Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-07-28
SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON D. G, l

will illuminate many problems and con-
ditions that are now shrouded In
obscurity.
do Not Expect . Panacea."
I think perhaps should sound one
note of caution with regard to this COM
ing census of distribution. 1t would be
unwise for business men to entertain
too high hopes, or cherish too confident
expectations, as to what the census
will do for them individually. It viii
be highly important economic study
but We can hardly expect that 1t will
prove a panacea, Immediately yielding
large profits and resulting In miraculous
transformations. A manufacturer who
expects that the distribution census will
give him a precise, infallible record of
what happens to his mouse traps, or
shaving brushes, or alarm clocks In
every mercantile establishment between
his factory door and the consumers
home Is, inevitably, doomed to disap-
pointment. Such an expectation is ex-
travagant, and moments thought will
show the inpracticability Of attempting
to present any such detail.
But the census Of distribution will.
none the less, bring together a vast
array Of background material" These
facts should help to clear up numerous
points of uncertainty-to dispel many
doubts and unravel many dificulties-to
stimulate investigation and bring about
reform along many lines. It should aid
us tremendously In our commercial
thinking. Through a study Of the
figures, business men will unquestionably
recognize many things that had not
previously occurred to then1-and some
of these are certain to be striking.
Just what are some of these things?"
I imagine you are asking. Getting right
down to brass tacks"-to the actual,
immediate conditions that a merchant
living-what helpful facts can we bring
out in a census of distribution? Secre-
tary Lamont has told you some out
standing ones. Let us look at q few
others-for example, at some facts de-
veloped in the Louisville Grocery
Survey. to which the Secretary has
referred.
Specific Figures Found.
That study showed that meat is in
disputably the leading food item in
the family budget. It appears that the
expenditure for food, per capita. is
about a. cents day. OF the money
spent for food in 2,972 retail outlets,
meat represented more than II per cent,
general groceries nearly is, dairy and
poultry products II, canned and bot.
tie goods 91z and bakery good al
most Z per cent. Meals and lunches
which were included in the tabulation
accounted for 1872 per cent Of the total
food expenditure. There you have spe-
cihc figures that mean something to
anybody in the grocery business-fig-
ureS that serve as guideposts for the
successful conduct of his activities.
This limited census of distribution in
Louisville indicates that for stores flav-
iV.er al Af Joe.
rent and similar factors loom up as a
pretty important element from the
standpoint Of prices and profits. Rent.
in those stores. accounts for from 3
per cent to more than per cent of the
expenses, whereas the CORRESPONDING fig
ures for stores doing $4,000 worth of
business, or more, ranged from 1.78 per
cent down to 1.24 per cent. The lowest
rent expense in proportion to sales is
shown in stores having sales of from
$4,000 to 100000 annually. Here
again are significant facts In the field
Of distribution-facts with q very vital
bearing upon business success or failure.
Credit Bureau Spread Barred.
The Department of Commerce has
been conducting national retail-credit
survey, and preliminary report of the
results recently appeared. 1t discloses
the widespread employment Of credit
bureaus: the extensive use OF finance
companies by automobile dealers in
financing installment sales and the
prevalence Of the use Of standard terms
in such sales, and the high percentage
Of returns" and allowances" on or
binary charge-account sales among de-
partment stores. We learn, by the re-
turns from 440 department stores doing
total volume of business of nearly
one and one-third billion dollars, that
approximately two-thirdS of the sales
are for cash and one-third for credit
In the year 1927. ~ per cent was on
open credit regular charge accountsI.
while 81 per cent represented install
ment credit.
I think you will readily agree that
these are concrete facts of unquesticn-
able utility TO the "hard-boiled" man
Of business. It Is such facts as these,
on tremendous Nationwide scale, that
we shall endeavor to obtain In the 1880
census of distribution.
It is impossible to overestimate the
advantages that a man Of Judgment
and penetration can derive from the
study Of business facts. He should in
sist on them inexorably-like the farm
er in the story that Assistant Secre-
tary Of Commerce Julius Klein likes to
tell. This farmer was listening to q
futile argument as to whether one
snould say OF men Lnat she Is sitting
or is setting" Finally he lost all pa
thence and cried out: THAT subject
you're discussin' don't int'rest me a-tall.
What want to know is: When hear
a hen cackle. Is she laying or is she
lying?" That worthy agriculturist was
a devotee Of facts.
Because of my own profound convic-
ton of the value of the distribution
census Of 1880, I take this occasion to
urge American business men everywhere
to cooperate fully with the Govern
ment and with their fellow business
men in making the enumeration q sue
cess. The benefits that they will de-
rive from such cooperation are OBJ
vious.
President Hoover received. a few
weeks arn the rennrt of n COMMITTEE