Evening star., 1941-01-31


Jay Franklin. ready been
called on this system-flrst by the
depression of l929-33 and second by
the war of 1899. That is tc say, the
private administrators Of our great
economic enterprises seem to have
foreseen and prepared for neither Of
these events.
There have been so many expert
post-mortems on the panic of 1929
and the Hoover depression that that
particular miss can be allowed to
stand. What concerns US mor9
desperately at this moment is the
failure of our private capitalists
bankers and industrial managers
to take practical steps for dealing
with the war crisis, by enlarging
their plant capacities and by put
ting themselves in a position to
meet the tremendous demand for
armaments.
World Knew War Was Coming.
The war did not come upon the
world unaware. Every informed
student of European history knew
that war was in the making when
Mussolini went into Abyssinia in
1885 and when Franco began his
rebellion in 1896. The British re-
armament program alone was
evidence that a bust-up was PROB
able and the bankers and "mer-
chants of death" are usually we'll
informed on such matters. There
were few if any Borahs in 26 Wall
street or the Dupont Co. to argue
that there would be no war. In any
case, the armaments race offered
clear evidence Of a good market for
the hardware of homicide.
These same industrialists did not
suffer for lack Of capital. Many of
them had huge corporate reserves
and some Of them--such as the air.
craft industry-had almost no in
debtedness. They had the money,
the brains and the foreknowledge
that business would look up shortly
and that there would be great
opportunities for profit in a warning
world
In the past, such knowledge and
such assets invariably spelled op-
portunity for individual or corporate
initiative. That was the greatest
single justification for the economic
sovereignty accorded to great
bankers and industrialists by the
capltalistic system. 1t was argued
that their hope of profits could be
counted on to supply the right
amount OF goods and services, when,
as and if needed.
Industrialists DELAYED.
Especially after the Munich
crisis Of September, 1888. it was
clear that war was due shortly.
perhaps in 1899 but certainly in
1910. Yet all that time and right
down to the middle of 1910. when
the collapse Of France made delav
criminal, our industrialists did
nothing to prepare themselves to
cash in on the crisis. under the
profit system.
They did not even start building
new powder plants. They did loJ
experiment with designs for new
super-hghting planes. They did
not order machine-tools for even
the standard equipment of muni-
tlonS production. They did not even
react to the crisis except by holding
out for higher profit margins and
tax exemptions. Even today on the
eve OF Hitler's all-out blitz against
Britain, they-or their Spokesmen-
seem more intent on denying labor
a share in the program than on
recognizing that all-out production
Is possible only with full labor sim
port. Many industrialists do realize
this but on the whole Washington
mas the impression that important
parts OF industry hope to use the
defense Commission as a wav to
lqu1date labor's gains and to DESTROY
the New Deal.
That is minor matter com-
pared to the failure of our capital
ism to develop the initiative and
courage to construct adequate plant
capacity in advance of the crisis
For that, be it repeated. is one of
the chief advantages of private
capitalism in theory-that the
entrepreneur is the handspring of
our economy, the man who takes
a chance, nips in and deserves his
prohtS because he had the foresight
and the imagination to meet a need
before it developed.
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