Evening star., 1935-10-20

I0eY we're ldlu cliu CliA AoA viz
ratification of all who cared to examine
them during the past week by William
s. Knu6sen, executive vice president
of the General Motors Corp, in a
speech before the National Safety
Councils annual meeting at Louis
willie, KY. He enumerated the follow
sang developments which will be on
display en- masse at the Washington
Automobile Show November to 9:
Four wheel brakes. multi beam
headlights, closed bodies with steel
tops and proof glass, ventilat-
ing systems, independently sprung
wheels, self starters, syncro-meSh and
constant mesh tranSmissionS. vastly
improved warning signals and a host
of similar developments. These safe
guards in motor vehicle operation
have developed along with the tend
ency toward the higher speed which
Mr.. Knudsen refuses to accept as
lust basis for indicting the car manu-
facturer.
The publics demand for speedy
transportation" he said, sis reflected
In the faster airplanes capable OF
cruising at 200 miles an hour; in
streamlined trains capable of 100
miles an hour; in reduced schedules
of standard trains between Chicago
and New York and in bigger ocean
liners capable of crossing the At
lantic in less than four days"
Referring specifically to the lower
speed argument voiced in some critical
quarters, the motor magnate declared:
Suppose that the average maxi
mum speed capacity today is IS miles
an hour. and suppose it were cut
back to go, how much reduction would
result? Some, no doubt. but there is
still room for doubt that any major
improvement Would result.
II submit that the car itself can
end does offer pretty clean record;
that the manufacturers already have
done something about safety; that
Ne should go slow in assuming that
the capacity for high speed per Sc is
the cause for accidents, and that we
should go slow in recommending
restrictive legislation which might i'm
pair the usefulness Of our friend, the
automobile, and still not correct the
accident situation"
Individual safety items-new for
193e-will receive considerable stress
when the manufacturers present their
latest wares.
A few of them already are being
heralded in the highways and by
ways of the country, among them
new steering stabilizer which con-
tributes to easier and more precise
handling in taking curves and turn
ing corners: a new interconnection
between shock absorbers on opposite
sides of the vehicle, front and rear,
to prevent chassis and body sway;
and increase in steering ratios to give
more positive control: and, in the case
of one popular line of cars, the adop-
ton of two torque rods at the front
which lift from the springs all driv-
ing stress and absorb breaking torque.
There will be others to augment the
manufacturers argument that he is
doing everything in his power to keep
his cars safety performance propor-
tionate to advances made in other
aspects OF ltS prOWeSS.
Prosperity in the automobile indus
try during 1885, represented in the
sale of more passenger cars and
trucks than in any year since 1880,
extended down to the factory worker.
This fact is heralded in state
ment by the Automobile Manufac-
turers' Association, whose statisticians
have calculated that the annual earn
ings of the average regular employe
in the industry will, by the end of
1895, exceed $1,000.
Significantly, the industry's state
ment stresses the point that in terms
of real income" that is to say, pur-
chasing power, this will at least equal
the individual earnings in the year
1929. The industrys statement fol-
lows:
Figures for the first 10 months of
the 1935-model production season,
compared with a similar period for
1894, show average earnings of in
dividual automobile workers increased
% per cent while wholesale sales of
cars and trucks increased just 26 per
cent during the same time.
In view of the unusually we'll sus-
tanned demand for cars during the
close of the 1885 season, an even
greater percentage improvement in
individual earnings is expected for
the entire production year.
A primary cause of this improve
ment for the individual worker has
been a big increase in the proportion
of jobs lasting the best part of the
year. made possible by eliminating
most of the temporary employment
which characterized the industry in
1884. 1t is estimated that not more
than 10 per cent of the employees on
the rolls in 1885 have been tenn
porary or part time workers.
Several outstanding features of the
first 10 months of the 1935-model
production season, developed from the
preliminary calculations, are listed
below:
/. Marked increase in continuity Of
employment for the individual worker,
resulting in an increase of three
weeks work for the average employe
Gncluding temporary workers. during
this period.
2. Average hourly wage rates at a
new high of 1877 cents. compared to
69.6 cents the previous year. Average
weekly hours simultaneously increased
to 81 from "a the previous year.
8. A 10 per cent increase in average
monthly employment, without increase
in the grand total number Of men
given work during the year, a further
evidence of increase of stability.
4. A decrease of more than one
third in the proportion of men laid
off, discharged, or who quit during
the year.
S. A substantial decrease in the
month-to- month variation in the en-
ployment Of the industry. Since there
was no corresponding stabilization IN
xbo dom md for cars at wholesale this