New Britain herald., 1915-04-08
BUSINESSMEN NEEDED IN PUBLIC AFFAIRS
6. Dave Gives Interesting Talk at
 Chamber Of Commerce Meeli1g.

merce of the United States and @ not ed writer and lecturer, who talked at a membership meeting of the Cham- Der of Commerce last night.
 The meeting was scheduled for the Grammar school hall, but there had been some misunderstanding as to the engagement of the hall and the jani tor had not been notified. When the janitor could not be found, adjourn ment was made to the Chamber of Commerce rooms, where MT. Dave spoke extemperaneously on Team Work Between Government and Bus mess. What it Would Mean to Our Country"
 Having great faith in laws he said, we have tried to correct everything by legislation and we have tried to correct the evils in society by legisla- ting against business. Oflthe 32,000 bills presented at the last congress, only four hundred became bills, and it was only natural that many of these should be ill advised. You only need to look at your present state legisla- ture to realize how much i'll advised legislation is attempted he said. Big Enterprise Necessary.
 Probably the majority of the laws passed in the last twenty years, he said, have been directed against bus mess. The farmer may combine to raise prices, the laborer may comb bine, but business must not even look squint eyed at combination.
 'The old artisan idea," said the speaker, 'has gone and will never re- turn because we are too inventive. The big businesses that have devel- oped in the United States have been due to development on a big scale. Nothing but big enterprises would do for the United States.
 ''The huge vision of such 8 man as Huntington, who dared to see a rail- road stretching across the continent, is responsible for the San Francisco exposition.
 Big Business Never Free.
 'The tendency has been to call things bad because they are big, whereas big business has never been free. Big business has a tremendous overhead charge which it cannot es- cape, while the little business can con- tract in times of financial depres- sion. It is just as true now as be- fore that the man who chooses to concentrate on one thing and make it the best, can succeed in the United States. .r..@.=s #.4
 "The Sherman antitrust law was supposed to have restraining inf1u- ence upon combination. With it has come a denunciation of business as a political issue.
 Inquisitorial Board.
 ''The Clayton omnibus bill author izes five men in Washington to carry on an inquisitoria1 investigation of any business in the United States. The federal trade commission has to say whether interlocking is going to interfere with free competition. It has got the power to say to any cor poration: Report to us any business you have done during the year, re- port your customers, etc.,
 Other instances were given by Mir. Dave to show how far legislation has gone in the control of business
 The defect of all this, he said, is that we are producing a state of mind nationally where we believe there are diverse interests, whereas if we are clear mentally, we will see that a nation cannot exist in which there are diverse interests.
 Farmer F1attered, He Says.
 Labor, agriculture and commerce form national trinity without which there can be no progress. They form the bases of national strength. "The farmer, he explained, has been fed with f1attery. He has been informed that without him the rest
 
 form him that he is the most im> portant element of society is wrong.
 con the other hand, to say to the laborer that he makes all wealth is not to use discrimination. With the aid of capital, he does that which is much more magical than the farmer To set either up with a false sense of his importance and then to array the demagogues against business is not fair. By pulling together we can move this country forward.
 Strain of Immigration.
 "How many of the people Of New Britain have come here from abroad A large number. Since 1920 more than twenty million foreigners have come to these shores, and New Eng land is more than fifty per cent. for eign. When you realize the strain placed on the social fabric of our country by those who have not had the motive of the first corners, you will realize that we can only survive that strain provided each division l shows sympathy with the other. T must be interested in my fellow man. Every blessed ono Of us must show sympathetic interest in him This is the new gospel. Breaking down the barrier of language is one of the great things being done in New Britain. The greater thought is that we who have vision shall live outside of ourselves, shall live so as to teach