New Britain herald., 1920-12-11
THE OBSERVER.
THE CITY AND ITS PEOPLE.
MAKES
RANDOM OBSERVATIONS

ton of contracts manufacturers have been forced to reduce production by closing down their factories or short ening the schedules of labor and. as usual, the workingman is forced to shoulder the burden.
 Within the past few weeks leaders of thought in the commercial world have taken it upon themselves to eN- press themselves on the subject of contracts and it is the consensus that many men of prestige have acted in a very small way in their attempts to head off financial losses. Moral obli- gations have counted for nothing. Never in the history of the country has there been such widespread can cellation of orders and few business men had enough grit to stick by their signatures and swallow loss even though they had scored unheard of gains on the rising markets of the past several years.
 As respect for contractual obliga- tions has apparently become extinct, il may become necessary for manu- facturers and other producers to draft a new form of order as sub stitutc for the scrap of paper which has heretofore been accepted as contract. But as promise is no more dependable than the man who makes it. perhaps after all what is needed is new standard of busi- ness morals. Certainly the recent wave of cancellations has opened the eyes of the country to an amazing ly widespread contempt for written agreements
 New Britain was well represented at the meeting of the Hartford Ad- Nertising club this week when Roger w. Babson. statistician and business economist spoke. .Mr. Babson seemed to pierce the future with the facility of an inspired seer and if his pre- dictions bud into facts he will ad- mittedly be regarded in the light of a prophet who has made good
 MT Babson believes that prices will continue to decline for the next two or three years but he expects that business will become more normal by the summer of 1921. His audience was greatly surprised to learn of his strong confidence in New Haven" railroad securities, Apparently he be- licves the road has future and his compa rison of the New Haven" with another well-known system, with credit to the former, made his listen CTS gasp.
 Absent for many months, the ito rent advertisement is beginning to make its presence felt in the news papers. For a long period it dis appeared almost completely, and it was missed. which fact can be tes- tified to by the many people who looked each evening with burning eyes for a sign of a roof to live under.
 Apartments to rent is one of the signs of the times. It denotes a de- crease in prosperity, lack of sta bility among the working class which becomes more nomadic as it is pushed more and more to find employment. There is always an element that floats on the surface even when there is work for everyone with two arms. These are termed 'floaters'' although it would be even more appropriate to classify them as ''drifters'' because they represent the jetsam and flotsam that idles up and down the strand of industry, being carried along with each succeeding wave. But it is of the other element we speak, the steady type that remains in a spot while labor conditions are favorable, anxious to make their presence felt occasionally. Those uprooted are forced to pass along to other locali-
 
 cured or friends may be found. This results in empty tenements which are increasing in number in this city be- cause of these very conditions.
 For cons and cons, so it seems, the cruel landlords have cracked the whip and the public has done fandango. With gleeful eNultation they have in creased rents, in some cases eXacting the last slice of 1esh. Happily for all concerned, the situation has been remedied and we can all breathe more freely. Landlords may be just as grasping, but from now on they are likely to grasp nothing more sub- stantial than thin air, which makes a noise like nothing at all.
 Picture the lot of the proletariat when the woim actually turns in his tracks. Landlords will be required to knock their heads on the doormat thrice in token of respect for ye rent seeker and have a symphony orchestra to play while said seeker Mrs. Seeker and all the little Seekers are shown around the palatial apartment house. And then think of that crushed feeling which will cause the landlord to wince when Mrs. Seeker remarks: This place will not do at all. No, not for minute. If we are to keep up with the Joneses we insist that you must equip the apartment with a steam heated player piano. Come, Alexan- der. let us go. I could not think of bringing up the children in such a place as this.
 Oh gosh, oh gee, won't it be grand and glorious feelin'?
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