Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 23 September 1949 — Page 10

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The Indianapolis Times

5. A SCRIPPS-HOWARD NEWSPAPER

Business

Friday, Sept. 23, 1949

Editor

PAGE 10

President

i i

Rov W. HOWARD WALTER LECKRONE HENRY W, MANZ | Manager |

ogy 1 dail di iis Times Publish. od A a and he Focal Fone 9. Member of |

nited Pres Se

Hops. Howat foe and Audit Bureay of Clreulations, gents &_copy for dally ily punter; Toe a Ww al fates

50: other , U 8 possessions, Canada and dally 31.10 a month, Sunday. 52 a copy,

Telephone RI ley 5551 Give Liokt and the Peovle Will Pind Their Own Wav °

Marion County, ivered hv carrier

eek.

Leica:

Not ‘Collective Bargaining’ POSTPONEMENT of the threatened steel strike for six

Newspaper Alliance, NEA Serv

in Indiana, ! ear. Sunday |

~ ‘more days gives the country some hope that, before the | ‘extended truce expires at 12:01 a. m. on Saturday; Oct. 1, | the danger of a disastrous conflict will have beer ended. |

As Mr. Truman says, every possible effort should be

made to avoid a stoppage in this important industry, for | “the national interest requires, and the American people

have a right to expect, an early settlement.”

Whether an early settlement is reached depends on |

what happens in what Mr. Truman refers to as “collective ‘bargaining sessions.” Ly Officials of five big steel companies will negotiate with union representatives, and any agreements they may make

will provide a pattern for agreements with some 1600 other |

companies, large and small, whose employees the union rep-

resents.

. ” » . . nn ” .

: THAT will be collective bargaining for only the five |

‘big companies—not the rest. And that is not at all the way

+ “*Mr. Truman's fact-finding board said the issues in the con- |

:troversy should be settled. : The board said that its insurance and pension recom‘mendations were “not intended to apply automatically to individual companies.” * There was a “presumption,” it said, that the recom:mendations should. apply to the 19 leading steel-producing ‘companies. But, “in spite of this presumption,” a return

pr - sto-collective bargaining should give “each company” oppor-- |

‘tunity to prove that the recommendations did not fit its “particular case. i os © As to all the other companies, the board said, there should be bargaining “between the union and each company

to ascertain what deviations, if any, should be made from

‘the general recommendations.” > Obviously, the union can’t bargain separately with 1600 ‘companies before Oct. 1. It plans to bargain with only five.

Af those five give what Mr. Murray has seemed to demand—

‘namely, a commitment to insurance and pensions systems “financed wholly by employers, in the full amounts recom‘mended by Mr. Truman's board—the rest, some 1600 companies, apparently will have to accept that commitment or be struck.

% If so, their predicament will be a restlt of the policy of dndustry-wide bargaining which, in certain large industries, « has destroyed true collective bargaining. oli a" a i a eww } : "7 "MR. TRUMAN'S steel board said somé" things on that ‘subject which have not received the attention they merit. “It said that, in the steel industry, “there is frequently no serious bargaining or discussion between most of the in--dividual employers and the union.” - = It said that this fact tends to promote dissatisfaction and disharmony. And it suggested that Congress take a look into situations ‘where “various kinds of industry-wide ‘bargaining rather than individual collective bargaining have ‘grown up.” Congress should do just that; and, having looked, it should act to restore and protect collective bargaining in individual units, and to curb the evils fostered by industrywide bargaining. : To mention just one of those evils; Industry-wide bargaining is the chief basis of the monopolistic power which enabled John L. Lewis to engineer the present national coal strike on the phony issue that a few mine owners in the Bouth stopped their payments into his union's welfare and pension fund. :

Glimpse of Tomorrow

ECONOMICS . . . By Earl Richert

ties abroad and the fact that most companies

New Trend. in World Trade? Predictions Mixed on Effects

Of Currency Devaluation *

WASHINGTON, Sept. 23—How much Is U. 8. industry going to be hurt by foreign currency | devaluation? l Government officials profess to see very little {ll effects. But some segments of industry think they will get “a whopping kick in the pants” from |

lower-priced foreign goods invading the domestic market. It is on the U. B. export outlook that the closest agreement is reached. Government and industry officials here think there's not likely to be a noticeable decline in outpouring of U. 8, goods—despite the fact that they will cost more | now in most countries, | Basis for this belief is continuation of our | foreign ald program. We export about $1 billion a month but half 6f It-is paid for by the Marshall Plan. | Government officials believe the pald-for-in-cash half of our exports will continue because need for our goods is so great-—and there certainly will be no rejection of the goods we're giving away, (U, B. imports average half a | billion a month.) It is on the import side of ghe picture that there is sharp disagreement.

