Evening star., 1934-11-11
Processes Of Goods
Distribution Studied
BY HARDEN COLFAX.

For years modern practices in dis
tributing goods for consumption have
been under fire by critics 1t is con-
ceded that Americans have little to
learn as to efficiency in production.
But it is now realized that "a large
share of the blame for the present
depression may properly be laid to a
neglect Of our marketing structure"
Business men know this and now
the Federal Government has admitted
it, in the words quoted above from a
report made public this week by Sec
retary Roper's Business Advisory and
Planning Council. Following this an
nouncement, the director of the Bu-
reau of Foreign and Domestic Com
merce announced that one of the
units of that agency will be reorgan-
lied along the lines suggested by the
council. so that it may dig even more
deeply into statistics to find out just
what is wrong with our distribution
practices.
For more than half a century the
Census Bureau has been gathering
various kinds of exact data on dis
tribution facts. We are reminded by
the councils report that there are a
number of research agencies, both
public and private, engaged in mar
keting research. These have been
Federal, State and local in their scope
when governmental, while private re-
search has been conducted by scien-
tific or non-proflt organizations, such
as universities and various founda-
tions. or by individual business estab-
lishments, advertising agencies, trade
associations and chambers of COM
merce.
The report of the council lists ex-
isting statistical compilations by the
Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor
Statistics, the Bureau of Agricultural
Economics, various trade associations
and business schools and the Cham
ber of Commerce of the United States.
It commends these research agencies
for their work, but believes the big
Job of interpreting figures on a large
scale can best be performed today by
the Bureau Of Foreign and Domestic
Commerce.
The bureau, therefore, has arranged
to make some notifications ir its Or
ganization in order to follow up this
work more helpfully. For some time
it has been preparing retail sales in
dexes showing monthly changes in
retail trade for several important
lines. These indexes will now be
expanded to increase the sample and
cover a larger portion Of the retail
field" Then similar indexes for
wholesale trades will be undertaken
At the same time, the problems OF the
consumer will be tackled, since the
prime task of marketing Is to insure
a smooth flow Of raw materials and
processed goods from producers to
consumers.
This work of the bureau will be
conducted by a marketing research
and service division under the new
chief, DR.. Wilford L. White. He has
been devoting himself to the economics
of distribution practically all his life
and, when called to his new task, was
professor of marketing at the Uni
versity of Texas.
The report of the council points out
that in 1929 there were in the United
States just short Of 10000 wholesale
establishments and more than 1,500,0 ,00(
retail stores. In these more thar
100000 persons worked for a living
a totaEif other marketing agencies
are included-of more than 20 pei
cent of American wage earners.
(Copyright. 1a34.l