The Waterbury Democrat., 1935-03-06

taken as a pattern of the whole
 country we may see what has hap
 pened. There has been a tremen-
 dous drop from the activity of
 1929. But there has also been a
 considerable advance from the le-
 thargy of 1882.
 We have travelled 28.2 per cent
 of the road toward re-employing people.
 We have negotiated 1S.2 per cen,
 of the road in restoring wages. We have covered 21 per cent o,
 the road toward recovery in pay. rolls.
 This makes pretty plain what
 has happened and where we are
 We have put back to work 13G workers, but we still must put back 33O more before we reach the stagc
 of employment in 1929. We have
 increased payrolls $1.40 a week.
 But we must add another $6.4O be-
 fore we have gotten back to re-
 covery. We have added $3,200 to
 the payroll, but we must still add
 another $12,654 before we have
 gotten back to the employment
 level of 1929.
 IN TERMS OF GOODS
 The object of our workshop Is
 to produce goods and services for the people. The great national
 workshop turns out a vast tonnage
 of indescribable variety and run
 ming into unintelligble billions. TO
 understand it then, let us look at
 our smaller factory, as fair but
 comprehensive picture of the
 whole.
 In 1929, let us say, 1t produced
 goods valued at $1O0,0O0 a week
 But by the end of 1882, with near.
 ly half the workers discharged, \
 produced but little more than
 half of it's 1929 total-$54,0oC worth each week. But in these last two years 1t has speeded up its out.
 put. The produce in 1884 was $79,000 a week. Thus, to get back to the 1929 performance the work. shop would have to increase its output by $46,000 a week. As q matter of fact 1t has increased 1t by $25,OOO. That is, production has travelled 54 per cent of the dis tance. If that workshop can pu, on another $21,OOO of goods 1t wil be back to the 1929 level.
 Here then is a starting picture We have travelled 54 per cent o! the way in production. But we have travelled only 21 per cent oi the way to payroll recovery anC only 18.2 per cent of the way IT
 restoring wages. It is perfectly plain that employers arc spendinf an ever smaller fraction of the cost of producing godos upon theil workers.
 In the meantime the products ot this little concentrated workshoi are offered for sale at very mucf higher price. In May, 1883, al order of merchandise made up ol a large number of items would have sold for $69.40. To-day tha'
 same order of goods sells fol $S6.SO. Here is an increase ol $15.4O. That is an increase of 2: per cent.
 WAGES AND PROFITS
 Let us apply this to our worker in the factory, who has seen hi' pay go up $1.4O a week. Back IT 1882 he could take his weeks pa, l-S17.40-and buy given quan' tity of merchandise with 1t. But 1T February, 1885, that same bill oi goods would have cost him $21.24 But he was getting only $1S.SO This tendency of prices to outstriT wages, just as production out stripped payrolls, is one of the se- rious maladjustments in our situa' ton. The labor leader will think of this in terms of human justice But the grim fact is that this Il attended with many profound eco homie consequences which TUT through the whole economic SO ciety. Of course, if you ask a bushes: man how Ee is getting along he thinks ver* naturally in terms oi volume and profits--chiefiy p. Of its. He cannot be blamed for that since 1t Is for profits he Is in busi' ness. The volume of business ac' tlvity has unquestionably improved and profits, at feast for the large corporations, have risen ever more Last year the volume of business activity fell steadily from Aprif G the middle Of September. It ross
 steadily from that point Co Febru'
 ary of this year. Then tt began to decline.