Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-09-23
Aids for Small Business
Maury Maverick Chairman of SWPC Seeks Security

Small business" has been defined by
some tongue in-cheek economists as
one that does not have lobbyist In the
Nations capital. If this definition once
held true, it has been pushed into OBJ
soleScence by the aggressive Smaller
War Plants Corp, the Government-cre-
ated friend, lobbyist and underwater OF
the small businessman.
Maury Maverick, the rampaging chair
man and general manager of the SWPC,
has performed miracles in attracting
national attention to the plight of small
business. Indeed, at times he has kicked
up so much dust in its behalf that
alarmed politicos have mistaken his an
tics for political campaigning tech
niques. The irrepressible Maury would
be the first to plead guilty to cam
paigning even to crusading. For he is
convinced that the future of small bust
ness in America is the most transcend
ing question mark of our economy-and
in this belief he has plenty OF dis
tinguished company.
When Secretary of State James F.
Byrnes was war mobilization director.
for instance, he declared that small
business always has been the "founda-
ton of American enterprise" Com
merce Secretary Henry Wallace has been
a consistent champion of the small
businessman and critic of cartels. On
assuming his new post his first act was
to suggest ways to enable small business
"to do its full share in furnishing max
imum employment" after the war. The
Senate and House have set up COM
mittees on small business which have
worked long and hard, If not speedily.
on the basic problems involved. Numer-
Gus economists have warned that chaos
lies ahead unless the trend toward
concentration of power in the hands of
big business is halted and reversed by
an upsurge of small business.
Sees Catastrophe in Bigness.
Economic concentration leads toward
the elimination of small business" said
Maverick in recent report to the Con-
gress. 1T leads to the strangulation of
free enterprise competition and indus
trial democracy. When the 'bigs' get too
big, when they get too much. they fix
prices, restrict production. Unemploy-
ment then comes in millions. Finally
the bottom drops out, and catastrophe.
one way or the other, comes to the So
ciety which has fallen in confusion.
IF we want the American system, we
must undo this situation. Or else we
lose the free enterprise system and drop
through our own trapdoor of ignorance
and complacency into a form of totah-
tarianism."
What. then, is the outlook for little
business? What have the war years
done to the little businessman and what
specific program is being evolved to
save him from the economic oblivion
feared by Maverick and so many others?
The primary and startling fact that
must be comprehended first of III, says
the SWPC, is that three-fifths of the
postwar capacity to produce is held by
the $50 largest manufacturing corpora
lions, and two-fifths is diffused among
the more than $4,000 remaining medi-
u1l-olGCu dllu pOl Aldaue
featuring enterprises.
This is a distortion of our economy
which threatens disaster, it is contend
ed. To add to the top-heavy advantage
already enjoyed by big business, private
operators of Government-owned war
plants are in position to exercise OPP
tons to purchase most of the Govern
ment facilities, and they possess the
financial resources to do so, in contrast
to small business.
Part in War Work Small.
AS pointed out by Maverick, despite
all safeguards, small business was able
to share in war production only to
limited extent. The prewar trend
toward expansion of big business was