State

June 30, 1934 THE STATE Page Seven WHO IS THIS FELLOW, —MURCHISON?— MOST people don't know very much about the North Carolinian who recently was appointed Director of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. Mr. Avery brings out some interesting particulars con¬ cerning the gentleman. to ask such ques¬ tions as “Doctor, did vou ever write a book ?” He talks willing¬ ly enough, but about things rather than himself. He hns a natural curiosity and mental inquisi¬ tiveness which com¬ pel him to squeeze information from others as you squeeze juice from an orange. DR. CLAUDIUS TEMPLE MURCHISON By JOHNSTON AVERY ★ IF it is true, as many experts con¬ tend, that the trend of journalistic style is definitely breaking away from the familiar sterolype of the past decade or so. then anyone who attempts to interview Dr. Claudius Temple Murchison, recently appointed Direc¬ tor of the Bureau of Foreign and Do¬ mestic Commerce in Washington, is destined to join in with the new move¬ ment. For Mr. Murchison can’t be inter¬ viewed by any of the rules known to my generation of newspaper men. Maybe it is the suddenness of this twist of fate which lifted him from the cam¬ pus of Chapel Hill and catapulted him into one of the key jobs of the federal government. Maybe it is his unfa¬ miliarity with the hub-dub surround¬ ing high public office. Or maybe it is a natural modesty. 1 confess a be¬ wilderment, but one thing is certain: You can’t press the vanity button on Dr. Murchison and make him start with the crndle nnd follow through to his present position of eminence. You can find out, by direct questions, that he was born in Catawba County, Xorth Carolina, 45 years ago. the son of a Baptist minister and professor; and you can learn that he graduated from Wake Forest in 1011, became interested in economics nnd followed his inclinations to Columbia University where he studied at the shrine of the celebrated Dr. W. C. Mitchell, there winning his doc¬ tor’s degree. But if you find out that in 1010 he wrote a book on “Resale Price Main¬ tenance" which lifted him to the ele¬ vation of one of the foremost cconmists of the country, and that in 1030 he wrote another on “King Cotton Is Sick," and that in the meantime he has written numerous widely quoted and scholarly articles for magazines— if you find out any of that, you have got He is the most intense listener I think 1 have ever known. When he is listening, which is almost an habitual state with him, he droops his right eye and puffs lightly on his pipe, with a box of matches always ready in his hand. He is as intense as a pointer dog with his nose barely three feet from the covey. If an idea or a bit of information is flushed he nabs it almost hungrily. A match scrapes gently across the end of a box. Л flame bursts forth and it moves slowly and methodically to the bowl of his pipe. Puff — Puff — Puff! And the process of digesting that new idea or bit of information Ini' been thoroughly completed. Before looking further into tin* life and character of Dr. Murchison, let us look briefly at the nature of the job he has been called upon to perform. It is a significant observation that in the Congressional Directory where of¬ ficial duties of the various Bureaus and Evccutive Departments arc outlined there are not more than three divisions of the regularly established depart¬ ments which occupy more space than does the Bureau of Foreign and Domes¬ tic Commerce. Its chief function is to act as the balance wheel or the clear¬ ing house between American business and its ultimate market. The official language says it must - ★ - "promote and develop the foreign and domestic commerce of the United States.” The wide sweep of that com¬ mand might well take your breath away but the law creating the Bureau is much more specific. It is divided un¬ der eight general classifications, as fol¬ lows : Included under the obligations with which it is charged are such duties as (1) “To re|Kirt upon the domestic as well as the foreign problems relating to production, distribution and market¬ ing in so far as they relate to the im¬ portant export industries of the United States"; (2) to investigate and report upon such conditions in the manufac¬ turing industries and trade of foreign countries as may be of interest to the United States”; (3) to promote Amer¬ ican trade with Europe, Latin Amer¬ ica, the Far East, Africa, and other areas; (4) "to operate and maintain district and cooperative offices within the United States”; (5) to enforce the Chinn Trade Act regarding the tax ex¬ emptions of American firms doing busi¬ ness with China; (fi) to compile and publish statistics on foreign trade; (7) to investigate trade restrictions nnd regulations of foreign countries in re¬ lation to American commerce; (8) to ( Continued on /mi ge hrenty-onr)