The Lamar register., 1920-10-27
TO OUR PATRONS

tant that all OF us give some atten-
tion to the task OF understanding
each other. For more than four years
the world was overwhelmed with a
war OF hate and destruction which
Killed millions oil men, manned mil
lions more, starved millions of chill
dren. many to the point Of death and
many more to the point OF physical
infirmity for all their lives. The la
hor oil many millions OF people dur
ing these years. in trench. in field,
in factory. and in office. went, not
Tor The production OF things with
which TO supply human wants and to
promote human happiness, but for
the production of things with which
to destroy human life and property
and to bring distress, sorrow and suf-
ierins TO millions or people.
When the armistice was signed and
We looked about us and toward the
futurc. We faced the problems Of
turning from the activity of war to
th,. work of peace. We told ourselves
that there would be again industrial
disordce with no serious misgiving.
when the millions oi men were re-
turned from France. we all gave at
tcntion to seeing that they had EN-
ployment. Those OF us who were en-
gagged in the manufacturing business
realized that we were facing times Of
great risk and uncertainty. In our
particular business that uncertainty
and its accompanying risk. was eN-
remely disturbing.
The war period had brought about
an increased production Of canned
milk OF more than one hundred PEI
cent over pre- war production with
production costs fully one hundred
per cent above costs in the pre-war
period. We knew that much OF this
Increased production had been con
sumed by those engaged in war act
iyities. In the four months immed
lately preceding the armisticc, we had
furnished more than sixty per cent Of
our total output to our government
for the use of our army and navy.
With the termination OF hostilities
this demand was cut off. Even be
fore the armistice was signed, orders
were cancelled and after the signing.
many more were cancelled we
knew. of course. that 1t had been nee
essary for the army to build up re-
serves of food products which. when
fighting stopped. would never be
needed by our armies and would he
available for other uses.
We knew that there was great dis
tress In all OF Central Europe. and
that there large quantities of milk
were needed. but We had no assur-
anee as to when supplies could be
sent there or whether they could be
paid for. We knew that we could
not supply the need unless it could
be paid for. From the time the
United States entered the war until
after the armistice was signed, we
paid only one dividend on our stock.
left all our earnings. after paying
taxes, In the business. and yet were
compelled TO Borrow money to carry
on our business, though we had not
before the war borrowed a dollar for
twenty years.
In this situation We were confronted
with a most serious problem. should
We continue production at the high
costs should we continue To buy youi
milk at war prices. and pay war prices
for labor and other materials, with
the great risk of loss that threatened.
or should we play safe and selfish
game. cut our production and costs
wherever possible and avoid the
RISK? We did not take the safe and
easy course We kept up production
during 1919. paid prices and wages
even higher than during the war and
took the heavy risk of loss that
every months business involved. We
did not. during 1919, have TO take
the loss. though it constantly threat
ened. Our every energy was directed
toward finding markets for the goods
produced from the fresh milk bought
from Won and during that year We