Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1940-12-22
BY BRIAN O'BRIEN
10 will be the boss ?

NJ EHO will be the boss
N This has always been humanity's
w big problem, but never so big at
the present moment On it's answer hangs not
only the result of Hhe present war but the
fate of democracy itself whether can
select his own bosses must go back to
slavery
Early in the last World War DR. Ralph
Adams Cram in his famous monograph, The
Nemesis of Mediocrity" prophesized that 1t
would be followed by the present war and
asserted that democracy was failing because
1t no longer produced leaders, worthy Of the
name
Everywhere he saw little men sitting in
seats Of power that called for all the genius
of giants like Washington or Lincoln.
The plague of cabin boys in captains uni
forms would hardly seem less obvious today.
Had France been able TO produce anything
resembling a leader her once crack army
would hardly have collapsed like paper SOL
diers With real leadership would England
have slept while Germany armed to the teeth
and would the United States have spent its
money on boondoggles instead Of prepared
ness?
To produce a totalitarian boss IS compare
lively easy-most any tyrant will do Hitler
Stain. a Mussolini. as long as he controls
the regular army and the spy army. can hurl
the entire resources Of his nation at any other
one he peases II there dares TO be any
opposition. it Is hquidated in good purge
Death has always been the portion of the
disobedient slave.
To lead nation of free people is hard
The scowling slave-driv won't do. The boss
can't murder the opposition, but must make 1t
trust him enough TO cooperate and give his
plans a fair test. But even If the democ-
racies manage to produce political leaders of
the caliber of Gladstone and Garibaldi that
is not enough
An army needs more than a commanding
general The real attack in times of peace
or war by the Reds and the Nazs, is against
the business boss If the army of business
haters can destroy enough Of these top
sergeants of industry they will have destroyed
democracy and be in position to take over
the ruins.
And democracy. in the United States at
least seems to be rising to the occasion by
producing a new type of business executive
40 fitted 10 his task that none of criticisms
invented by the haters of democracy can touch
him Prominent among these new leaders
are Richman Brothers. Hershey, Endicott-
Johnson and Western Electric All of them
had been shocked by stage of American
industry which had It persisted would justify
most any criticism
After the American Revolution the ragged
band of triumphant Colonsts were left with
their freedom and not much else.
Their democracy seemed failure at the
start but the new nation wouldn't have it
that way The soil of New England might
he poor for farming but there were forests.
These were feed and made into ships that
outsaiIed England's best. They opened up
markets in China and all quarters of the
globe but something was needed to exchange
for silks and spices. Sopeople at home began
to turn out knives tools, gadgets and gim-
cracks.
These first American industries were
small factories. usually run by water-power.
The boss lived right beside his mill, his sons
were among the mill hands and the others
were sons of relatives or nearby neighbors.
The new democracy had found itself Uncle
Sam no longer a pauper, was fast getting
rich His prosperity lured penniless foreign
"ers who caused slums to form in the fast
growing cities.
The newcomers would work for almost
nothing in any kind of dark firetrap loft.
Competition soon turned these into the ILL