Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1944-12-15
Washington DIGEST
u. 5. Plans Simpler Aid
To Business in Future
Reduction in Forms Would Be Relief; Hope
To Acquaint Small Operators With
Vital General Trends.
By BAUKHAGE
Ne,Us analyst and Commentator.

eventually be stultified and not only
those great semi-public institutions,
like the utilities and the mines, will
suffer the fate predicted for them
in England, but eventually all enter
prise will find itself in government
hands
Let me say at this point, however,
that some industries have already
reached the point where they have
forced government operation in
other democratic countries and even
some very conservative minds in
this country are beginning to
fear that similar conditions are be-
ing created by certain businesses
themselves here.
But it is the purpose of those per-
sons in government and out of it,
who are struggling with the prob
lem of preserving small business,
to give it the aid it needs to pre-
serve its independence.
In order to provide this aid
it is essential that some COM
promises be made on the part Of
tAC DuSIHCSSlHCH. 1hCy Cdh-
not expect the government to
provide them with help they
have to have to get them over
the hump of reconversiOn
without making certain sacri-
fices-government officials can
not spend the public money
without establishing some
checks and balances on the in
situations which are thus bene-
fitted.
Filling out forms is one of the
minor Affections which government
comforted economic flesh is heir to.
However, it is refreshing to read
Mr.. Smiths report to Senator Muir
ray in which he tells US of how, ac-
cording to his custom, he has con-
sidered the requests of numerous
government agencies for surveys
and has turned them down. (His job
is to save the peoples money by
preventing duplicate effort of gov
eminent agencies.) He announces
that statistical services of the gov
eminent are going to be revised
and overhauled" in order to produce
"a rounded program to supply the
basic industrial statistics needed
not only by the government, but
by industry as we'll"
Most of the failures in little bust
ness are due to ignorance on the
part of the proprietor of the one
thing he ought to know most about
his own business. In the first
place, he doesn't know whether he
is making money or losing it be-
cause he doesn't keep his books
properly and he doesn't know
enough about the conditions in his
line of business, outside his imme-
date ken, to guide him.
This is the type Of information
which the government wishes to col
lect and in turn place at his dis
posal.
One of the plans already worked
out is census of Manufacturers of
1914 covering wide field of data,
which it is not my intention
to enumerate here for that is not
the purpose of these remarks. The
purpose is to note hopefully the fact
that here is evidence of a trend
which in some measure balances
the other two mentioned at the
beginning of these columns, the
trend toward government control.
That is why I quote the following
paragraph, not merely for the hope
it brings to weary fllers-out OF
forms, but because it looks like a
hopeful sign in an otherwise some
what cloudy sky:
can analysis made by one war
agency of the need of present
International needs shows that
about half such material would
still be required by that agency
after victory; of the remaining
half about two-thirds would be
discontinued entirely and about
one-third continued by other
agencies"
Railroads are now handling about
2l2 times the amount of freight traf-
fic and more than four times the
volume of passenger business that
they did before the war, the Asso-
citation of American Railroads re-
ported.
"They are carrying" the report
added, virtually double the load of
the first World war, and they are
doing it with fourth fewer freight
cars, about a fourth fewer passen-
ger-train cars, and a third fewer
locomotives than in 1918 The re-
al~