Evening star., 1933-09-30
MACHINE MAKERS
WATCH ROOSEVELT
Hope Plan to Spur Railway
Equipment Purchases
Will Succeed. ..
Special Dispatch to The Star.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK, September 30.-Ma-
chinery makers, especially tool manu-
facturers, view with expectancy the
Roosevelt administration present ef-
forts to stimulate the production and
movement Of capital goods.
Machine tool makers especially are
hopeful that the Government will be
able to induce railroads to buy equip
ment as well as maintenance supplies
such as rails. The carriers have been
out Of the tool market for more than
two years. Shop equipment is in a sad
state Of disrepair. Much Of it Is obsoles-
cent through wear and tear and most
Of 1t Is at present uneconomic because
newer machines can perform more ef-
ficiently
Railway shop re-equipment would
means orders for heavy lathes for use
on wheels and axles, as well as milling,
drilling, and grinding machinery. There
are some diversified orders now being
booked for such items as automatic
screw machines and horizontal boring
tools. though the trade here reports
September orders are disappointing.
japanese Orders Helped.
Starting early this year. when jap
| anese buying helped various centers,
machine tool orders rose. This advance
became perceptible chartwise in April
and gain was recorded each successive
month through August.
The state Of machine tool orders
compared with a year ago is shown by
the monthly machine tool order index
put out by the National Machine Tool
Builders Association. This index for
August stood at STA, which contrasts
! with 1873 in the same month a year
ago, or a gain Of 102 8 per cent.
The present slackening results from
the uncertainty engendered by some
code clauses under the N. r. A. and the
calling of strikes in Massachusetts,.
Michigan and other centers. Machine
tool makers, under the Metal Trades
Association, always were successful in
the past at repelling any unionization
attempts. They appear to be less sue
cessful at present, though frankly some
labor leaders here are as much puzzled
by certain NJ r. A. labor provisions
as are the employers.
While strikes today seemed to be up
permost in the minds of machine tool
commentators here, there was some talk
Of holding a trade exposition next
Spring-probably in C!eveland-as it was
| felt that mechanical and fabricating
industries then would be in a position
to buy again.
Offers Opportunity.
Although neither bankers nor ma
chine manufacturers are inclined to
pay much attention to the shortened
work week-or if they see this phase
they are purposely soft-peda)ing it
that development offers an opportunity
for the booking of real new business.
Working under long hours, 1t might
have been economic to supply worker
with a worn-out or inefficient machine.
Under shortened hours inefficient ma
chinery merely adds to the burden Of
increasing costs.
Bankers profess to be willing to lend
money to desirable borrowers. Few Of
them. however, seem to be urging their
borrowing clients to take loans for
capital improvements. even when such
loans might reduce costs Although
the N r. A. regulates hours, wages
and the basic ideas of fair competition
| it does not state that industry should
be inefficient.
The public works program is not
likely to be of much direct benefit to
the machine tool trade. Most Of the
business emanating from this source
will be for contractors machinery. such
as road building equipment. The few
DAMS power houses and the like to be
| built require some use of machine tools,
but shops making these are now suff1-
Gently equipped. The United States
| Navy in recent weeks proved to be the
source Of several unexpected but vel
come machine tool orders.
The spirit in textile machinery that
marked July and August has stopped
and now there is a setback. especially
in the mill equipment division. This
was felt first in secondhand equip
ment. but now is reflected in new
machinery.
Copyright 1889