In walking through the principal streets of the Polish communities in Chicago, we observe with sorrow the fact that, despite our increased nationalistic activity for the past few years, despite our incessant plea to "patronize your Polish merchants," despite continuous efforts in the direction of developing Polish business and industry in our communities, Polish enterprises form but tiny islands in the sea of business enterprise in this country. Polish business merely vegetates, and only an occasional person, after years of effort, achieves any amount of wealth. Generally speaking, we stay at the lowest level of business as well as industry; we are either without the courage to raise that level, or without the ability, or--as most often happens--we have not the necessary capital to develop any given enterprise on a large scale.

Certainly there is money among us; however, it serves, not us, but others. It is not true that we lack business ability or that we do not know how to invest capital. Proof that we do know how to invest money carefully and adequately is shown by our large organizations which, in their insurance departments, handle millions of dollars to the best interests of the people who have invested that money. Further proofs lie in our well-established building and loan associations, in which the money involved also runs into millions of dollars. If we can handle money to the investor's profit in these fields, we have passed our [business] examination creditably--with cleaner hands than almost any other national group in the United States. Why, then, cannot we pass the same sort of examination in the fields of business and industry--organized on a co-operative basis?

Someone will say that we have had enough experiences in this sort of thing, enough bitter and costly trials which were at least not encouraging.

Did not more than one person lose money in the "Bell Corporation,"or in other 3enterprises? Yes, there were losses. Even such enterprises as the Polish Milk Co-operative failed to develop, but in this case there were other reasons. On the other hand, there are Polish corporations that are really prospering. One need but mention the Polish casket factory.

But this is not what we intended to write about today; we were thinking of creating a "mutual aid" association for business and industry similar to the economic organizations of this sort in Poznan [Poland]. This article is not dedicated to great corporations, the direction of which requires considerable ability and business sense, but to the small Polish business and industrial enterprises with which we could cover Chicago if we adhered to a previously laid out program, from which small business and industrial enterprises would grow into a great and powerful Polish industry.

In this matter, we will return for a moment to a proposal made ten years ago in the White Eagle Association of Polish Businessmen of Chicago. Already at the first convention of this organization, a motion by delegate 4Romanowicz was passed to create a mutual aid organization, patterned after the Poznan institution--which now controls millions of dollars--within the White Eagle Association. The idea was based on the principle that a fund should be created both for the Polish businessmen already engaged in business and for those who could operate a business successfully but lacked the capital to get started.

A start actually was made toward realizing the decision of the convention. About two hundred members of the association began to make monthly payments which, in the course of a year's time, brought in about three thousand dollars. Loans were made from this source, on appropriate security, to a few Polish businessmen which were instrumental in developing their businesses; thanks to such loans, two Poles established a business enterprise which is prospering excellently today.

Unfortunately, our businessmen lacked perseverance. Instead of continuing the work that had started so excellently, developing and spreading it so that 5it would include thousands of enterprising Poles in Chicago, the next convention discontinued it; for one depositor after another was withdrawing the money he had paid in the year before. A decision was made to liquidate the fund from which, after all money had been paid out, about a hundred dollars clear profit remained. Since nothing could be done with so small a sum, it was donated to charity. In this way, mutual aid for business and industry in Chicago collapsed. This institution, had it been maintained, would today be the mother of Polish business in Chicago, a powerful foundation for our industry. By today, ten years later, if this fund had been maintained, shrewder Poles, seeing the personal benefit to be derived from membership in such an organization, would have joined in great numbers. We are convinced that today that organization would have at least five thousand members. If every member had the privilege of receiving a loan after his first payment, and paid only five dollars a month, the fund in circulation among Polish businessmen would amount to at least two million dollars today.

How many new and stable Polish enterprises could have arisen with the aid of this enormous sum of money? How many merchants of other nationalities could have been driven from Polish communities? How could existing corporations be developed? Only he can understand the answers to these questions who also understands the operation of the institution in Poznan, thanks to which the Poles there have won their economic war with the Germans. The same could have been done here in Chicago, but, because of lack of perseverance, it has not happened; it can happen in the future if we return to work along those lines. But it calls for effort and perseverance.