The Waterbury Democrat., 1944-07-12

der present conditions. They could not get sufficient capital for new venture, and even if they could get that, taxes would prevent them from blowing back into the business the nourishing funds to make it grow. We didn't intend to create an at- mosphere so specifically hostile to the business initiative, ingenuity and effort of the individual, but We have done so. We do not have to retain it."
 General Johnson defines small or independent business as business which is independent of big busi- ness, of bank control, of interna- tional competition. and of central government. Independent business, he writes, is the American commun- ity, because 1t underlies every con- munity
 The impact of war production has made big business bigger and small business smaller, General Johnson asserts. By February, l942, he states, fifty-six of the 184,230 manu- featuring plants in the country were awarded 75 per cent of the Army andNavy contracts, and 174,000 plants had no contracts whatever; 7l per cent of the dollar volume of contracts was held by 100 large companies with 31 per cent being held by eight concerns.
 General Johnson attributes this situation not to the grasping qual- ities of large concerns but to the military methods of buying. Mili- tary men, he states, believe they can get an order more quickly and with less effort if they award the whole contract to one large concern in- stead of parceling it out to 100 small manufacturers Because of this method, failures of small business in 1922 increased 50 per cent over 1889.
 The Smaller War Plants Corpora tion, set up by Congress in 1942 for the protection of small business, was headed by General Johnson in Jan- uary, 1943. Its task of helping small business was made almost impossi- ble by centralized government con- trol, he contends.
 Every time we studied a problem or independent business, we found that 1t arose from something Gov ernment had done," General John son writes. "Either the Army, Navy, Maritime Commission, Treasury or some other agency had failed to order fair quota from small busi- ness. Or WIPE had restricted or stopped production. Or rigid priori- ties or sweeping allocations of ma terials had shut down plants. Or NLRB or VILE had set wage rates which were ruinous. Or OPA had set a price ceiling somewhere which dis located smaller elements in, perhaps a quite remote industry. Or WING had sent out some directive which, in it's effect. closed down some fac tories. Again and again. study of the situation showed that Government had set up so many controls in so many directions that one or more of them brought catastrophe.'
 The best group to work with in Washington is Congress. General Johnson asserts. There is no group of men assembled for a common purpose more able, honest, and with larger amount of common sense than those in Congress, he contends
 My House committee, for ex- ample, was composed of four Re- publicans and five Democrats. The youngest was thirty-seven and the oldest fifty-two Their terms in Con- gress extended from three to fifteen years. Eight held college degres Eight wre lawyers. There were no former governors among them, but four had served in their state legis- latures. Here was experience, matur- ity and political wisdom. Never un- derestimate the capacity of Senate or House committee. The country is electing good men to It's Congress; and Congress, remember, is not merely an evidence of the American way. Congress is the American way" The job before the country is to release small business from the reg ulations and directives that arc strangling 1t. General Johnson states. Small business must be freed, he contends. If for no other reason than to maintain a strong civilian economy as tax base. because If that vital segment of industry is destroyed, no taxes can be raised from It.
 No matter how long the war lasts" he concludes. the peak of the production load has passed. The best contribution now, right now. would be the partial return of inc dependent business to the produc. ton of essential civilian needs. Often as little as 6 percent of the available raw material would put so percent of the small fellows back in