Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-08-29
Lille Fellows
Squeezed
By-Monopoly
Big Companies Receive
Bulk Of Orders
BY HUGH S. JOHNSON

mold must be having q con-
tinuous headache these days and
/ wonder about Senator O'Ma-
honey's joint anti-monopoly
committee. Both Of these able
gentlemen are sincere believers
in decentralization of business
into smaller units and opponents
of the creation of great indus
trial empires.
They have worked hard at
their jobs and Mr.. Arnold has
built up the largest and most
efficient organization for doing
this that the country has yet
seen.
But all they have accomplished
is drop in the bucket TO what
other efforts OF the government
have done TO reverse the trend
they seek and 10 accelerate the
growth Of monopoly TO an extent
never imagined-and the process
is only just beginning. Little
business in this country is on
its way out.
In july IL was reliably re-
ported that of army and navy
defense business six great COM
panies had received 81 per cent
of all and Sc companies Is per
cent. That is a matter of billions
and is, of itself, gigantic dis
location, but il doesn't tell
fraction Of the story.
er-enteFPEises-Wefe
left free 10 take non-defense
business they couad keep their
heads above water But such is
not 10 be permitted for several
reasons. One is that the priori-
ties system is going 10 cut off
their supplies of materials.
power and transportation An
other is that governmental tax
and credit-control policies are
deliberately designed to deprive
their customers of purchasing
power.
IT is a complex which is diff
L cult TO explore. Some OF il is
unavoidable. Some of II is a
result of headlong. implanted
action. Some Of il is new tinker
ing with improved theories -ef
initiation control and all OF il is
a mess which could bring catas-
trophe
II is unfair cavalierIy TO
criticize individuals. Yet il is a
fact that the men who guided
the placing of this vast defense
business with few great corpo-
rations were products OF those
corporations. many Of whom did
not sever all their financial re-
lations with the mother hen.
In a sense, they were dealing
with themselves. On the other
hand, they had a responsibility
for quick production and went
where speed was most likely
One trouble was that the vast
aggregation Of smaller COM
panies was not properly organ
led and these companies are
still not properly organized.
either TO get a hearing in that
headlong rush, or so TO pool
their resources and facilities as
TO insure performance If they
had been offered chance.
THE present theoretical ap-
l. proach 10 their further de-
struction by cutting consumer
purchasing power is 10 prevent
initiation by high taxes and by
advising people TO get out OF
present debt and to incur no
new debt.
This l can't understand at all.
Initiation is simply high. or at
its worst, runaway prices. For
the first time in my contact
with the problem we hear that
higher taxes make lower prices.
Most taxes find their way into
costs and prices. The principal
authority on that is Franklin d.
Roosevelt.
Unless absolute direct con-
trolls on prices are applied-and
they are not going TO be--con-
siderably higher prices are as
certain as sunrise. The process
Of raising them is going on all
around US. Also it is almost
automatic, bad as il may sound,
that a period Of beginning infa-
ton is time not TO get out OF
debt, but to get into 1t.
There is no space TO discuss
these divergent policies and
theories here. Further than 10
say that every single one Of
them tends toward the greatest
increase in monopoly and de-
struction of small business in
our history. If the little fellows
do not organize to fight their
own battle for existence they
can be very sure that no one
else is going TO do it for them.
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