Evening star., 1943-10-19

w.
before Washing
tons ead1ng
bankers at the = - Fs'
Willard Hotel AL. M. Wissins.
last night. 1t was the new ABA
chiefs first appearance before the
District Bankers Association, his
presence drawing a record attend
Rnce.
The Federal Government, Mr.
Virgins asserted, has moved down
In to the intimate personal lives of
every man, woman and child In
this Nation. From the time our
eyes open in the morning upon a
confused, heartsick and troubled
world, until they close in uneasy
leep, the hand of Government
leads us, directs us, commands us
condemns us, rewards us, Furnishes
us. all under the guise of Demo-
cratic Government seeking the COM
mon good.
While we are being told that
planning is premature and we must
first win the war, We discover that
already there are no less than %
Government bureaus in Washington
engaged in after-the-war planning,
the ABA leader added. And unless
We do develop programs for postwar
economy, it will be done for us under
domination by the State. We are all
beset with vague sense of fear,
strange uneasiness about the kind
of world we will live in after the
war, the kind of life we may have
IN this country.
Freedom Foremost Goal.
Freedom has been the foremost
goal of civilization, the speaker con-
tlnued. To some it means complete
absence of restraint; to others a
Governmental guarantee of social
and economic protection, a living
free from want. Yet freedom is
something deeper and richer. A
Government that attempts to di-
rect the intimate personal life OF
the individual; imposes bureau
cratic DEGREES which tell men when
and where and for what conSidera-
ton they may work; that tells the
farmer what and when he may
plant and harvest, does not partake
ef the true spirit of liberty.
America must rediscover its faith
In Democracy. 1t must match the
zeal of free men against the fan
aticism of the dictators' slaves. In
this tack, the prime responsibility
Is with the thinking leadership CT
the nation, the so-called middle
classes, the businessmen, the bank
ers, the professional men and the
statesmen. OF what significance is
freedom of speech and expression
TO man who is wholly dependent
upon the individuals or agencies
which he desires to criticise? Mr.
Virgins asked.
Jobs Declared Most Vital.
The one prime and altogether
unique essential in the postwar
period of recovery and expansion is
jobs, the speaker declared. This
does not mean raking leaves, selling
apples; it does not mean compulsory
labor on Government projects, nor
dictatorial challenge to work or
starve. A job means the right to
do something interesting, perfect a
skill, to compete, to excel; to create
and enjoy the fruits of effort with
out restrictions.
A job means the chance to save
and invest the savings according to
ones own judgment, to do business
for ones self and to compete in
fair competition without having to
battle the forces of monopoly with
the cruel disadvantages they impose
In conclusion, the speaker turned
to the hue and cry about little busi-
ness. Most of the suggested reme-
dies would be worse than the mala-
dy, he said. What little business will
need most in the postwar world is a
chance to risk and a chance to
profit with protection against
monopoly and the crushing power
of bigness as well as freedom from
too much governmental control,
dictation and suffocation."
Sullivan Also Speaker.
Mark Sullivan, widely known news
commentator, presented a most in
teresting address on Pattern of the
Times"
A. Scott Offutt, president of the
District Bankers Association, intro
duced eight Washingtonians who
hold important Offices in the Amer
lean Bankers Association this year
They are Wilmer J. Waller, Fran
els G. Addison, jr.; T. Stanley Hol-
land. John A. Reilly, Charles H. Do
ing, Robert V. Fleming, D. J. Need
ham, general counsel of the ABA
and his assistant, j. o. Brott.
President Offutt presented the in
sigma of Office to the chairman of
the associations three special sec
tions - James C. Elgin, auditors;
Earl G. Jonscher, fduciaries, and
Florence P. Warner, safe deposit
Resolutions in memory of William
D. Hoover, late official of the Ma
tional Savings & Trust Co., were
adopted. having been written by
George E. Fleming, Corcoran Thorn
and Bruce Baird, chairman.
September Store Sales Climb.
Department store sales in the
Capital in September ran 9 per ceN.
ahead of the same month last year
and cumulative sales in the first
nine months of the year were per
cent ahead of the like period in 1912
the Federal Reserve Bank of Rich
mond reported today.
Sales in rs department stores ir
the fifth district were up u per cent
IN September and IA per cent in the
nine months, the report stated All
the leading cities in the district re-
vealed gains. most of them larger
than the advance in the Capital
percentage comparisons for the
month and nine months with the
corresponding 1912 periods being as
follows:
Sept. Jan
l943 Sept
Washington -- 9 +
Baltimore, Md.------ 10 +14