Evening star., 1931-12-27
Continued From Third Page

rather prevalent m1scOnception as to
these shortcomings in distribution
namely, the assumption implied In the
too frequent use of the word waste"
as indicating deliberate extravaganza
and culpable inefficiency Our leading
distributors have been the first to grant
that there are some costly practices
within the ranks Of their trades for
which the members themselves are re-
sponsible.
But our purpose here is by no means
the perilous one Of parceling out
blame; much less is 1t to evaluate the
precise proportion of our present busi-
ness grief which is due to defective dis
tribution as against imperfections In our
credit machinery or our banking
structure. Rather is 1t my intention to
review very briefly some Of the lines
along which we might look for helpful
improvement in our distribution tech
nique In the interests Of greater solvency
among distributors quite as much as
greater economies for consumers.
1t would, therefore, be more accurate
as well as fairer to our distributors to
refer to these maladieS as the reducible
costs or unnecessary processes in dis
tribution. The fact that these practices
have continued for so long is probably
due quite as much to the careless toler-
ance Of -distributive elements of our
pulation-consumers, bankers, pro-
ducers, etc.-as it Is to the shortcomings
Of the distributors themselves We all
have share in this grave responsibility
and that also means that in the en-
deavor to bring about improvement
there must be not time-consuming
irritating recrimination against any one
factor, but rather thoroughgoing. COL
laborative effort On the part of all to
alleviate what In the final analysis is a
common burden.
Breaks" Are Lamented.
Recently business has been lamenting
the monotonous frequency Of the
breaks that have come against it
during the long descent into the dark
abyss. But at least one business cpl
sode has been fraught with promising
prospects: namely, the completion of
the census of distribution. The plans
for this census were formulated long
before the 1929 crash, and fortunately
they included preparations for thor
ough-going analysis of our whole dis
tributive apparatus-indeed, the first
which ever has been undertaken.
For the first time, therefore. we now
know what we are talking about when
We use the term distribution. This
census has given us a definite measure
Of that vast conglomeration Of trading
activities that go to make up the final
stages Of the business procession as IL
moves its countless commodities through
the various steps Of raw material ex-
ploitation, processing, manufacturing
assembling, transporting and finally
through distribution into consumption
1t seems bit ironical that with al
Of our alleged acumen as Nation OF
shrewd tradesmen, We have had to wait
until this present catastrophe un-
| balancing of our business structure tc
ascertain with any degree of precision
a few of the primary facts regarding
the largest unit in that structure
Hitherto our guesSes as to the volume
Of retailing, for example, usually ran
around forty-odd billions. When the
tabulations were completed they
showed with painful accuracy how far
off some Of our best estimators can be
The actual total of retail transactions
| in the census year was more than So
| 900, ,000,0c0
Problems Are Added.
To this must be added, in order tc
round out the picture of distribution
| the even larger volume of wholesale
| transactions, which exceeded 73,00o,-
| 100000 Of course, these two item:
| comprise heavy duplication so far as
| products are concerned, but they dc
measure practically all of the countless
| operations which we know as distribu-
! ton.
/ Now 1t stands to reason that in that
| prodlgious array of processes there are
| many items of preventable waste which
| we could afford to overlook in prosper
| GUS times, but which the frugality OF
recent years has brought out into ths
conspicuous foreground. Business for
some time has been concentrating it:
best efforts to minimize those wastes
| quite naturally ard properly in the In
| terests OF its own survival, but with full
appreciation of the fact that competi-
| tive pressure is bound to pass along a
substantial benefit from any resultant
ethciency and economy to the ultimate
| consumer.
the records of 1880 and 1881 have
brought home acutely to every bushes,
| organization in the land the obyio,,;
| necessity Of putting its own house ir
| order. Fortunately, we have at hanc
the facilities for that task, not only ir
,, the new Federal census of distribution
Just mentioned, but also in the results
OF investigating campaigns on the part
! OF literally hundreds of non official
market research agencies. Great ma
, tlonal research foundations are keenly
aware Of the significance of this prob
lem and are collaborating effectively In
encouraging its solution. The univer.
sites throughout the country are like
wise working closely with governmental
and business groups toward the same
I purpose.
Cites Retail Survey.
To give one specific illustration OF
tnlS l may cite the survey Of retailing
problems Just concluded in five Ala
oama cltles-a survey conducted Jointly
oy the University of Alabama The
United States Department of Com
merce and various local business groups,
notably the Kiwanis Clubs. Definite
remedial results of that survey are al
ready in evidence in the elimination
OF various wasteful conditions and prac-
tices among retailers in those comnuni-
ties. incidentally, the participation of
the local agencies has the decided ad-
vantage OF facilitating a constant fol-
ioW-up and application of the helpful
1acts revealed by the investigation.
Other instances of collaborative as
sau!ts upon this major difficulty could
doubtless be cited, although this is an
outstanding example of threefold par
ticipation which seems to have GER
tain points of special merit.
After all, the problem of speeding
business on this upward path as we
face the New Year is not simply a
question of opening up new construc-
tion objects, shipyard contracts, road
and bridge building orders, full-time
factory operations. and so on. It in
wolves, above all things. an assurance
that each Of the two major branches
OF our business hfe-production and
distributions fully prepared to carry
its share of the load along this
upward trail with the utmost of
efficiency.
Distress Brings Haste.
In every business storm the first i'm
pulse of those in charge of the tossing
crafts of trade end industry is for a