The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1933-08-15
THE NRA EXPERIMENT


Bruce Cation. special writer for The
TimeS-NewS, looks out over the country,
measures conditions and forecasts results,
and concludes that the NRA campaign is
going to attain a reasonable measure OF
success. 1t is evident, according to Cation,
that a large majority of the people of the
country are backing the NRA and are pro-
posing to give the experiment fair trial
In spite of this fact, almost insurmountable
difficulties will be encountered as the
movement proceeds; and this will not re-
suit from the intention of a considerable
body of citizens to block the experiment,
but from the fact that millions of citizens
who are heartily in accord with the pur-
poses of NRA will find it absolutely impos-
sible to comply with the conditions.
There are millions of individuals and
small businesses in this country that can
not fulfill the primary purpose OF MIA,
which is to employ more labor and pay
higher wages. Improvement in business
conditions will have to come first, enabling
these people to get in financial condition
to proceed along NRA lines. They do not
possess the resources necessary to enable
them to increase expenses and wait for in
creased business. They have no cash sur
plus and no place to go for money. The
banks will not supply capital to be used IN
carrying on their enterprises while they
wait for better business.
Now, in the case of these business men
and their enterprises, the primary purpose
of the NRA program, to get business going
on a normal scale, will be defeated by any
effort to compel them to shoulder impos-
sible burdens and do things which are HUI
manly impossible. This effort would result
in the wrecking of many small business en-
terprises and the closing down of many. A
small manufacturer who has no cash sur
be operating at present at loss, cannot
possibly meet increased operating costs.
To do so would be to add that increased
cost to his already mounting losses. Under
NRA pressure that manufacturer can close
his plant. That is the only course left to
him. The government cannot compel him
to operate his plant either prof1tably or
at loss-it cannot expect him to operate
at loss when the money to carry on is not
to be obtained from any source.
If the small manufacturer or business
man is put out of business, temporarily or
permanently, bad conditions are made
worse, unemployment is increased and the
sum total of wages is decreased.
OF course, no person in the country, per-
haps, is so dump as to suppose that Presi-
dent Roosevelt, General Johnson and their
associates do not know these things; but
up to the present time they have indicated
no purpose to meet this serious and menac.
ing condition. Perhaps the time for action
in this particular has not arrived. 1t viii
arrive speedily, however; and it is a men
ace to the success of the recovery program
which must be faced and settled right
otherwise the recovery program will BIZ
wrecked on the downfall of small business
in this country.
A store in Hendersonville cannot operatt
under the iron-elad conditions which MAY
be. enforced in a metropolitan store. 4
small industry anywhere in the countr,
cannot meet all the conditions exacted D
the great business corporations of III
country. The Times-News cannot operat
under the conditions proposed for metr