More Government in Business

Abstract

IN THE past, we in America have had a bias against entrance of government into field of business. Despite our philosophy of individualism, however, we have made considerable strides in direction of public ownership. We have developed most extensive public school system of any country in world. The extent of our health, recreational, mail, fire protection, and other services is well known. Over seven thousand cities, towns, and villages own their own water works. In about eighteen hundred municipalities electric lighting system is publicly owned. There are in country more than a hundred municipal gas plants, and many municipal markets, beaches, piers, airports, golf courses, fuel yards, heating plants, ice plants, milk distributing agencies, and laundries. Through such organizations as Port of New York Authority, our states build and operate bridges, tunnels, warehouses, and terminals. According to recent survey of President's Committee on Social Trends, cost of state and city ventures in field of public services increased by 145 per cent in terms of 1915 dollars, from 1915 to 1929. And when we come to National Government, we find it a gigantic builder of roads. We see it as developer of inland water ways and hydroelectric lighting plants. It controls railroads in Alaska and Panama, manages steamship lines and radio stations, owns and operates innumerable public buildings, has charge of largest printing plant in world, owns a vast amount of land, and conducts a large and growing banking business. Even during boom days of 1925-1926, business of government was the third largest business in United States, exceeded in its annual turnover only by manufacturing industry and agriculture. Even before present depression, government was also largest single ployer of labor in country. In 1926 it was estimated that local, state, and Federal Governments employed nearly 2,700,000 full-paid workers and nearly a million on part timeabout one out of every eleven gainfully employed in United States. Today, under NRA, that proportion is of course very considerably higher.