Evening star., 1925-10-08
BACKGROUND OF EVENTS
BY PAUL ]. COLLINS.

The new combination of the four
great bakery compa MES has ca
pacity of producing s20o. 600, 900 worth
of bread a year in it's lo7 immense
bakeries. But that this combina ton
is necessa rily. Il bugaboo is denied by
the United States Department of La
Dor. which has the primary response
bility of looking after the cost of liv-
ing. The experts of the department
are content to watch whether the
monopoly of the great combine" or
bread trust" will increase the price
of bread to the consumer. or simply
work for its own profits through les
sening the cost of production. as no
body gains by fostering inefTiciency
in production methods.
1t was the theory Of President
Roosevelt that the evils of great com
b;nations did not lie in their great
ness. but must be mea Sured by their
effect on the interests of the public.
There might be great combinations
making possible enonomies of busi-
ness which they would pass on to the
public. not as benevolence, but as
good business policy. rather than tc
seek greedily and short sightedly to
rob consumers. The policy of the
Government today is TO encourage. If
not ultimately to force. combinations
of railroads in the interest of econ
omy.
Quantity production under eff
cheney methods can no longer be ques-
toned. even academically. II makes
possible the "flivver" at prices in
credible to the old wheelwright who
made buggies and wagons by hand.
ho 90 nf Of do 70
methods Of manufacture brings ire
trievable loss to the entire commu-
nifty or Nation is we'll illustrated in
the coal mining industry. and no less
obviously in -four milling.
In pioneer days 1t was the custom
of the farmer to carry his grist to
the nearest mill and wait there while
it was made into -four. which he
could carry back. That was far more
expensive -four than what comes
from the great -four mills of Mime
apolis. 100000 barrels or more day.
Quoting from a recent speech of Sec
retary Davis of the Department of
Labor. ii is noted that:
1.-The census records show a total OF
S.0l9 flour mills in the United States.
Of these. 2oS. or 2.S per cent employ
AZ per cent of the workers in the in.
dustry and produce 62.1 per cent of
the total product. These establish.
ments employ 66 workers each on the
average. and these workers produce
1854 barrels per worker per year
Give them full-time employment and
they could produce practically all the
mill products we can consume
In the next class smaller of the
mills one man produces only 5.234
barrels: the next class. constituting
85 per cent of the total number OF
mills. produces at the rate of only
2 .49S barrels per worker. In the name
of economy or efficiency. why keeI
men who produce only a fourth the
product of other men? Perhaps the
ing all that we can consume, would
not be able to grind all the grain that
is to be exported as flour. but If the
smaller mills were combined to the
extent so required. and produced -four
times as much per man as they are
| now making, Secretary Davis argues
that would make for economy. Hence
any man who is now making only
2 ,49S barrels who ought to be produc
Ing under modern methods, 8,764 bar.
rels is wasting nine months labor
each wear. and that Is the charge
against 2S.5 per cent OF the millers
Those who produce 5.234 barrels. in
stead of S.764, are wasting about three
months year.
Similar waste in coal mining more
than doubles the actual cost of mining
owing to idle time-about two-thirdS