The Brunswick news., 1919-02-25
FAIR PLAY FOR BUSINESS AND
INDUSTRY.

Win the business and industrial LIE
of the country in Washington have
come to the conclusion thta something
more must be done for the Americ IN
producer than to assure him that ev-
srything is "all right" ana that any
timidity he may have about new ven
lures is purely matter of personal
psychology Some of the officials of
the department of labor, for instance.
have not realized that a new tack by
government officials was in order and
they have been putting too much bur-
den on business men and assuming
that any question of prices or cost
could be laid at the door of the in
,dividual producer.
1t is a condition not a theory, that
confrOnts American business. and this
condition, other things being normal,
will continue for some time. To solve
ii calls not only for the wisdom and
expertness of the American business
man, therefore, but the cooperation
of the government to stabilize cost
ard prices over large areas. If this
can be done with some sort of uni
formity so that production can meet
expenses and taxes and prices still
hc fair to customers, certain kind
Of stagnation that now exists in many
industries may be overcome.
So far as the practical working out
of this industrial control through an
"industriay conference board" is con
cerned, it is naturally largely expert
mental, though the experiment need
rot be problematical. since the expert
eice of the war industries board and
ether like boards can easily be called
upon to indicate the practical lines
which should yield results AS is we'll
known. the incident of the war and
the governments assumption of spe-
eial price-fiXing authority checked the
normal output of many lines of indus
tiy and stimulated that of others
Prices for war products also were re
moved from the normal relationship
/ of demand and supply, while others
we're actually increased by the very
slortage of manufactured materials
! Under these circumstances, some of
which still are in effect, it is entirely
ftoo sanguine to think that with thc
/ isjgning of the armistice. I'll the gov
crnment agencies that dwelt with pro
duction and distribution could cease
operating end that business would aU
tnmatically adjust itself at once t.
Tow conditions. In the first place, tbc
new conditions did not repeat those
That existed before the war. either in
the matter of the cost and character
Of raw materials. the efficiency. avail
ability and the distribution of labor
2ld the incidents and degree of taxa
ton. All these three extreme factor.
have changed in varying and ,extrem,
degrees in different industries. so tha
Il has been difficult for business t,
start at top speed in all lines just a:
tf nothing had happened since April
1917.
Naturally, price readjustments
through government aid, are not easi
ly arrived at, and the c2ution witt
which Secretary Redfield takes up the
problem of price fixing" is warrant
ed. Since through Legislative AMI ad
ministrative action the government
has controlled, and is still CONTROL
ing, prices, if a new board of experts
can but adjust the factors that entct
into excessive war and post war price
they will bring about that confidence
that is badly needed in industrial cir
cles, where the stagnation is far from
being one of inent or due to the psy
Chology of any ore individual. On tht
; contrary, it is the result of genera
Il conditions which the countrywide &C
, operation of all concerned alone cal
change for the better; and in sucl
; readjustments the government, as rer
resentative of all, the consuming pul
lr ac we'll ac thp prOducar hac a yor