THE YEAR'S HIGHLIGHTS Chapter One Unprecedented vigor in law enforcement by the Federal Trade Commission during fiscal 1960 produced a greater volume of casework than during any of its 46 years of existence. Not only was a new record of 503 complaints achieved, but the previous year was exceeded by 44 percent, with nearly twice as many antitrust actions and 28 percent more cases brought to halt false advertising and other deceptive practices. Accounting for this performance were three principal factors: First, good teamwork between the Commission and its staff made it possible to take advantage of the momentum generated in the previous few years and to accelerate it sharply; second, increasing awareness by business and the public of the Commission's purpose and capacity encouraged an alltime record number of applications for corrective actions; and, third, investigation techniques were devised to throw a wider net over particular areas of law violation. Indeed, the fiscal year's performance revealed such actual and potential usefulness both in protecting consumers and in removing illegal stumbling blocks to fair business competition that the Commission's workload grew faster than its capacity to handle it. While the Commission's staff was being increased only 6 percent, from 734 to 778, applications for complaint increased nearly 35 percent, from 4,400 to 5,930. In addition were those law enforcement actions initiated by the Commission itself. In the latter category were cases developed through broad investigations of trade restraints. Acting on information that a few firms were engaging in illegal practices, the Commission took steps to ascertain how widespread was the practice and what type of action could correct it effectively and equitably. Were it possible to single out any particular aspect of the Commission's work which would distinguish fiscal 1960 from previous years, it would be the unprecedented emphasis given efforts to correct improper business practices on a wide scale. This was true both in the antimonopoly and anti-deceptive-practice fields. Wherever and whenever it was feasible, the Commission undertook to spread its corrective action to as many equally culpable business firms as possible. In many cases, of course, simultaneous actions could not be undertaken without unduly delaying justice, whereupon the Commission followed its historic pattern of bringing individual cases to serve the dual purpose of halting specific violations of the law and identifying the shoals of illegality for the guidance of business and the public. Of the broad-scale corrective actions, the most significant was the precedent breaking effort to halt widespread violations of the Robinson-Patman amendment to the Clayton Act. Here a two-pronged attack was mounted, with one objective to educate businessmen to the R-P Act's prohibitions against illegal promotional allowances and services (principally advertising allowances), and the other objective to identify law violations on an industrywide basis and bring the necessary mandatory action to halt them on as nearly a simultaneous basis as possible. The educational phase of this effort was accomplished through issuance of the Commission's first Guide pertaining to the antitrust laws. This Guide spelled out in layman's language the general prohibitions of sections 2(d) and 2(e) of the R-P Act. These outlaw the giving of discriminatory allowances or services to a favored buyer in commerce. By the end of the fiscal year, more than 40,000 copies of this Guide had been distributed, and the demand for more was continuing. In addition, many business groups and trade associations, as well as the trade press, reported the Guide in great detail. The mandatory actions looking to the halting of industrywide violations of the R-P Act were highlighted during the year by an attack on illegal brokerage in the citrus fruit industry. Employing its powers under section 6 of the FTC Act which had heretofore been rarely used in investigating possible law violations the Commission ordered 118 Florida corporations engaged in shipping fresh citrus fruit to file reports on specified aspects of their business. These reports verified the fact that illegal brokerage payments were widespread. Here both equity and proper law enforcement required fast action against all the violators. The section 6 questionnaires were sent out beginning in April 1960, and 3 months later 41 formal complaints had been issued. A significant byproduct of the reports was that they prompted 26 additional investigations involving other alleged law violations. Use of its section 6 powers for a broad probe into possible violations of the R-P Act also was employed by the Commission in the grocery field. Questionnaires were sent to 113 suppliers of groceries who participated in extraordinary sales promotions by their chainstore customers. Similar reports were required during the year from 205 chain and cooperative store organizations to determine whether |