New Britain herald., 1922-04-26

[ needs is further lowering of in, , cost of production and elimination O : wihnl waste" said Mr Williams. ''Th'
 former lies chiefly beyond the i'm
 mediate control of the publishers; th'
 latter is entirely beneath his owr | roof
 Has Better Idea
 AS further alleNiation Of the high cost of production, many insist that labor costs are too high and that tho chief end to lc sought is a reduction in the wage scales of skill ed Workmen. While il is conceded
 that some reduction is in order from
 the very topnotch prices still being
 paid and while these reductions seem
 certain to come in course of time, yet i there Is another and l think better i light in which to consider this prob i lem--securing greater and more efli- i cient returns from labor.
 During the period Of business re-
 adjustment we have been passing i through the publisher has been forced l to look out for the elimination of
 waste increasing of efficiency and lowering the costs ,on every hand. Is il not good time for the newspaper ] printing trades unions to do likewise :? In this day of industrial economy. when lowering the cost of producing the necessities of life means so much
 to the welfare of mankind, does it not seem strange that trades unions Ie.l, N,,1, ,1 regulations designed exclusively for the purpose of creating jobs, and not producing nsable production for the employer?'' ?''
 44-Ho,ir Week Impossible.
 Tn view of conditions cited there can be no justification whatever for the 44hour week in newspaper offices and the full force of the association will continue against it. Besides ap- pronticeship laws should be changed so as to invite more apprentices in the various trades, instead of repelline them as present restrictions apparent ly do. Publishers, in order to pro- tect their own interests, present and future should see that the full quota of apprentices are carried in each de- partment."
 A call for the revival of the con. servation committee was made by Mr. Williams who called for an aggressive campaign against waste in the hands ling of newsprint, freight hauls stand ardization of roll lengths, weight of paper. pressroom waste. core waste, etc. Tt is safe to say" he declared
 that millions of dollars are wasted annually through lack of proper study and attention to these subjects"
 With the softening of neWsprint prices there has come the tendenc, in few quarters to reduce subscrip- tion prices" he continued "Tt is gratifying to note that the eXpef- ment has been made in only few instances, these being reductions chiefly from three cents to two cents daily, and, according to data report cd to the trade puolica tions, results in the way of circulation gains have been so negligible that it is certain the thought of general reduction is absurd and nnthnkable
 Rates Cannot Be Cut
 "Likewise any thought of reducing advertising rates. The present cost of s. F. o. B. sidewalk is 100 per cent higher than the pre-war price, while the compilation of miIline rates of newspapers shows only a very moderate increase in rates over the same period. Advertisers have come to appreciate these facts and in the business revival that is now under way, there is seldom heard a serious about high rates from those well informed.'
 Unrestricted arbitration was called logical and practical by Mir. Williams who spoke at length on the work oi the several committees including that on newsprint postal rates, federal taxes advertising agents and radio in vestigations.
 lie called upon the association members for closer cooperation and q single minded purpose to enlarge the usefulness of the organization to the newspaper publishers of the country.
 Mir. Williams declared that whiie at one time these job rules might have been laudable in order to pre- vent unemployment; there was no need for such code today and added
 Scarcity or Printers
 Tn fact there is today in all the arge cities a scarcity of printers. pressmen and stereotypers. If the six lays -a-Week rule Was suddenly there would be hundreds of newspapers badly crippled in getting put Statistics from the large cities sill show that a very considerable | of printers, pressmen and are at present working or being paid for from seven, eight and nlne, and in some exceptional cases wen ten and eleven days a week"
 Mir Williams then drew attention 0 the schools at Macon, Ga. and else where. but declared that they were oo limited in scope 10 do much to ,hange the labor situation.
 "The high cost of labor therefore s not so serious q matter now as SC turing the cooperation Of labor to give efficient full time usable work n rrturn," continued the X. N. D. A. president, and in dcNislng come means Of attracting and training "p ,rcntices in the trades so that there will he sufficient tabor to meet the 'uture demands of the rapidly grow