The current Congressional investigations in Michigan and Hollywood should emphasize to each of us the importance of vigilance with respect to Communistic activities. We have said before that the average businessman’s interest in government ceases with his vote—about the only time he writes his Congressman is when he has a squawk to make about some local annoyance or when he needs a favor. His concern about national affairs is usually confined to drawing room conversation and stops right there. All of us have participated in these gatherings and most of us have left them with the firm resolution to do something about it.
Congress welcomes the advice and suggestions of the man in business as one of the most effective means of correcting inequities and enacting proper legislation. The Commies and the leftwingers are sitting up nights trying to figure out ways of upsetting our present form of government, while the average American is too busy with his own affairs to bother about legislative matters. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what will happen to your business or your job if the government-control artists get their way—you just won’t have any.
Some progress has been made in “throwing the bums out,” but there is too much pussyfooting about this. They cry, “You can’t do that to us.” . . . “We stand on our constitutional rights.” . . . But those rights are the very ones they are trying to destroy. If some bum came into your office or club and started to shout “Down with capital!” he would be thrown out and quick. It wouldn’t be necessary to call a board of directors meeting to give him a hearing.
Nothing comes from doing nothing. If you have anything to contribute to a Congressional committee investigation, by all means notify the committee chairman. If you have a suggestion for your Congressman, don’t hesitate to write him on your business stationery. He will be more impressed by a single personal letter than he would be by forty-nine telegrams from members of a pressure group. We will never again have a rubber-stamp Congress if the business people, who represent the best in down-to-earth thinking and American traditions, follow through with their ideas and ideals. Put it in writing!
