Twin city review. [volume] (Champaign, Ill.) 19??-1929, 1923-05-04
HIGHER WAGES LIFT
ALL LIVING STANDARDS

wages pretty big payroll Yet !
haze often SAID tat ! shall die dis
gfseed
Ne are quoted all ever tie world
as being efficient IN ear Inc. and We
are certainly ss low IN ear expenses
as are NEST - TIE ssoreSs ese claim
that Ne sell cheaper than most -
them dat any rate. the people
seem - think SO and have rewarded
Us by giving Us patronage that has
helped Us 20 build the greatest haslz
ness ef its kind in TIE whole world.
And YET J say thar shall lie dis
graeed.
WHY
Because the margin between the
cost q production ana of delivery =
the consumer Is lareer tedaS than
when | Went into business OF course.
the cost q al kinds ai services are
Included il that. and the amount u
service rendered has greatly Increased
during this period, but i Is q thing
that ought net % be-
Fighting Increases IN Cost.
We are fighting this Increase in the
cost o. carrying on business as hard
rs We know how. We are consider.
INK itsall the time in cur directors
meetings and our management meet
ingS.
We set down lust two things as the
ethics ef eur business first. thar We
have no right 10 make money unless
We serve the community: second, that
the real service To the community i
net something indefinite. bat is the
selling of goods cheaper and cheaper.
pRFsat4assH HAaxr a. - .4a.fa
der Just and fair conditions.
With that in mind there is a spirit.
ual as well as a business compuis> n
on as u cut expenses.
But there never comes 10 us now
the suggestion that We can lower our
expenses by cutting salaries and
wages We know thai this would be
the most short.Sghted way Of an
preaching the problem.
Mistaken Economy.
To those who are against the mini
mum wage law, the easiest solution to
their business problem seems TO be to
cut wages down But they do not see
what Is really The biz cost in business
waste, and devote themselves TO
getting rid of that.
II you are in any doubt about what
! say, ! refer you 10 Mr.. Hoover and
his group of engineers who have
made a report on waste in industry
compared with which what | am say
ing here on the subject Is very mild.
When we are forced by the exist
ence Of a minimum wage TO apply
our corrective endeaVors 10 the real
source of high eosts-waSte--we shall
be taking a real step forward.
\ Striking Example.
In this connection, Il will call atten-
ton To a result which cannot be ip.
nored-to the man who has produced
the best commodity for the price Of
its kind in the world, produced il in
quantities never before dreamed OF,
and produced II so cheap that ii can
be sold in competition with the cheap
labor of Europe-so cheap, indeed,
that no country can make it TO com.
pete with him.
| refer To Henry Ford. He has pro-
duced twelve hundred thousand auto
mobiles year-~elghl a minute-has
financed his whole business from the
profits and has become the richest
man in the world.
And the minimum wage he pays is
so high that ii it were proposed IN
Massachusetts, those who advocated Il
would be set down as crazy. Even
at his high minimum wage he has
been able to employ the lame, the
crippled, and the blind of the COM
munity, not as charity but at a
profit. The statistics in his autobio-
graphy covering these facts are
amazing.
That demonstration of the POSSIBLE
ity of the Minimum Wage speaks
louder than my words, and hope it
may be borne in mind in any decision
of the minimum wage question.--ln
American Cloak and Suit Review.