One-Man Pressure Group; D. Burgess

A number of years ago when I first became concerned Mr. Burgess is Vice-president of Glenn Advertising, Inc. of Dallas. [165 ] about individual freedom, I heard of a man who said he would probably die of shock if he ever met a business man who didn't believe in free enterprise. Another fellow said he'd drop dead if he ever encountered one who actually did believe in it. That amazed me at the time, but now I am convinced he was tragically right. Too often in recent years I have heard one business man or another say there ought to be a law to control his competitors, while his competitors were probably busy dreaming up laws to control him. So, what happens? They all end up promoting socialism and dictatorship by running to government to solve something that could have been solved more quickly and cheaply by a friendly chat across the back fence. I know a man who owns more than 100 stores, yet he hates Safeway and thinks there should be some drastic law to prevent any company from having as many stores as Safeway' has. It doesn't seem to occur to him that to the man with one store-or even five or ten-his 100 stores are unreasonable competition. I know another man whose main livelihood is derived from one of the General Motors cars, yet he frequently expresses verbal hatred toward the "big fat greasy capitalists" who ride around in Cadillacs. Obviously, it doesn't occur to him that he and the other folks who ride around in his brand of car would also be classed as fat capitalists by millions of people. To go a step farther, anybody who owns a 1925 Maxwell might also be considered a "big fat greasy capitalist" by countless other millions throughout the world.

[166 ] Is Size a Sin? The idea that size of a business in itself can be sinful is so widely accepted that hearings go on almost con tinuously in Washington to determine at what point a company becomes a "monopoly." Legislation is always pending which would limit the percentage of business any company could do in its industry. I think it is one of the most dangerous pieces of legis lation ever to be considered by Congress. I spoke of it to a man I know who is legal counsel for a manufactur ing concern. His company does more than half of the business in its Held, and it does more than half for one reason only-that more than half of the people buying that item prefer that brand. It has lots of competition. To limit the company to 50 per cent of the market would not only deprive its owners and employees of a place honestly gained in a free market, but, just as important, it would keep some persons from buying the product they like.

Now you would think that the company's legal counsel would be especially alert to the dangers in such a law. But what do you think he said? He said, "1 think that might be a good law. You know it's criminal for a com pany such as United States Steel to get as big and power ful as it is." When I suggested that to his competitors his own company looked big enough to be outlawed, he failed to see the connection. He thinks of his own com pany as "small" business, yet its sales run into several million dollars a year-big enough so that many of his [167 ] smaller competitors think it is a monster and there ought to be a lawl I know a man who used to be in the margarine busi ness and thought it was a crime that butter makers could color their product when he couldn't. Now he owns a dairy and he thinks it's a crime that the margarine makers are now allowed to color it! Not long ago on a train, I was talking with a farmer who was loud in his condemna tion of government spending. When I suggested that a good stopping place might be to withdraw subsidies on wheat, he couldn't see it. Another man I know is a strong advocate of government price control. He thinks it's wrong for the merchant to make a profit, or for landlords to get enough rent to keep up their properties. But. he buys and sells oil leases, and thinks it's just good business to buy a lease for a dollar and sell it for a thousand. Any suggestion to control his margin sends him into a frenzy!

The Fault Is OUTS Is it any wonder that the government reflects such thinking, and tries to break up the A & P mainly for the "crime" of having sold too many groceries to too many people too cheaply? Before we start wondering why we have a government like that, however, maybe we ought to ask ourselves why we are like that. Let's place the blame for our unholy position today right where it belongs-right in the laps of the people and their myriad pressure groups. Just to name a few of them, there are the business groups, the veterans groups [168 ] all the way back to the Revolutionary War, the school groups, the labor groups, the social welfare groups, the political spoils groups, the church groups, and on and on ad infinitum. One can't put too much blame on the poli tician-after all, he's just human-and with every kind of a pressure group imaginable under the sun pushing and pulling at him, what can you expect?

The answer? Well, let's start right close to home. What kind of a pressure group do you belong to? What kind of a subsidy, or special privilege, or law to regulate some~ body else, are you working for? Be honest with yourself first, and then you can go full steam ahead. [169 ] FREEDOM RESTS ON PRIVATE PROPERTY tg W. m CUl'fi:u THE question of "what is mine and what is thine" is one of tremendous importance throughout the world today. It has always been a basic issue, but with all our material progress-our vaunted educational advantages-and our world-wide communication of ideas, it seems safe to say there has never been more confusion over this relatively simple concept. The way in which we answer this ques tion will surely shape the events which lie ahead. A libertarian believes in the private ownership of prop erty, in the supreme importance and dignity of individ uals, and in the right of a person to the fruits of his own labor. He believes an individual should have the right to make choices-conceding that many of us will make un wise choices, at least in the sight of others.