Special Report

Twenty years ago a small businessman conceived an idea. It was an impossible idea, but it was born alive, by desperation out of determination. DeWitt M. Emery had been the owner of a letterhead company since 1911. He managed to survive the panic years of the early 1930s. Then the real troubles began: social security, unemployment insurance, increased taxes, higher costs, increased wages. The business was on its last legs and Mr. Emery was convinced that there was “a systematic and sustained campaign of hindrance and persecution of business originating in the White House.”

Then the big idea came. He believed that if other independent men would join with him, it might be possible to form an association which would carry some weight in Washington. Labor, veterans, farmers, big business, in fact all segments of the economy—except small business— were powerful factors in national affairs. Mr. DeWitt wrote to 199 individuals operating businesses comparable in size to his own. All but 39 replied favorably. Such was the genesis of the National Small Business Men’s Association (NSBMA).

SJ

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Sam M. Jones

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Twenty years ago a small businessman conceived an idea. It was an impossible idea, but it was born alive, by desperation out of determination. DeWitt M. Emery had been the owner of a letterhead company since 1911. He managed to survive the panic years of the early 1930s. Then the real troubles began: social security, unemployment insurance, increased taxes, higher costs, increased wages. The business was on its last legs and Mr. Emery was convinced that there was “a systematic and sustained campaign of hindrance and persecution of business originating in the White House.”

Then the big idea came. He believed that if other independent men would join with him, it might be possible to form an association which would carry some weight in Washington. Labor, veterans, farmers, big business, in fact all segments of the economy—except small business— were powerful factors in national affairs. Mr. DeWitt wrote to 199 individuals operating businesses comparable in size to his own. All but 39 replied favorably. Such was the genesis of the National Small Business Men’s Association (NSBMA).