Evening star., 1944-04-16
Special Aid to Small Business
Held Vital in Postwar Years
Essential to Maintaining Employment Level at
Point Considered Necessary to Sustain
National Prosperity
By Charles G.. Ross.

Among IIlc dSCilSicos ooeAA 6osSih-
mental and private, that have studied
the employment problem there is agree
ment that If we are to have virile, ex-
panding economy after the war, an
economy capable of producing the 55,-
600 900 civilian jobs that will be need
ed, small business must be freed of the
war-imposed handicaps under which it
is now laboring and given its chance to
get ahead.
Some figures compiled by the Com
mittee for Economic Development,
private organization which has the
blessing of the Commerce Department,
show the importance of small business
to the Nation:
Outside of agriculture, there are
3,047,000 separate business establish
ments in the United States. About
100000 of these consist of self
employed persons with no employees.
About 100000 employ fewer than
100 each. About 35 900 employ be-
tween 100 and 1000 workers each.
About $500 employ more than 1000
workers each.
Roughly, As per cent of the total
business employment of the country
is furnished by enterprises which en-
ploy fewer than 100 workers each.
It should be said at the start that
many Of the tears that are being shed
over the wartime plight" OF little busi-
ness are political. There has been, it
Is true, large mortality rate among
small enterprises since Pearl Harbor,
but even in normal times businesses by
the thousands small new ones
pass out Of existence while others are
born. Thus in 1910, $4,000 enterprises
were discontinued while 381 900 were
established.
Rate of Closing Drops.
Present figures show 10 per cent fewer
businesses than just before Pearl Har-
Dor, but this net drop is due to the low
business birth rate during the war
actually there has been a decline in the
number of enterprises discontinued
since 1910. Thus it appears that in
terms Of the survival of established
concerns, little business has not Jared so
badly as one might have thought from
the visible evidence of closed retail
stores and filling stations.
Also, In reading the mortality figures,
the fact should be taken into account
that they include thousands of small
businesses whose proprietors shut up
shop because they could earn more
money in war industry.
A study was made recently by the
Department of Commerce to discover
the effect of the war on the smaller
manufacturing plants defined as those
having ! to LIS workers.. The group OF
smallest concerns, it was found, ex-
perienced decline in dollar output and
number Of employees from 1s41 to 1943:
those with 8 to 20 employees held their
own in dollar output but had reduced
employment, while companies with q
to 125 employees increased both their
dollar volume and number of employees
The departments report indicated that
only about per cent of the COM
panies were suffering because of lack
of war orders.
Gets Lions Share.
1t is often pointed out that big busi-
ness got the lions share of the war
contracts. 1t did, but speed was an
essential in war production, and the big
companies, by and large, could meet
that urgent requirement better than the
small. In the letting of contracts, the
Army and Navy were not interested in
the niceties of the economic situation.
Mistakes were made, of course, but the
end result, in production figures, is cer-
tainly not one with which the country
can quarrel.
Again, qualification should be made
when the figure is thrown out that 10
per cent of all the war business went to
100 great corporations. This is true.
but it is also true that very consider
able part of this business was farmed
out to thousands of subcontractors.
A good deal of the concern over small
business, however, is genuine and we'll
founded, and without political motiva-
tion. Unquestionably, little business has
lost position to big business. 1t will be
one of the important tasks of the recon-
version period-indeed, it is an impor-