Milford chronicle., 1961-04-21
START PROCLAIMING PRIVATE
ENTERPRISE

Whatever impression the leaders of Wes-
tern nations carry away from their meet
ings with the heads of the Communist en-
pire, one usually stands out above all the
rest. And that is simply this: that every
Communist leader has total uncompromis-
ing faith in the power, essential rightness
and ultimate triumph of the system he rep
reSentS. This belief and determination now
threaten free institutions in every corner of
the earth. In our own country, this facet
of Communism has been remarked upon re-
peatedly by citizens in all walks of life who
have come in contact with it. That this de-
termination should be so disturbing is, in
fact, merely reflection of a far more men
acing danger, and that is an uncertainty on
our part and lack of faith and belief in
the strength and essential rightness of our
own capitalistic institutions.
Much of the teaching in our schools and
colleges leaves a student with feeling of
doubt as to the rightness of private enter
prise in a free nation. Our federal govern
ment is furthering the socialistic philoso-
ply in many ways by putting government
into business in competition with private
citizens, thus adding to the confusion of
students. The effect is to glorify big gov
ernment rather than to build pride in and
support cf individualistic opportunity that
built this nation. Why should our people
tolerate policies that destroy representative
government and private enterprise?
~S@&%
THE GREAT MERCHANTS"
We Americans take the highest stand
ards of retail service for granted-stand-
ards that would seem almost unbelievable
to the peoples of much of the rest of the
world. Few of us, probably, ever give any
particular thought to what makes such ex-
cellence possible.
A short time ago Harper & Brothers
published an important book by Tom Ma
honey called "The Great Merchants 1t
tells the stories of 20 famous retail opera
tions and the people who made them great
There are wide differences between the 20
Some are national chains, some are indi-
vidual one-unit operations. Some are very
big in point of sales, doing a volume of as
much as four billion year; others are rel
atively small, doing as little as one million
Some deal primarily in staples, others in
luxuries.
But, as Mr.. Mahoney observes, they al
have many qualities in common. They have
definite personalities of their own. They
have, generally, been responsible for sue
cessfu innovations in the arts of retailing
They have made important contributions tt
the communities they serve. And all of then
have shown a profound ability to adapt
themselves to the enormous changes thai
have taken place in modern times, and tt
survive everything from wars to panics.
This review of merchandising shows We
don't get top-quality retail service by acci
dent, or good luck. We get it because peo
pie have thought and labored and pioneered
within the framework of a free competitive
system in which the man who does the bes
job of pleasing the public earns and gets th'
business And this does not apply merely t.
20, or 200 or any other group of stores. W.
see it in operation everywhere in this coun
try-and all of us share in the rich bene
fits.