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Show What Do They Mean by "Free Enterprise?" Too Many Mean Profit and Exploitation By SCOTT NEARING Federated Press "FTee enterprise" is one slogan with which big business spokesmen spokes-men end every appeal to the public. pub-lic. It is likewise among the freedoms free-doms that political leaders are promising to defend. But neither businessmen nor politicians explain what they mean by free enterprise. enter-prise. ; Free enterprise economy has reached a ripe old age in Holland, France and the British Isles. It Is somewhat younger but not much sturdier in the U. S. During its lifetime it has passed through 4 stages that may be compared roughly to the childhood, youth, maturity and old a,ge of human beings. Stage 1. European craftsmen and traders broke away from the restrictions imposed by feudal lords and guilds. North Americans chopped and dug their way into the wilderness. It was almost but not quite every man for himself. In North America particularly the free enterpriser .had to work or starve. Stage 2. Free enterprise economy econ-omy was firmly established among craftsmen, traders and some farmers. farm-ers. Big European estates and big American plantations were worked by serfs and slaves, but millions of little men engaged competitively in agriculture, manufacture, transport, trans-port, finance and trade. Stage 3. The more enterprising, aggressive, greedy and unscrupulous unscrupu-lous little men crushed or swallowed swallow-ed their competitors and grew big. They incorporated their businesses, business-es, and through land ownership. - ' franchises and patents established partial monopolies until a few powerful industrial trusts, railroads, rail-roads, banks, department and chain stores and mail order houses employing millions of men and women wage-earners controlled the bulk of the business. There were still little businessmen but big business dominated. Stage 4. The leaders of big business busi-ness got their lawyers and other agents into government posts and obtained tariffs, franchises, subsidies sub-sidies and tax exemptions. When this relief failed to pull free enterprise enter-prise monopolies through depressions, depres-sions, businessmen and politicians linked government and business together to-gether and ran both from the same set of offices. The economy of every industrial country in Europe and North America has reached Stage 4. The youthful free enterprise of competition com-petition has aged into a joint monopoly mo-nopoly of big business and government. govern-ment. When the National Association of Manufacturers advocates free enterprise, does it mean to give up land, franchise and patent monopolies, monop-olies, inter-trust agreements and contracts with big businessmen across the frontiers? Does it propose pro-pose to unscramble huge organizations organ-izations into a multitude of little, independent concerns? Not for a moment. It demands freedom to continue its monopolies. Free enterprise in the sense of an opportunity for young men and women to set themselves up and manufacture, transport and trade on their own has reached a doddering dodder-ing old a,ge in large sections of western economy, r |