Rise ir Imports

A HIGH Commerce Department official said he foresaw only a slight rise in imports, if any. He expects increased foreign competition to be felt: most keenly by U, 8B. producers of woolens and fine cotton goods.: Among his reasons for expecting no great flood of imports are the limifed production facili- |

have their organizations built up to sell in foreign markets. It will take some time to change, if they decide to do so. An opposite view of our import prospects was expressed by a foreign trade expert for an industry organization. He expects a sharp spurt in imports—so much so, he said, that be-

| Patient Little Animal

Hoosier Forum

"| do’ not agree witha word that you say, but | will defend to the death your right te say n*

lw el RR IR

Vicious Merry-go-round' By C. D. C., Terre Haiite

I have always noticed that there are only two classes of people in this country who are strictly independent. One which is rich enough to be independent and the other so poor it can be independent. That is why when a tin horn politician tells you the slums are a breeding ' ground for communism, you can mark it down he is trying to make some political hay. Under communism, of course, the slum dweller would * be put to work at a steady job and lose most of his independence. That's something he doesn’t want. The New Deal is more up his alley, and the slums have been the politicians’ paradise since Franklin D. Roosevelt started to ride herd back in 1932. : > | He immediately rounded up all the mavericks | he could find and put them in the New Deal corrals where they were fed from the publi trough. They are still in the same corral except the brand has been changed to the Fair Deal. ~T The slums, where most of the relief clients live, of course, are a social problem and have been made worse in the last few years by tin horn politicians, professional do-gooders and government social uplifters., They have through county food orders, mothers’ pensions and other doles taken away the incentive to compel these people to help themselves. In many cases the third generation are now dependents of the taxpayers, However, it is a vicious merry-go-round which seems to have no end. The politicians need the votes to keep them in power and if the professional relief clients suddenly decided to stand on their own wobbly feet, the ward heelers who look after them soon wouldn't

have any job. » Ta well figure that

ose Eh

“Ewe SHARES OWS HURRAAR FL FN SNe Ese Fan Angad Pp WR ehie Vis CaN

That is why we had just as relief will always be 4 permanent part of our economy. . No politician of any party would ever dare to try to compe} these professional relief clients to stand on their own feet and make them carry

sani slissoneniha

fore long the ceramics, textiles, toy, motorcycle and bicycle manufacturers will be appealing to Congress for higher tariff protection or import quotas’ & “Just how effective this new competitive advantage will be,” he sald, “depends on how effective the British government is in resisting de-

PEDDLER'S PASSAGE . . . By John Loveland

ish Fries Buying Fire Truck

their own load. If he did, he would soon be * ¢

‘Sores Gnawing at Society’ By Charles W. Burton, 911 E. Maryland Our machines are so productive and it takes

out of politics,

THE FIRST architect's drawings of the new J. C. Penney |

store on the Circle will cause more than a ripple of comment. There may be harsh criticism, and short-visioned wisecracks:

But change always invites challenge, especially from

--grganizations and remaifiing “shorta

mands for higher wages there to meet increas-

ing living costs. resulting’ from Mevaliation™ "~

Greater Profit

HE BAID devaluation provided an Incentive for. British manufacturers to sell in the U, 8, market, since in many instances they could get

A |

more than the devaluation price here, thus mak- |

ing greater profit, He said machine-tool manufacturers also would meet tough competition from certain

types of British tools because the wage rate | here is $2 to $2.50 an hour, while in Britain un- | der devaluation it is about 50 or 60 cents an |

hour, maachine-tool costs. e Commerce Department spokesman sald

Labor accounts for 65 to 90 per cent of |

devaluation in most countries was largely a | recognition of something that already had hap- | pened. Most of the reaction tradewise took | place in anticipation of the change rather than |

after, he said. :

In normal times devaluation would greatly

increase our imports and decrease our exports,

he said. But today our exports are down to |

about the minimum because of rigid import con-

trols maintained by dollar-short foreign coun- |

Aries. And lack of production facilities, selling

pected to keep any flood of imports from shows ing up. Hn | !

