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BEST BROADCASTS OF 1938-39
Denny. — Thank you, Mr. Jackson. Now, we are ready to hear a different point of view. Mr. Willkie, president of the Commonwealth and Southern Corporation, has asked me to state that he cannot and does not attempt to speak for all American industry. His statements and opinions are entirely his own, as I presume are Mr. Jackson’s. I take great pleasure in presenting Mr. Wendell L. Willkie.
Mr. Wendell L. Willkie. — I wonder if it seems strange to any of you tonight that we should be discussing the question of whether or not the government should cooperate with American business. I have an idea that if, from the town meetings of the past, our forefathers should arise to attend this meeting, they would be a little puzzled by such a topic. They might ask, with some surprise, if it was not the fvmction of American government to encourage the development of private enterprise. They would, of course, first be astonished that such a town meeting as this was possible at all . . . that several million people, from all over the land, should be gathered together by means of the mysterious network of the air. They would want to be told about this big business of radio manufacture which in 15 years by large-scale production has cut the price of its product by three-fourths and sold it to nearly 25,000,000 families. And after they had learned about these things, they would, I think, be even more puzzled as to why, over the facilities made possible by American business genius, we should be discussing whether or not American business, big or little, should be encouraged to proceed.
For several years now we have been listening to a bedtime story telling us that the men who hold office in Washington, are, by their very positions, endowed with a special virtue, that they are men of far vision and of exceptional ability and capacity. Businessmen, on the other hand, particularly so-called big businessmen, are pictured as the ruthless dictators of sprawling industrial empires with no real abihty except the talent for collecting money for themselves.
Now, most of you who are listening to this broadcast tonight will remember Joe or Tim or Dick or someone else who left your town and went to the city and made a name for himself in business. Most business leaders today were just such small town boys. You will remember also other Toms and Dicks and Joes who went into
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