Fitzgerald leader enterprise and press., 1927-02-24
BUSINESS DEPRESSIONS' AS
ANCIENT FAMINES' BEING
CONQUERED BY PRESENT
DAY MODERN METHODS
By E. C. Wilmer, President, Dodge
Brothers, Inc, Dertoit

by +. S- winner, TTesuch''
Brothers, Inc, Dertoit
Events during 1926 justified tn
widespread opinions voiced year ag'
that America had passed the cr'si
created by the world war, that the ma
+;on had gone far to re-establish it
equilibrium, and that business had en-
tered upon an era of prosperity whlci
gave promise of enduring for ions
period.
There is no reason to think ina
entry into the New Year OF 1877 VII
project any sudden or radical change
into the situation.
To be sure the history of the hu'
man race is history of peaks and
valleys; peaks of prosperity and val
levs Of depression, In ancient days
whole tribes starved and died during
neriods of famine But as knowledge
increased. storage and other facilities
were devised. Eventually, human be-
inps learned that devastating famlnes
virtually could be eliminated.
Inst as their ancient forbears
sought and found the solutions OF
famines, so modern business men are
seeking and finding the solutions OF
business panics and business depres-
sions Modern business leaders appre-
ciate that stability is far more to be
desired than a constant succession OF
highly prosperous and deeply de-
uressive waves and cycles. IheY are
esdeavoring to create a stability OF
employment, a stability Of production,
a stability of money; all to the end
that the human race may live fuller
and happier lives.
Progress of the last half century
has placed many new tools IN the
hands of business With these tools
are being carved comparatively gen
tie and stable curves in the charts OF
business statistics, in place of the
violent upswings and downswlngs that
are Characteristic Of earlier times
Fast railroad trains and ships, teie-
nbones. telegraph, radio, automobiles,
motor trucks, calculating machines,
tvpewriters, automatic machinery,
electric power and light, are but a
few of a multitude of tools now at
the command of modern business.
Vast improvements have been made
during recent decades in distribution
systems, in financial methods, in
TRANSFORMATION, in communication.
Perhaps the most far-reaching I'M
of all is the improvement
noted everywhere in human relations.
Vendors and customers, arrangements |
and workers, are showing an interest
and sympathy with each others plans
and problems that would have been |
of a few short decades
ago.
While the millennium has not yet !
arrived. men and groups of men are
realizing that their own success and
prosperity depend upon the success
and prosperity of others. The inter
ests of workers, of stockholders, and
of executives are mutual The
interests of groups in iron and coal
are the same as the interests of the
groups who work in rubber and con-
crete. The interests of the bankers
and the manufacturers and the agrl-
culturists and the transportation
groups have much in common. Real
ization of far-reaching dependence,
each upon the other is bringing
about a spirit of good will and fair
play that is extending throughout the
world.
Certainly no prophet can be wrong
who says that 1927 will strengthen
the bonds of ever growing allegiance
that each man owes to every other
man in the onward march towards
perfection of modern civilization.
As for the specific business of
Dodge Brothers, third largest manu-
facturer of motor cars and trucks in
the world, we are looking to 1921
with confidence of being more useful
Al i