The Bottlenecks of Business PDF book by Thurman W. Arnold ( 1940 )

Introduction:





This book is dedicated to the men in the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice whose anonymous work during the past two years has been responsible for the revival of interest in breaking down the barriers of trade in this country. I cannot say too much about the quality of their services. It has the required intelligence and energy of a high order.









It has also required the sacrifice of personal interest by men who believed in the job they were doing. Men in the Division have frequently turned down higher salaries because they were in the midst of cases for the Division which they were too loyal to abandon. Because sufficient travel funds were not appropriated, men in the Division have been asked to pay their own expenses while they conducted investigations or cases away from Washington.









There was no way of compelling them to make this sacrifice, yet there wasn’t a man who refused to take an assignment in the field at his own expense. I quote from a letter from one of them: Assuming that I receive per diem for thirty days up to the middle of May (which Johnston Avery said would be the case, although I have not yet put in a voucher),





I should estimate that my financial contribution to the success of the fertilizer case, for which I shall have received no reimbursement in any manner, will amount to something in excess of $500. Similar sacrifices have been made by other members of our staff, but we have not been overly voluble in our complaints, because we so greatly enjoy the opportunity of working together with such a congenial and talented group of lawyers under the direction of so skillful a chief as Mr. Pearce. Consequently, the morale of our force is still very high, notwithstanding any impediments in the operations of the quartermaster’s department. In addition to all this, the men of the Antitrust Division have gone without vacations. They have worked long hours. They have treated the cases which they were working on as more important than any personal interest. They have been real soldiers in a cause in which they believe.

Contents