Pueblo chieftain., 1921-01-10

New York, Jan. o.-Manufacturers
should now resume their buying of
raw products in discriminating way
to.keep the wheels of industry turning
and aid in maintaining the economic
balance of the country.
This is the optimistic and hopeful
message sent out today by j. Philip
Bird, general manager of tho National
Association of Manufacturers, who
advanced the suggestion in a review
of the general business situation.
The time has now come" said Mr..
Bird, for every far-sighted manufac-
turer to return to the kind of discrim-
inatory buying necessary to sustain in
conditions.
we have passed almost thru =
brief period of the closing down OF
factories and mills in the readjust-
ment. We arc now seeing industries
rcopeninS and resuminC work on al
most normal scale. We will have more
and more of this as we adjust our
eaelves and our methods to the new sit
Uation.. We have seen great changes,
SO far, without widespread labor up
beavaI: and this is one OF the most
healthful signs for the future, because
in these great turnarounds, the en-
ployes have not been forced to shoul-
der the greater part of the burden.
These things follow in the natural
cycle of events that trail all great
ware.
For months past there have been
four distinct nation-w wide economic
strikes in progress. The consumer has
been striking against the retailer. He
has been buying unrcstrainedly only
the nccesSarie5 of life. lie has been
cutting down on many things needed
for comfort and has almost eliminated
other purchases. His strike has been
based on a decply-rootcd belief that
tho process of deflation in retailers
stocks has been artihcially restrained
and has not yet reached a point that
would warrant or invite normal buy
inE.
The second strike has been of the
retailer aaginst the wholesaler and
manufacturer. THIS also has been
based on tho feeling that values and
prices of manufactured products must
reach lower levels before norma. pur-
chasing or restocking would be justi-
fed
The third strike has been in the
nature of general boycott by bank
crs against manufacturers and all
other forces of our commercial life.
The bankers refusal to grant credits
on present inventory values due to the
commercial confusion, has in itself
had all of the paralyzing effects OF
general economic strike.
The fourth strike has been that OF
the manufacturer against the produc-
or of raw materials. With virtual
paralysis of buying on one side and
collapainS values, involving large
quantities of raw materials held In
factories on the other hand. the posi-
ton of the manufacturer has not been
an enviable one during the last six
months. So uncertain has he been
over the readjustment OF valuee and
prices. that he has been bewildered.
This has caused many manufacturer.
not heavily stocked with goods bought
at high prices. to mark time and re-
frain from making even advantageous
purchases.
"All this has badly clogged our com
mercial machinery. The stagnation has
inflicted unnecessary loss and hord-
e ship on the very factors that have
contributed to 1t. Accompanied with
an exaggerated degree of pessimisrn.
which overlooks the fundamental
soundness of the nation, these condi-
tions brought about an acute cessation
of Industrial operation. But in view
of the recent substantial declines in
retail and wholesale prices, neither the
retailer nor the consumer can afford,
TO carry the don't buy policy too far.
In the long. run. closed mills and stag
nant demand cannot make constantly
decreasing prices without causing com
mercial bankruptcy all along the line.
Many of the important markets
for raw materials have not reached
practical and normal levels and show
hrrn tendencies. Therefore, 1t is now
the psychological time for every far
sighted manufacturer to resume his
purchasing operations on a discrimn-
sting scale. in order to sustain indus
try and return our national business
to n more healthy, normal and pros
porous condition.
No other single commercial e1e-
mont has a greater interest at stake