Evening star., 1929-06-27
BACKGROUND. OF EVENTS
BY PAUL Y. COLLINS.

ton methods Of today, whether in the
making of shoes or automobiles or any
thing else that is manufactured 1t
would require a limitless forest of
spreading chestnut trees to shade the
village blacksmiths and woodworkers
and painters making In year the ati-
tomobiles turned out every day by any
of our great motor factories. To go
back to the former methods of making
shoes would be inconceivable, notwith-
standing the faulty argument that it
would give employment to more me-
chanics. So the argument against
chain stores and department stores
that they put out of employment so
many men and women is unsupport-
able, since the primary object of all
organized business Is not to furnish
jobs for employees. but to serve Gus
toners effectually and economically
Any method which falls short of that
service to the public must be displaced
proved labor saving machinery which
throws employees out of their old jobs
almost always betters even their con-
dition, eventually. What linotype
operator would go back to hand COM
position of straight matter? Compare
his wages!
1t does not inevitably follow that all
chain stores or all department stores
give better service or make more profit
than individual, independent stores in
certain environment and other con-
ditions. The problems are different
and much depends, in both cases, on
skilled management under actual con-
ditions.
Al recent conference of merchants
at the headquarters of the United States
Chamber Of Commerce, the manager
OF certain line of chain stores made
a most emphatic statement that his
advantage over independent stores did
not consist so much in mass buying as
In internal operations and economies.
The necessity of intrusting responsible
itles to branch store managers and
other employees eats up the savings in
mass or wholesale buying of stock. This
presentation Is fatty denied by others,
however, and is tangibly contradicted
by the persistent increase Of chain and
large department stores. The United
states Department of Commerce is now
making a survey study of this subject
taxing Louisville stores for it's clinic
OF management.
It finds in that city. where ego
grocers go out of business a month !"
there is great waste through ignorant
methods, such as the case of one
grocer who had held a certain brand
OF peaches four years, paid storage on
them and failed to sell them. It found
that wholesalers were spending $3.50
a day In seeking the trade OF a grocer
whose own trade amounted to only $40
day. A count of callers at one re-
tail establishment showed fewer GUS
toners than statesmen.
All such waste is "salvaged" in a
scientifically managed department or
chain store.
I'VE need more thought to not vast
ing" says Henry Ford, than to re-
claiming what is wasted"
An expert Of an industrial counsel
declares: When industry takes this
view of waste elimination 1t will save
billions (not millions) Of dollars an
nually"
That is the hope of the mergers, and
II that saving is adequately, even
though not wholly. passed on to the
public. the public will not be damned
nor will 1t damn mergers and big busi-
ness. Abuses of power will be dealt
lation. for this is "a Government by
the people"
: The. increase of mergers, year after
year, is shown by the Federal Reserve
Board reports covering from 1919 to
1927: In 1919. 80 mergers; 1920. n;
1921, 104, and each year increasing
thereafter, to 1927, $50 mergers. In
addition to open mergers, the tendency
has been for one company to absorb
rival companies, making practically the
same consolidation as in merger.
In 1920, the oil interests merged, and
the public was excited about that tend
ency. but, later, oil ceased to merge so
generally, and the trend was toward
toodstuffs, and last year to chemicals
and textiles. Last year, the greatest
activity In merging was in diaries,
cheese factories and bakeries. One
fifth of all mergers since the war has
been Of steel and machinery groups and.
most conspicuously. public utilities, of
which. IN 1919, the number of com.