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Chairman Ecclest
After talking with you when he visited at
the Board last week, Mr® Guy Greer asked me to
try to resurrect a memo he wrote while working
in Professor Hansen1s section, the subject of
the memo being the financing of small business.
A search of the files in the Special Studies
Section and those in General Piles revealed no
memo addressed to you, but I believe the attached
copy of a memo from Mr. Greer to Governor Draper
may be the one he had in mind« I hope this will be
of assistance to you.




October 13, 1942
Governor Draper

AID TO SMALL BUSINESS

Guy Greer

You night be interested in the attached, which
was the subject of discussion at lunch with Robert Nathan
of 7SPB# Clayton, Smead, and myself from here, and Donald
Davenport and Dal Hitchcock from Labor. The consensus
of opinion was that the first part of the proposal,
involving certificates and provisional commitments to
liquidating concerns, would be virtually impossible to
administer. The permanent corporation idea received a
more cordial reception. The general feeling was that the
best we could hope for would be to help small business
firms (l) to convert to war production when feasible,
(2) to liquidate and con¥erve their assets if this is
possible, or (3) to maintain the business in being. In
the case of the third alternative, the suggestion was
made that possibly the permanent corporation referred to
in my memorandum could assume the fixed charges and take
a lien on business provided the state and local governments
would grant a moratorium on taxes.
If you have time to look it over, I should like
very much to have your reactions to the attached memorandum.
Would you think it worth-while to pursue further the idea
of certificates of being war casualties and provisional
commitments for post-war advances of capital funds?

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