New Britain herald., 1916-04-01
MAKING woMEN's CLOTHES.
Tlle Evolution of One Of tIls Great
 est Modern Day Industries.
(Springfeld Republican.)

Springfield Republican, A.
 In hardly more than half q cWn- tuIy the making of women's clothes has changed from housewifely task to an extensive and high!v-or rganized@ wholesale industry. In it's presens& i>in that industry involves an ir-
 regularity of employment so greatN that it amounts to regularity of un- employment. The manufacture oEV all the five large classes of garment H '-coaks and suits, dresses and waists. tIsses' clothes, muslin underwear and house dresses and kimonos-is crowd cd into fall rush and an even great CT spring rush, with two slack seasons between. It cannot be doubted that in the end both employers and ern- ployes would be better off if wcrk were more evenly distributed through the year Fixed charges and over- head coats would be less, and tharl blessings that arc promised to be efficient could not fail to be forth coming. The workers themselves would unquestionably gain by a steadying of weekly earnings, for in the hand-to-mouth figures uncertain ties of income have a money cost that Is quite defiant of the laws of propor- ton.
 It is with an eye |" the cfancSs for bringing about thI4 improvenlenS that the United States oIreau Of labcr has co-operaed with the commission on industrial relations in detailed study of the situation. This study covers the extent and evident causes Of chronic unemployment in four cen ters, which include about 7G per cent. Of the garm ent-ma king industry in this country--New York, ChicagtV Cleveland and Boston. II brings outc iR black and white the enormous y, range Of the fluctuations. In some branches paN-rolls drop from 1G0 per cent. of their years average to 4e per cent. or lower, and pay-rolls ra-s ther than numbers must be taken asy a hasis, because labor unions have in- sisted on division of work in dull times. These fluctuations are not selected exceptions; with difference o= figures they exist in all factories and 2 in all branches of the industry.
 Of course, garmen making runs in spasms first and foremost because sea sons change; but if there were no other complications change of season e could be anticipated and clothes made
  not be controlled but the complicaAS tions, it appears can Scale of pro- duction, it was found, affects regu- larity. In all the trades studied the small establishments showed greater degree of irrcgularity than the large. Methods of disposing of the product make difference. Tho buying method of New York shops where ut-of-town buyers come in at inter vals and do their business on the premises, leads to greater fluctuations than the selling method of Cleve- land firms, who send out solasmeri to work for advance orders. Quality of product is another factor, for estab- lfshments making high-grade goods have more unemploy than those :, making cheaper lines.
 "All these factors are Just so many different forms of obstacles to advance manufa curing, and, Of course, the un- deriving obstacle to advance manu- featuring is change of fashion. Change of fashion, however, the report does not lay wholly at the door of a whim- sical public. Manufacturers as a class may lose by these fluctuations, s' but there are always q few indiVid- uals who are making pig profits by creating and filling demand for some novelty. For everyone who gets there first there are hundreds who competed, and so f1ckleness is fostered. This view of the fashion problem, added to the factors of shop orGani- zation, puts the matter Of regulariEa- tion squarely up to the manufactur- CTS.
 Two lines of attack have already been tried out. Organization within the shop is helped by com hining two or more industries whose dull times do not correspond, and ! Chicago firm which makes petticoats in tho slack season of it's dress and waist busi- ness Is proving that this dovetalltng is practical. Reorganization of mar keting comes closer to the root of the matter. The best example of this is Cleveland manufacturer who holds his salesmen rigidly to a policr of no rush orders and fiIls his dwl season by deliberately pushing standard make of low-p pric@d cons'r- / Natively-cut serge suits. This pr-S ticular manufacturer is making men suits, but nothing was brought to lkht bv the bureaus exhaustive investsa- ton which should prevert the soph- cation of the plan to women's cothes. It seems to be just one n1fe case where nobody really wants f oelt the cat.