The Washington herald., 1921-08-11

q reasonable chance for doing 6slsI-
ness on a profitable basis'. /,
stability Demonstrated. - Z.
Al another point AIR. Armour
The stability OF the meat pack
ing industry was demonstrated
during the past year All OF The
difficulties pictured in the repori.
OF the finance committee 90 Atlantic
CITY were encountered: Moaey was
scarce and high-priced. volumes
fell on materially. export trade was
practically NIL. operating costs r..-
mained at unreasonably high levels
yet there were few IL any failures
among meat packers They weat:i
cred the rcadiustrhent storm sue
cessfully. because their past record
Of business efficiency aud the cen
hdence which ;.ank;ng efncis-ss ~.
posed in them enabled them-to d
nance themselves over many SUI
cessiye months of losses.
We are on the same Rad today
that we were year ago, but with
THIS dtnerence. The end of the road
seems to be In sight At any fate,
there are evidences that the worst
part OF It has been Travelled and
tnaf the going wip be less dificult
from this poitn on, especially IL the
lessons which have been learned
| gotten"
After stating that doing SEsiness
on manufacturing hasiE is p-efer.
able To doing business on a basis
OF possible prospective profits, Mr.
Armour added:
As packers. we have long fol-
twed the practice of buying hogs
Ireeiy in the fall and trusting 10;
froVidence to assure satisfactory
seiilng prices in the months follow
! ing. There never was any really
close Figuring to see what hogs
we're worth or would be worth as
me months rolled by. Today the
INDUSTRY Is seeing the need of close
figuring. \ greater effort must be
made To set cost and a profit out
CT the products that are sold
Demands No Let-up.
The continued successful Tinanc-
ing Of the packing business de-
I mards that there be no let-up in
the program Of economy and re-
tTcnchment.s Packing house faciIi-
ties and capacities. the nation over,
are greater today than is necessary
Present cOnsumptive demand and
Surrent livestock offerings do no;
require the full use of existing
equipment and consequently. over
mead and fixed expenses are unduIy
! large and initiate against, the
Profitable conduct of business. The
packers are among the greatest
borrowers OF money because Of the
GaIly cash market aspect of their
business and 1t is a matter Of grave
| concern to them when borrowed
money costs I and S per cent where
IL formerly cost per cent This
situation calls FOR more rapid turn
over of products SO that borroUed
money will not be tied up as long
as in the past. Quicker turnovers
and manufacturing-p profit margins
are needed. Efforts 10 cut overhead
must be matched by efforts to en-
courage normal consumption OF
meat and normal production OF live
Gnimals
Wages. TOO. must be made tn
conform to present day standards
Wartime living costs compelled
great wage advances. hut the move
ment back to normalcy shown by
Living costs in the past year has
not been reflected TO any noticeable
decree in packing house wages.
While all other major Industries
have been getting their wage rates
readjusted 10 peace time Living
costs. the packing industry wage
rates have remained almost sta
tionary-mCr than twice their pre-
war height. The industry must not
Nlind itself /" the fact that the
ratios evolved out Of centuries be-
tween live costs. operating costs and
sale prices cannot be permanently
wiped ouI even oy a world war.
Economic laws cannot thus be over
turned. Social and sentimental re-
adjustments must be tempered by
economic