The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1944-04-27

FclSdttOu d rCS
! shooting all over the place like
sparks from a pinwheel.
In way, Shis isn't hard to under
stand. The subject and its famifica-
tionS are SO big that no one knows
where to begin. If the talk seems flu
tile and the outlook hopeless, that's
natural.
Paul g. Hoffman, president of
Studebaker and chairman of CED-
the Committee for Economic Devel-
opment organized and financed by
, private business under Department
of Commerce sponsorship-frankly
confessed to something of the same
Illustration when he appeared before
the Colmer Committee. "Six or eight
months ago. said Mr.. Hoffman, II
knew all the answers. was sure of
them-until I began to study them"
Today he is not so sure but he is, he
says, sure of the approach-"which
is to get rid Of wartime controls just
as soon as possible"
If first things should come first
in this postwar planning, maybe
that is the place to begin. 1t is an
idea that is foreign to most Wash
ington thinking, though the Tru-
man Committee did recommend 1t.
Most of the Washington planners
the people who worked out the war
time economic controls-have ex-
pressed the opinion that there will
have to be lots of controls carried
over into the postwar period. In
such thinking, one big distinction
is frequently overlooked. Wartime
controls were controls on production
and distribution. Statesmen were cut
right out of the picture, for every
thing that could be produced and
distributed could be sold, and was
sold, almost automatically. All war
time employment has been in pro-
duction and distribution. In the
postwar period, the salesman will
come back into his own.
PREVIEW OF THINGS TO COME
AS for opportunities, Mr.. Hoffman
points to a recent consumers sur
vey which reported that 80 per cent
Of the goods for which there would
be biggest postwar demand were
not manufactured five years ago.
While he calls war prosperity
phony prosperity, he declares 1t
reasonable to assume that business
can continue at the present ex-
panded plant capacity. AS to the
saturation point for business, which
has been constant source of worry
for years, Mr.. Hoffman points to
estimates in the automobile industry
that 10 million cars can be sold
in the first three years after the
war-a hitherto undreamed-o fig
ure.
Pointing to his own company,
and now has 10000, Mr.. Hoffman
discloses that plans are already
drawn for the postwar employment
of $4,000. To do this, the company
will have to gamble some eight or
10 out of its % million-d dollar cap
ital-gambling not only on the sue
cess of its new products, but also
gambling on fair treatment by Con-
greSS.
BACK TO SMALL BUSINESS
The idea that all capital must
come from Wall street he declares
erroneous. Two-thirds of all the
capital, he says, somes from profits
plowed back into small businesses.
AS to the job for Congress, he puts
high on the list the settlement of
contract termination policies and
the reform of the present tax sys-
tenn, (which is designed to put bus
mess out of business"
AS far as business is concerned,
Mr.. Hoffman declares, we are not
worried about maintenance of the
free enterprise system as long as
we have free society in which to
make it work.
In other words, take off the con-
trolls and give the great American
gUmshoe salesman a chance to get
out and do his stuff.