Evening star., 1934-12-02
SMALL BUSINESS SEEN
FEARING CONTROLB U.S..
Stories of Personal Experiences Con-
vince Observer New Deal Exerts
Unfair Supervision.
men have a sense Of fear and oppres-


sion.
I cite some examples that have re-
Gently come to me in letters from vari-
Gus parts Of the country. They con-
stitute. very roughly and sketchily, of
course, survey Of the state OF the
Nation as seen by the small business
man.
In Natchez, Miss. Mr.. Joseph Zuc-
caro- had a little capital-I should
Judge from the records. of his case 1t
must have been about $4,000 (Which,
incidentally, he has lost as result
of his experience with the New DeaD.
Mr. Zuccaro with a partner decided
to 60 into the ice manufacturing busi-
ness. They we're informed that they
could not make ice without getting
permission from N. r. A., because the
code of the ice manufacturing industry
contains the following extraordinary
provision:
IF at any time an individual. nrm,
corporation or partnership desires to
establish additional ice production
." said party must first establish to
the satisfaction Of the administrator
of N. r. A. that public necessity and
convenience require such additional
production"
Mr.. Zuccaro asked N. r. A. permis-
sion to go into the ice manufacturing
business. When he found he might
have difficulty he got some 900 citi-
zens of Natchez to sign petition in
his behalf His application went be-
fore an N. r. A. Committee of Arbi-
tration and Appeals, which committee
was made up of three men already in
the ice manufacturing industry in
towns not far from Natchez.
Mr.. Zuccaros application was de-
MED In letter to me he says-very
mildly, as it seems to me: IT am sure
that Americas ideals are not reflected
in such summary disregard of its citi-
zens most sacred and inalienable
rights to engage in gainful and
honest occupation"
Plant Closed.
In a little upstate New York town,
with the alluring name of Trout
Brook, Mr.. C. w. Peak was q small
manufacturer. Was. but is no longer.
The account of his destruction I con-
dense from letter he wrote me:
II have operated a wood chemical
plant in this small town for the past
IS years, employing from 40 to so
men, Under the code Of the hard
wood distillation industry I was COM
PEELED to nearly double the price per
hour paid to my employees and reduce
their hours, which together increased
my operating costs 100 per cent -"
l operated under the code for six
months and have now closed my
plant. The closing of my plant. be-
cause there is no other industry here,
has put some of the employees on
relief work. Nearly every man rep
resented a family"
Near Malone, N. Y, Mr. Will Pres
ton is section hand on the railroad.
He has family of six and lives on a
small farm of about 20 acres. His
earnings are perhaps less than SIS a
week. To increase his income little
he keeps one brood SOW. Last Winter
she bore a litter and Mr. Preston
raised four of the pigs. These he
slaughtered recently and sold to the
local meat dealer. For the four he
received S37.44. Presently Govern
ment tax collector called on Mr.. Pres
ton and demanded processing tax Of
''s8 and some cents with an eXemp-
| ton of S3-a net tax of S."
Undertaking Experience.
! The following narrative of harass-
ment of small business is condensed
| from letter that came TO me from a
small city. I give the facts as they
are set forth in the letter-some of
( the details of life behind the windows
Of an undertaking parlor are new
to me:
In an undertaking parlor just close
/ to this office a Government man came
in and wanted to talk with the en-
| ployes. 1t seems that the custom
among undertakers is to have college
boys sleep in their quarters, so when
call comes the boy can go out with
| the undertaken and bring in the de-
! ceased. Many times these boys are
| not called for several nights at
time. Thus they can 60 to college in
| the daytime and get heir room rent
! for the possible calls they may take
/ in the night, and thus work their
way through school. The Government
men have decided that these boys are
entitled to full pay, because they are
| subject to call. Hence the Govern
ment man interviews these boys and
| posts them on their rights. He COM
pels the proprietor to pay these boys
large amount of back pay. The
Government man wants the proprie-
| tor to pay him. the Government man,
and he in turn is to refund it to the
laborer. He says that this is to clear
his records and know that it Is all
satisfactorily settled. The undertaken
is usually timid and quiet and dig
nified fellow and easily bluffed. The
Government man let him of with
stiff admonition not to commit the
offense again.
From an intelligent and public
| spirited man in a Midwestern small
city, whose associations are with small
| business, 1 received the following COM
ments on the state of mind he en-
counters:
That which thwarts our recovery
most is fear. have never seen people
SO uncertain. Formerly our Govern
ment was so far from us that the aver
age man thought very little about it,
but now the average man. as you
meet him on the street. is wondering
what the Government is going to do.
Fear Of Overtime.
'"The N. r. A code officials are busy
scattering literature to workmen tell
ing Of their rights and that all they
need to do is to complain to the Gov
ernment and the Government will
adjust it. These Government men are
very numerous I called a
carpenter to do little work. Thurs
day afternoon at o'clock he stopped
He had yet one door to swing but told
me he could not do anything until
the next Monday morning because his
40 hours were up and the Government
men would arrest him if he worked
overtime. He said they had been to
see him and they would not stand for
any breaking down of code wages or
hours.
THE general feeling among busi-
ness men is that If their code stands