Presidential Papers, Doc#599 Memorandum for files Diary, 8 March 1958. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower
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Document #599; March 8, 1958
Diary
Series: EM, AWF, DDE Diaries Series ; Category: Memorandum for files
The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volume XIX - The Presidency: Keeping the Peace
Part IV: Recession and Reform; February 1958 to May 1958
Chapter 8: "To engender confidence"

 

Jim Black was in to see me for some twenty minutes.1 I could not determine exactly the purpose of Mr. Black's visit with me. He did tell me something about a law suit now pending in the Supreme Court which is known as the "Memphis Case."2 I told him that I had no interest in any law suits and did not have the time to study them. But he gave an economic twist to his presentation by saying that if the Supreme Court did not reverse the Appeal Court decision, a number of steel companies would have to cancel (and in some cases have already cancelled) contracts for making of steel pipe.

I reminded him that I had nothing to do with such cases and we would have to see what the Supreme Court said.

1 James Cunard Black, manager of the Republic Steel Corporation in Washington, D.C., had met with Eisenhower for twenty minutes that morning (for background see Galambos, NATO and the Campaign of 1952, no. 478; Galambos, Columbia University, no. 944).

2 On February 3, 1958, the Supreme Court had agreed to review the so-called "Memphis case," in which a lower federal court had ruled that unless customers agreed, rate increases filed by natural gas pipeline companies could not go into effect until the Federal Power Commission had conducted proceedings to determine their legality. The pipeline companies opposed to the ruling argued that it was unfair to make them keep charging rates that the commission might later find inadequate. Many companies feared they might go bankrupt under such a policy in times of rising prices (see New York Times, Feb. 4, 1958). On December 8 the Supreme Court would rule in favor of the pipeline companies, allowing gas prices to go up six months after the filing of new rate schedules, subject to later revision by the FPC (see New York Times, Dec. 9, 1958).

Bibliographic reference to this document:
Eisenhower, Dwight D. Memorandum for files Diary, 8 March 1958. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 599. World Wide Web facsimile by The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission of the print edition; Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, http://www.eisenhowermemorial.org/presidential-papers/second-term/documents/599.cfm

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