The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-05-22

1 very happy sign offsetting some 0. the hardship of part time employ.
 n1ent. This phase of the situation part time employment-has .en. tered into the steel business. But we have maintained the wage rate" he said, land protected the economic position of the work. CT. He has full-time income when doing. full-time work, but with cur. tailed markets and lower production it has been necessary. as we all know, to distribute the available work
 During the early stages, of part time work, he declared. there was no alleviating circumstance to counter balance the loss to the worker. "An exhaustive investigation of the ma jor items of living costs, however, he said, indicates that this spring there has been a drop in many i'm pOrtant items of the family budget sufficient to offset considerably the shrinkage of the pay envelope. That I believe to be very strong note of improvement, in our. general situa- tion.
 A"The lowering of living costs means that the strain on the family budget has been lessened. The con- suner will be able to catch up that much more quickly on his obliga- tfons. The load is being lifted off his mind through the very practical increase in his ability to pay. This increased purchasing power is going to loosen the letters which have been holding back potential con- sumption. This means that the pur- chasing power of our working force has been materially improved in the past few months.
 The second cloud on the business horizon, Schwab said, ''has been the fear on the part of business men concerning instability of prices, par ticularly the fear of lowering prices. Before liquidation could be- com pleted, this readjustment had to be made. Wholesale prices, as a mat ter of fact, had been trending down. ward, on the average, for, ten. years with only occasional short rises. Tbis benefit had not, in the consumer. and the sharp readjust- ment of retail prices was necessary before tho situation was in proper balance. We have had the liquida- ton now in most lines. Retailers who have not made adjustments to the new price levels know their own situations and still have that step to make.
 "When prices are out of line, price cuts will bring new business because they can be made without imperiling purchasing power, which consists of wages, profits, dividends and other forms of income" he said.
 Euch basic commodities as cop per, rubber, wheat and steel have been selling "at distress prices which spelled profit for no one," Schwab declared. And as matter of prac- tieal experience. these distress prices did not bring in volume business. .. .. the price of any commodity must cover the cost of plant and materials and fair return to capital and la bor."
 We must bear in mind" he said, that our situation is world wide. The suffering and ill effects of the war have been international. There has been a tendency for nations to barriers. am happy to say that thSiC IS SNiuChSC Ol d ihOi V oohS ut titude. growing ability to recog- niZe that trade between natoins can flourish only on basis of mutual advantage.
 We sell the bulk of our goods to our greatest concern is with our na- tional prosperity. Nevertheless, we must recognize that business is in- ternational and will become increas- iugly so. We cannot escape being influOnced by. world conditions"
 Schwab said that he is unable to predict any particular circumstance which will bring about the return to good business.
 .'In fact" he said, 'I believe that specific causes are often over-em- phasized. Possibly air trans portation. Perhaps identification. possibly some unforeseen industry, will be the thing to which people will point as the cause of better times. It is not especially import ant what will be the specific symp- toms of the renewed health eondi- ton. The main interest will be the fact of the recovery.