Sales Fell off

37 RS CE

HE SAID sales of U. 8. autos and refrigera- |

tors had fallen off before devaluation, U, 8 autos have always had a specialized foreign market and he expects them to keep it. He thinks the lower-priced British autos %lso will find only a specialized market in the U. 8. He, too,. expects the U. 8. to hold its own against the now lower-priced foreign products in such markets as Latin America. Some industry sources, however, are not so confident. Generally, industry leaders think that devaluation was a necessary step—but only one of many needed to get foreign countries back on their own feet,

“DO YOU want to buy a fire truck! Neither

“do T.oBut IF you plan to visit Brown” Cotinty in

the next few Weeks, it won't take-long to show. just thé place where the truck is needed, ~~ You'll want to take Highway 135 south from Meridian St. in Indianapolis. Pause a moment to look at the beauty of the dahlia gardens just beyond the city limits. They'll be the most

colorful thing you'll see for a few miles yet.. .

Continue on through Bargersville, past Trafalgar, following the bend of the highway to the west where you'll get a glimpse of the hazy broken country to come. Soon you'll see a water tower over the edge of a hill and before you know it you'll be: sweeping. down into Morgantown which nestles right

in the corner of three counties, Morgan, Johnson and Brown. If you have chosen Saturday afternoon for your juant, you'll probably see quite a crowd gathered beside Jim Crawford's implement and hardware store.

Big Frying Job

MOST of the people will be eating fish, while 10 or 12 will be frying them or doing the jobs

thit are needed to.get the fish: onthe way

through the batter, rolled in the meal or flour, and into the deep fat. Those 12 will be Lions and they will be the most active members of the group that wants to buy the fire engine. * Among them will be Ray Allen, president of the Lions Club, who also operates the Indiana Scenic Bus Line. Gwynn Crawford, who is the “& Bon” part of J. L. Crawford & Son, will be handling the. French fri¢d potatoes if they'll let him again. Someone tells me he carried a big can of shoestrings around in the trunk of his car without knowing a thing about their being there at the time of the last feeding of the multitudes. Alvin Whitaker who sells candy; W. W. Hickman the banker; Gale Voiles who has an appliance business; Max McClain, lineman for the United Telephone Co., and O. R. Wells, the postmaster, all will bé in there along with all the

other members of the club who can possibly get “away-from-thein business, pe rsene WRL While they have a fown fire department,

‘these men in Morgantown have realized that'

the surrounding townships .should also have

their fire protection, and it is earnestly hoped |

that they will be able to give such a service to |

not only the immediate township, but also to two or three more in Morgan County, one in Brdwn, and one or two in Johnson. ”

Raising Cash

FEELING that there will be many farmers happy to contribute to a fire truck fund, it was decided that the first step would be for them to raise some actual cold cash to show that they really mean business when they put up their proposition to the community. Several weeks ago the fish fries started, and .the boys learned a lot about running such a project. Initial expenses were higher than anticipated, but after a slow beginning, the treasury has gradually grown with each succeeding event. There have been four or five to date and the funny thing is that not only do they sell quite a few sandwiches, but they also bring quite a few people to town to shop in their own community. . I don’t imagine Jim Crawford is active as he used to he in Liong

throat. He has ny great admiration because he has overcome this handicap to return to his business and to serve his customers as he did before his illness.

Save Room for Fish

IF YOU plan to go to Brown County on a

qyite as qd. Club affairs, : both because he's been a wheel horse in the community for years, and also becaise he re- | cently had to undergo a serious operation on his |

| i | |

Saturday afternoon It might be a good idea to | save a little room for a fish sandwich when you |

come to Morgantown. . You may not want to buy a the boys in Morgantown know that there are a lot of picturesque homes and valuable woodlots

fire truck, but

that will get better protection if they can fry |

and sell enough fish.

" Board of Education. :

. Tito’'s form of government-—Dr.

such a small per cent of the population te produce forall that the result is*s great mass of Anemployed on ore hand, strikes and struggles for higher wages and better working conditions on the other. These are the sores gnawing at the vitals of society. ’

WARRP os vunasE Ys

Cow

The increasing misery of the poor, the cone . centration of wealth, the gradual lowering of . the standard of living for all are weakening the .

foundation of the capitalistic institutions.

No society can maintain itself after it ceases to provide for the welfare of the population, *

None ever has, .

