their plans, first selling them the idea 

 that it is smart to plan boldly if you plan 

 smartly. The second phase of the opera- 

 tion is carried out by our Research Di- 

 \ision. Through this division we are 

 h.oping to effea the changes needed in 

 government and business policies from 

 the standpoint of an expanding economy. 



The Field Development Division has 

 two functions: (1) to gather from all 

 possible sources helpful information on 

 postwar planning, and (2) to dissemi- 

 nate that information to as high a per- 

 centage of America's employers as pos- 

 sible. 



Much information of value to all busi- 

 nessmen already has been accumulated. 

 Alore is being gathered. Experts in 

 manufacturing, marketing, sales, finance 

 and management engineering are pooling 

 their knowledge and making it available 

 to expert writers who can tell the story 

 in such a way that you and I can under- 

 stand it. Booklets and slide films in 

 considerable number have already been 

 prepared dealing with various aspects of 

 postwar planning. Examples of this ma- 

 terial are handbooks on manufacturing, 

 wholesaling and retailing which were 

 prepared under the direction of the As- 

 sociation of G)nsulting Management En- 

 gineers in the business management field. 

 There is also a set of five booklets on 

 sales training prepared by the National 

 Society of Sales Training Executives. To 

 be published shortly is a twelve-chapter 

 book dealing with the twelve materials 

 that will figure most importantly in post- 

 war manufacturing. It is vital for those 

 of us in the industrial field to know what 

 has been happening to steel, aluminum, 

 plastics and other materials during the 

 war. 



The fact that much information has 

 been and is being assembled does not, of 

 course, fulfill the second function of the 

 Field Development Division, namely, to 

 disseminate that information to Amer- 

 ica's employers. . .and that is a tough 

 job. Selling a superior product is tough 

 enough, but nothing compared with the 

 difficulties of disseminating knowledge. 

 To get a high percentage of America's 

 two million employers to plan boldly and 

 intelligently calls for a carefully con- 

 ceived campaign. We are operating on 

 three fronts: (1) through direct contact 

 with the largest corporations, (2) 

 through the United States Chamber of 

 Commerce, the N.A.M., and trade as- 

 sociations, and (3) through C.E.D. com- 

 mittees in the more important employ- 

 ment centers. 



More Farm, City Jobs 



I am happy to report to you that Main 

 Street /s mobilizing. And I don't mean 

 Main Street, New York, or Chicago, or 

 San Francisco. More than two thousand 



C.E.D. committees have been organized 

 throughout the country. In almost every 

 case they are staffed by and working 

 closely with existing local organizations. 

 The programs of many of these com- 

 munities make an exciting story and 1 

 wish I had the time to tell you about 

 them. I am going to take the time to 

 tell you briefly something of what just 

 one state is doing — a typically agricul- 

 tural state. The Greater South Dakota 

 Association, working in cooperation with 

 the C.E.D. recently completed a sur\'ey 

 on "Postwar Employment and Postwar 

 Buying Intentions. " This survey was 

 conducted by local committees in 117 

 cities and towns in South Dakota repre- 

 senting 78% of the urban population of 

 the State, and by neighboring leaders in 

 rural communities in all counties of the 

 State. You may be interested to hear that 

 this sur%'ey indicated that after the war 

 South Dakota farms will provide about 

 10,000 more jobs than in 1940, while 

 the state as a whole will have 23,000 

 more jobs than in 1940. 



Now I should like to discuss the Re- 

 search Division. It is charged with the 

 responsibility of contributing as best it 

 can toward providing an economic cli- 

 mate favorable to expansion. We do not 

 have such a climate today. There are 

 policies in business, government, labor, 

 and agriculture which promote contrac- 

 tion rather than expansion. This is un- 

 derstandable, because many of those pol- 

 icies represent the thinking which stems 

 from an economy of scarcity. The NRA, 

 crop restriction programs, and feather- 

 bedding rules for labor all have their 

 genesis in the weird belief that by pro- 

 ducing less and getting higher prices we 

 could somehow or other work our way 

 out of the depression. Fortunately, as a 

 result of production miracles achieved 

 during the war period, that kind of think- 

 ing has temporarily lost its popularit)-, 

 but the policies reflecting such thinking 

 remain. 



Our Committee, in considering how it 

 might engage in a constructive activity- 

 looking toward the creation of a better 

 economic climate, reached certain con- 

 clusions: First of all, we recognized that 

 the only sound approach in the appraisal 

 of policies should be from the standpoint 

 of the general public welfare. We did 

 not subscribe to the idea that what helps 

 business helps you, but rather — what 

 helps you and every other American, 

 help business. 



The activities of the Research Division 

 have been organized to insure its oper- 

 ation at a statesmanlike level. The Di- 

 vision is composed of three sections: (1) 

 a Research Committee composed entirely 

 of businessmen; (2) a Research Advisor)' 

 Board composed of outstanding social 

 scientists which assists the Research Com- 



mittee in planning and conducting 

 studies; and (3) a full time Research 

 Staff headed by Theodore Ynterru, Pro- 

 fessor of Economics, on leave of absence 

 from the University of Chicago. 



When a subject of research has been 

 approved by the Research Committee, it 

 is the task of the Research Director to 

 select and employ the services of a sjjc- 

 cialist — or in some cases, several • — in 

 the particular field of the investigation. 

 The individual so selected is responsible 

 for the preparation of the study. The 

 .set-up of the Research Division is unique 

 in that while independence is guaranteed 

 the scholars, they have the opportunity 

 to consult with businessmen and other 

 scholars as their studies progress. 



Two studies have already been com- 

 pleted: (1) the Liquidation of War 

 Production (cancellation of war contracts 

 and disposal of government-owned plants 

 and surpluses) by Dr. A. D. H. Kaplan 

 of the University of Denver, and (2) the 

 study of federal taxation under the title 

 of "Recasting the Postwar Federal Tax 

 System to Encourage Production and Em- 

 ployment" by Harold M. Groves, Pro- 

 fessor of Economics at the University of 

 Wisconsin. 



In addition to the reports made by the 

 scholars themselves, the committee of 

 businessmen reserved for themselves the 

 right to make indepiendent reports for 

 which they were wholly resp)onsible. Re- 

 cently issued has been such a report under 

 the title of "A Postwar Federal Tax Plan 

 for High Employment." 



Foes We Must Combat 



IgnoraiKe is not the only foe we must 

 combat if we are to win the peace. Skep- 

 ticism, cynicism, and defeatism also must 

 be dispelled. On the extreme right are 

 those who believe that only through a 

 postwar depression can the people, as 

 they say, be brought to their senses. They 

 refuse to recognize that a great postwar 

 depression would put our freedoms in 

 the greatest jeopardy. On the extreme 

 left are the coUectivists who see in post- 

 war chaos the opportunity to build here 

 in America some new type of fascist or 

 communist state. Both groups, with 

 vastly different ends in mind, suggest 

 that the attainment of the great postwar 

 expansion we need is an idle dream. 

 My answer to that is that ever since the 

 founding of this Republic those with 

 faith and vision have been making the 

 American dream come true, while the 

 skeptics have stood by and scoffed. 



As we meet here tonight, millions of 

 American men are fighting throughout 

 the world to maintain our liberty and 

 freedoms. A very deep obligation rests 

 upon those of us at home to keep alive 

 for them the promise of a better postwar 

 world — a world in which more people 

 will have more than ever before. 



DECEMBER, 1944 



21 



