Evening star., 1944-02-13

| to finance. estab ablish and operate plants
| for making synthetic gasoline and oil.
| The Ruhr coal mines were forced to
| produce gasoline and oil for Diesel en-
| gines from bituninous coal. The textile
industry was compelled to produce
staple wool, the paper industry to
| manufacture cellulose and the process
sors Of vegetable oil to build up
whaling fleet.
In one way or another the Nazis con-
troll the supply of materials to every
firm, and the flow of number of ma
terials is regulated throughout its course
from producer or importer to consumer.
For the free flow of labor they have
substituted ALLEGATION by the govern
ment They have tied workers to their
jobs, or moved them from one Job to
| another For the workers right to quit
and seek employment elsewhere, and
the employers right to hire and fire,
compulsory mobility has been substi-
tuted.
The Nazis started price control by
controlling wages, under policies so
effective that the index of hourly wages
Is believed to have risen no more than
two points since 1888. Wage income in
creased, however, as war industry ex-
panded and hours were heightened.
Various devices to control wage income
reached a climax in l941 with the iron
savings plan, under which specified
amounts of savings are deducted from
pay by the employer, deposited in To-
cal bank to the workers credit and
blocked for the duration.
Cartels, or trusts, which offer readily
available instruments OF control, were
at first encouraged by the Nazis. But
regimentation gradually destroyed their
functions.
Though dynamic dictatorship"
Nazi control of business tends to slow
and cumbersome operations. Such an
amazing stream Of regulations is emitted
by control agencies that German busi-
ness has become a happy hunting
ground for lawyers, for whom a vast
new field has been opened in the
analysis of regulations and in nego-
tiations with government agencies. AS
late as last spring applications had to be
made to 80 government bureau to obtain
permission for the construction of large
industrial plant. One export order in
volving few hundred reichsmarks re-
quired the writing of more than 100
letters and action by five different COM
modify control boards.
| In every essential respect, the report
sums up, Nazi control of business is
total and without appeal. Government
control is not subject to due process Of
law, and there are no legal restrictions
on the power of the controlling agen-
cies. Income from private ownership
has been increasingly absorbed or
canalized by the state. All major de-
cisions are imposed by government
directives or. made within their frame
work.
What" it is asked, "can the German
businessman do in his capacity as a
manager? His hands are either tied
or manipulated like marionettes by
other hands-the hands of various gov
ernment agencies or of business organi-
cations acting for and under the gov
erpment. Viewed from below he gives
orders: viewed from above he receives
orders. Viewed from below he is still
the boss; viewed from above he is q
f1unkey.
In effect. private enterprise has been
eclipsed. It is neither private nor en-
terprise. Total regulation has done q
| job equivalent to naturalization"
printed by Special Advancement With the
| st. Louis Post-Dispatch)