What Others Say

CHEAP partisan politics are using Vaughan to embarrass President Truman and trying to use me the same way—David A. Bennette, Chi-

cago perfume manufacturer who sent freezers “

to Maj.-Gen. Harry. Vaughan, * &

THE world must choose between the new °

hope that moral rearmament offers and the atom bomb with its consequences of destruction

—George Bertier, of the French Government

NO American should kid himself into believe.

ing ald from the U. 8. will have any- effect on Kirtley F,

* ¢ 9

» COMMUNISM is perhaps the most striking example of secular thinking that credits all

scientific and technical gains to the mind of man alone—Prof. Max Huber, honorary war- -

time president, International Red Cross. * & o

YOU can’t tell me the free enterprise system ; is falling apart at the seams. Not when busi © nessmen in my home town have plenty of money in the bank and are. doing good busi. * ness—Senate Majority Leader Scott W. Lucas, -

FEDERAL CONFLICTS . . . By Marquis Childs . SU Flaws in ‘Teamwork’ |

WASHINGTON, Sept. 23—A weary official of the government, after testifying before one. committee of Congress after another and getting raked over by a variety of conflicting opin. fons, was asked about teamwork in Washington. ] “Oh, yes,” he replied, “the government is a team, all right. The quarterback calls the signals. The ball is snapped. And at that moment every member of the team turns and socks every other member of the team.” While a great deal has been done in-recent months to improve | the teamwork between government departments, and that im. | provement was conspicuous in the approach to the British crisis, | there is still the sharpest kind of conflict between those who are | supposedly playing on the same side. Between Democrats in the Senate and members of the Truman administration a kind of

. guerrilla warfare has gone on. «

“. “those growing fat and broad on theif easy mental chairs,

spending their lives in cobwebbed yesterdays. Actually it is a kind of building ‘which had to come, and one of which Indianapolis may, in time, become proud. It -is the last word in functional architecture. ‘particular job, and serye the public, perhaps better than .than any other type. .

It will do its:

It is doubtful if citizens would want the Circle rimmed | ‘with English Hotel architecture forever. Building design, |

dike building designers, must change to make use of new ‘knowledge.

* « WHILE the three-story structure replaces a well-loved |

Jandmark, it may become one itself. It may be the pioneer on the Circle in the new type of architecture,

. People still think log cabins are picturesque and write :poems about them. But they build and live in modern houses.

: The Equitable Life Assurance Society knows what it

ds doing. - Otherwise it would not invest nearly $3 million |

:dollars in the venture, ” . . We are likely to find, when the words and wags have

‘been forgotten, that Equitable and Penney have really bescome trailblazers in our familiar world of business architecture. | : ‘ .

i | . . Like Old Times AE ‘A LOCOMOTIVE builder is said to be working hard on devising a diesel locomotive whistle that will sound like the familiar mournful wail of the stéam locomo-

tesa nen

“rade

midsummer,

One of the most persistent and relentless snipers is Sen. Pat McCarran of Nevada. Singlehanded he has held up amendstents | to correct inequities in the displaced persons act pledged by both | Republican and Democratic Partles.

Watchdog Committee

SEN. McCARRAN; accompanied by his wife, has now gone to Europe for a visit of several weeks. Presumably he is going as chairman of the Watchdog Committee to look into the way in which the millions of the Economic Co-operation Administration are being spent. That so-called Watchdog Committée is a bitter bone of contention between Senate and House, Sen. McCarran has insisted on giving $334,000 to the watchdog. Chairman Clarence Cannon and members of the House Appropriations Committee have been Just as stubborn in their determination that no ECA: money shail go for this purpose. © As a result, the ECA appropriation “has been held up ‘since It is thanks to a Senate-House resolution that the European ald organization is able to go on functionifig, meeting commitments long since made. ’ But the final deadline is now drawing very near. Is not expected to get down to any practical business before Monday. Four days later, on Sept. 30, the resolution that gives ECA a temporary life will expire. } )

Work Hampered

IN THEORY the Watchdog Committee sounds like a good idea. In practice it has hampered the work of the hard-working men trying to administer a difficult undertaking. y In both Italy and England there have been instances in which paid empioyees of the Watchdog Committee hyve stepped out of the role of observer-critic and have actually assumed public | authority. In one case a watchdog employee gave an interview to the Italian press, predicting certain changes in policy, ECA Administrator Paul Hoffman is one of the most con-

|, sclentious and able men to go {nto government in a long time,

itive. The idea is supposed to be to give ‘better warning to |

_ motorists who don't seem to pay enough attention to the ao t diesel horns as they approach rail crossings. ; © Well, maybe that's it. But we suspect that this parA research just reflects. America’s reluctance to yield its romantic railroad past, a : .

