55 



vidual can be variously evaluated: It might be judged a kind of 

 vindication of individual rights, an erosion of a partial and incomplete 

 mechanism of consumer protection, or a warning to civil servants to 

 interpret any regulatory mandate narrowly and precisely. One effect 

 was an encouragement to Ritchie himself to enter politics. ^^^ 



2. The effect of the case on the value of user testimonials is con- 

 jectm'al. The Academy committee and Dr. Astin made abundantly 

 clear that in the scientific community such testimonials were valueless. 

 On the other hand, the Federal Trade Commission explicitly permitted 

 them to overweigh the evidence judged pertinent by the formal 

 scientific community. On this showing, any business confronted with 

 the prospect of defending itself before the FTC would have reason to 

 collect testimonials and use them with confidence as evidence in its 

 support. Nevertheless, the au-ing of this issue before the committee 

 was probably educational for the general public — both in principle and 

 with respect to the merits of AD-X2. 



3. The message was communicated unmistakably that the new 

 Administration intended to minimize, or at least to moderate, the role 

 of the Federal Government in the regulation of private business. 



4. The role of science was confirmed as a respected institution 

 immmie from political pressures as long as the institution contributed 

 to technological opportunity, and did not insist on exercising a regulatory 

 function. Tliis effect gTew out of an interaction in wliich the scientific 

 community showed that it had strong views on the insi^dation of its 

 findings from political pressures, and could speak with a single voice 

 on issues even when the scientific e^adence seemed contradictory. On 

 the other hand the political communit}'^ was unwilling to give political 

 effect to a scientific finding that contravened political values such as 

 business freedom from Government regulation, the well-being of small 

 business, and the acceptability of testimonj^ based on practical 

 ex]Derience. 



5. The issue demonstrated both the utility and the limitations 

 of a useful methodology^ for arbitrating issues of a highly technical 

 nature. It highlighted the importance of insiu-ing that those who make, 

 interpret, or arbitrate on scientific evidence are truly disinterested 

 and objective. A committee named by the National Academy of 

 Sciences and consisting of eminent, disinterested, and scientifically 

 qualified individuals had gathered, assessed, and reported on the 

 pertinent evidence, and had been able to arrive at a unanimous 

 conclusion that was technically unassailable. However, it seems to 

 have had an indecisive effect on the political aspect of the case, and 

 was rejected as "hearsay" in the proceedings of the Federal Trade 

 Commission. 



6. As to regulatory proceedings, the case established that testi- 

 monials of satisfied users were weighty, even to the extent of over- 

 matcliing the findings of the NBS and the National Academy of 

 Sciences; it defined more precisely the limits of postal regulation 

 when science could not rule completely, mieqmvocallj", and simply 

 on a complex technological process with many variables and unknown 

 factors. In both cases, the result was a lessened interest in the role 

 of the Government as protector of the consumer. 



7. The rektionship between the Congress and the executive branch 

 on the AD-Z'i2 issue illustrated anew the axioms that careful scrutiny 



'58 See Lawrence, op. cit., p. 33. 



