Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-09-20

introduction Of machinery for the
manufacture Of transportation equip
ment has been an important factor IN
adding to the number OF joes. Take
the one industry engaged In making
airbrakes for railroads. The factories
making the machines which make the
air brakes employ thousands and more
thousands are concerned In the actual
production OF the brakes.
With transportation one enters q
new realm. The output Of all this
machinery owes . considerable part of
its value to the existence and avail
ability Of transportation Only small
portion of the total machine output
could be sold II facilities did not exist
for its transportation. One Of the
prime tenets Of political economy Is
that prices and sales are not governed
SO much by what thing Is as by
where It Is. e
Unless there was some efacient trans
portAtion to move all the furniture
manufactured in Grand Rapids and
the rubber tires made In Akron, the
factories there would close dawn. The
volume of furniture consumed at Grand
Rapids and tires at Akron Is q tiny
fraction Of total production at those
places. Transportation machinery IN
itself. therefore, gives vastly greater
value TO all ccn4modities.
Affects STANDARD Of Living.
But even excluding from our straight
calculation all transportation machinery,
agricultural machinery, electrical and
printing machinery, 1t is found that the
remainder, the machinery directly en-
ployed IN turning out consumahle
the machinery in the country.
The relation of the existence of this
machinery to the standard of living Is
Of paramount interest. Americans would
not today be better OF than any other
people In the world were America not
the most completely industrialiZed. The
production Of goods in such vast
quantities and the fact that millions
Of men are required to build and run
these machines and therefore have jobs
and wages enabling them to buy the
things they or their fellows make. make
the American standard of living possible.
Since the World War the rate Of
productivity Of labor has increased IS
per cent In the automobile INDUSTRY
this rate has increased ITS per cent
That Is q wholly new industry, the
special product Of the machine age.
But take leather tanning, an industry
which goes back almost to the dawn
Of time, for the cave man who wore .
ner and men have been working at
tanning ever since. Yet. in the last is
Gears machinery has added IL per cent
to the productivity Of this ancient
industry.
It is found that the machine building
industry makes machines for every
man, woman and child In the country
to the value of $23 . year. The country
standing next is Great Britain, with q
per capita machinery output OF only
$40. while Germany shows . value less
than so.
Now the world, in the last few years,
has beheld the extraordinary spectacle
Of the Mahatma Ghandi tnveighing
against machinery, declaring many OF
the woes Of India are chargeable to the
machine age. He goes about with q
little hand loom making cloth by hand,
although his personal requirements
would seem f indicate he must use only
one hand in :: IS work. He has preached
that compete return TO hand methods
of manufacture would increase the COM
fort and prosperity Of India. The fact
that, in comparison with the $23 per
capita production Of machinery In the
United States, India shows 9 per capita
production of only II cents, strongly
suggests that what India needs Is more
IA thousand times machinery,
not less.