Recognizing the importance qf criticism, Mr. Hoffman has nevertheless been acutely aware of what “# time-wasting device the Watchdog Committee has proved in practice to be. Days and weeks of the time of harassed and buay ‘officials in Europe have been taken up with watchdog interviewers, As a possible substitute, Mr.. Hoffman has suggested a grand review of. ECA policy and administration at which top efficials would face a battery of critics, both members of Congress and experts they might want to bring in. : Busy Sen. McCarran will not, of course, confine himself to 302. it Ea 1s pladning A visit to Spain, either with his ® or later when joined by members of a Senat committees, , 3 y nats abe - This visit 'will be used by Generalissimo Franco's propagandists to undermine official State Department policy with respect to Spain, That line is to refuse aid to the Franco dictatorship

The House -|

SIDE GLANCES

Bv Galbraith

2) QPR. 1940 BY NEA SERN "Well. if Mrs. Binkley is spending so much money on Fsiques,

Loo or | why dont you invite her over to lpok at our furniture?"

because of the attitude of the democracies of Western Europe with which this government is co-operating In a mutual defense plan. : “ : The Senator has, of course, important duties right here in Washington, As chairman of the Judiciary Committee, he presumably would have to shepherd the nomination: of Sherman Minton to the Supreme Court through the Senate. When the name of former Attorney General Tom Clark was before. the Senate for the. high court, . Republiéan Senators complained Diteerly that they had not been given an opportunity to question | r. Clark. ” But Sen. McCarran will be hard at work trying to trip up | other members of the theoretical Washington team. The wonder is that under such teamwork’ anything ever gets done,

Barbs—

A MIDWESTERN man died of drinking a half gallon of

whisky on a bet—which He won. SLM lle =

A HUNGARIAN professor says education causes fiat feet.

Maybe we were wrong about that trafiie cop.

drawing account,

. a 9

AN artist's wife was granted $50 weekly

Rony. Sort of a

NATION'S BUSINESS . . . By Bruce Biossat

No M ‘Normalcy’? o More ‘Normalcy’ WASHINGTON, Sept: 23—To the ordinary citizen not toe 3 well versed in economics; there's one very puzzling thing about . behavior in the business world. a 4 - Neither the practicing businessman nor the economist ever seems to think in terms of stable conditions any more. Nobody talks about a period that might be marked by a nice balance of - forces, a peaceful stretch that might just possibly deserve the label of.“normaley.” : } } : While the boom is on, everybody from President Truman om down is busy deploring .the harmful effects of inflation, and taking out after price-gougers. The hollering is loud for controls to check 4he mad rush to disaster. But when the tide has turned, is anybody happy? Certainly not. Immediately .the shouts go up' that we're heading for a bottomless pit. Again, there's the call for controls, this time to stave off ruinous depression. Bushels of statistics are gathered up to prove the gravity of the situation.

Funan

One Extreme to Other a

THE psychology works like a pendulum—swinging. from one: + side to the other but never pausing in the center. The swings in thinking are accentuated these days because we listen more * than ever to highly-placed economists and to commentators and columnists as they pour out their dire warnings of trouble to come. . Take a look, for example, at the way it affects the auto. mobile dealer. Riding the post-war crest of record consumer demand, he drove hard bargains with his customers. Many had to pay secret premiums to get. cars; countless others re-

.luctantly accepted expensive accessories as the price of getting

automobiles. Radios, heaters, overdrives, fog lights, even lap robes and luggage were foisted upon unwilling purchasers, But now the. big surge of demand has receded. Business is still very good for most dealers, so good, in fact, that the car makers probably will turn out more vehicles than in record 1929. Still, we've been having a recession, cars tend to pile up a bit in showrooms now, and who can say that a big drop doesn't lie ahead? “ . :

The ‘Extras’ Are Now Free 80 what does the dealer do? He acts as if every car he” sells may be the last he can unload. In Chicago, he hands out free driving lessons and 30,000-mile service warranties to custome ers, or offers ‘to transport them there from as far away as Alaska and house them free ‘until he can give them delivery, on a car. He gets into the give-away game, doling out iceboxes, ‘washers, baskets of groceries, state fair tickets, Those same seat covers the customer was told last year he'd have to take at a fancy price are now offeréd free by a salesman wearing a brave smile. You don’t want a radio or heater? Perfectly all right, says the dealer. Anything to oblige, This whole attitude is neatly summed up by Charles E.

| Wilson, president of General Motors, in a Fortune Magazine | article on industry prospects. Noting the current high level of | car sales, Mr, Wilson nevertheless took a cautious view.

He said he was waiting anxiously for the day one of his vice presidents would approach him and say: “Well, we shipped that carload.” Mr. Wilson added that he of course would ask what carload the executivé was talking about, to which the vice president will reply: “That carioad that changed our shortage to a surplus.” \ . is There you have it—no middle ground. A feast-or-famine peychology. The salesman who either snarls “take it and like it” or loads you up to the chin with free extras. - «The mere layman wishes earnestly for a

between Any, but KX seems like there ought to be, -