1890), first major
     federal action to curb the power of the giant
     business MONOPOLIES [a cross-reference] which
     grew up after the Civil War.  Its failure to
     define key terms, such as "trust," "combination,"
     and "restraint of trade," led to loopholes, and
     it was strengthened by the CLAYTON ANTITRUST ACT
     (1914).

     As I understand it, what grated on the people's nerves
was the way a few rich people not only got their way with
Congress (J. P. Morgan, for instance, got a square mile of
real estate for every mile of track he laid, even though he
did it with other people's money, and received generous
bribes and political clout by routing it through some towns
at the expense of others), but worst of all, they
intentionally forced all their competitors into bankruptcy,
so they could charge as much as they wanted in the markets
they monopolized.
     That restrained trade, which is what the law is all
about.  It's a far cry from openly discussing your fees, or
trying to be the best at whatever you do.
     Price-fixing is related, and also wrong -- sometimes
illegal -- but otherwise very different.
     I remember seeing a little PTG "calculator" around
1970, giving estimates of how long various jobs took, on
the average, to the tenths of hours.  It was clear that if
one took the various suggestions literally, that would
pretty much tell you what to charge.  In the political
climate of the times, that was bordering on totalitarianism.
     For example, it was common for every tuner in a town to
charge the same fee for a "fine" tuning, two thirds of which
would then be the hourly labor rate.  There was near-
universal agreement on the numbers in the "calculator," and
on how much it cost to operate a car, and so on; in short,
how much to charge for everything -- and any variance was
sure to raise eyebrows.
     I think you'll find auto mechanics much more conversant
with these issues, as they were (and still are) facing much
more competition; the rate books are commonplace, and the
public is largely blind to the fact that their work, like
ours, is an art, somewhat unpredictable, and highly
dependent on hard-learned skills.
     The reason I (and perhaps half the tuners and
technicians in America) don't join the guild is strictly a
philosophical one.  I like our American freedoms, and don't
like large, powerful organizations, which by their very
nature, encourage authoritarian decision-making, by people
who grow increasingly sure of themselves -- the perfect
formula for stifling progress and the free exchange of
ideas, and contrary to the spirit of invention which
inspired Cristofori and his successors.
     Similarly, though I appreciate the contributions
piano technicians make, and share, I have to draw the line
when the PTG legislates its own morality, enforcing it with
penalties, and decides who is competent, based on its own
technology (which I have seen swing to one extreme after
another, though always perfect).  No, thanks!
     My father was the president of one guild (AGVA, the
American Guild of Variety Artists), and Ronald Reagan of
another (SAG, the Screen Actors Guild).
     (By the way, these guilds do fix prices -- legally.
All their members work at least for "scale," which is
enough to ensure that they often can't find work.)  Aside
from advancing their arts and setting up retirement homes
(two excellent works!), they don't seem to do much good,
and they have the potential for doing immense harm.
     My father's guild fought hard to protect Broadway
from the House Un-American Affairs Committee, while
Reagan's capitulated.  In Congress, the public witnessed
a melee of witch-hunting in which many innocent people
(mostly in Hollywood) lost everything they held dear,
often simply because they were born in Eastern Europe, or
went to a lecture, or disapproved of war, or antagonized
the wrong person.  It was an ideal opportunity for any one
with an ax to grind, or a rap to beat (and a shortage of
morality) to stab their enemies in the back, under the
guise of patriotism.
     I find particularly disturbing the notion of closing
off our art by legislation, licensing, etc.  Such
atrocities have corrupted many professions: the law,
medicine, nursing, education, business....
     Here in Florida, it's almost impossible to find a form
of self-employment for which there isn't an accrediting or
licensing authority, and the licensees regard themselves as
an elite, and have little trouble getting the legislature
to regulate and enforce their establishment, ostensibly to
protect the public, while mongering fears of frauds and con
artists.  The rewards are tempting for those who will be
"grandfathered in," and the future consequences are all too
vague, however dire.
     Is it any wonder that today, reputations count for
nothing, and people go to college (of all places!) to
prepare for careers in acting, dancing, singing, music,
painting, etc.?
     My father also had a seat on the New York Stock
Exchange, where millions of dollars changed hands without
so much as a handshake, or even a word; one's reputation
was everything.
     He wanted me to learn the ropes the old-fashioned way,
by working as a page.  But by the time I reached the
starting age of fourteen, one needed a college education
to join, reputations were little regarded, and the era of
lawlessness on Wall Street was already breaking out.  Most
of the floor traders weren't members, but employees, with
no more at stake than a job, and what had been a very
prestigious vocation, full of honor and philanthropy (yes,
philanthropy!) was looking more like a fast track to
superwealth for millionaires' sons.  I told him I didn't
want the seat, and to me the very word "business" still
sounds a bit disreputable.


Marshall Price
d021317c@dcfreenet.seflin.lib.fl.us