Evening star., 1935-11-04
BY FRED c. KELLY.
Special Dispatch TO The Star.
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Special Dispatch TO The Star.
NEW YORK. November 4 (NANA).
In a quest for the viewpoint OF out
standing business leaders, I sought out
Walter c. Teag!e, president Of the
Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey. in the
upper reaches of that incredible sky
scraper at Rockefeller Center.
Teagle, in somewhat cherries
Office. with almost nothing to relieve
the bare walls-except two small pic
lures Of pointers and large oil paint
ing Of John D. Rockefeller. ST, gazing
down benevolently-has the appear
ance of a man who might be directing
big engineering projects out in the
open, rather than one operating from
behind leather-topped desk.
Tall-6 feet or 3 inches-broad-
shouldered. with no waist-line ex-
cesses, smoking a pipe. he is little
suggestive of an fashioned Richard
Harding Davis or Rex Beach soldier Of
fortune. 1t seemed as if he ought TO
be wearing a flannel shirt.
We talked Of unemployment. eco
nomic planning and other social
economic problems.
Heavy Industry Lays.
"The unemployment question said
Teagle. seems to me basic, in the
sense that it Is the most important
Everybody capable of being employed
should have chance to make living
believe employment is now nearly
back to normal in the consumer goods
industries. The big lag is in heavy
industries and among people who per-
form services. A pickup in services
would follow II heavy industries were
going ahead as rapidly as they would
! If they were not afraid"
What are they afraid of?"
Political uncertainties - devalua-
ton, exchange restrictions. taxation
policies, various uncertainties that
make people with money to invest wait
to see what is going to happen"
But suppose investors did 60
ahead. Wouldn't they invest mainly
in new plant equipment, in more i'm
proved machinery that would have
the effect in the long run of reducing
employment"
Machinery Small Factor.
Il don't think so. Installation Of
labor-saving machinery would be a
small part of it. New homes are
needed and all manner of industrial
equipment, the replacing Of which
would not reduce human work"
Still. there was plenty OF conf
dence and no holding back in 1929 and
yet everything somehow went to pot.
Wasn't that because something was
fundamentally wrong?"
"Unquestionably We got out Of
bounds in the years before 1929. But
it doesn't follow that We can't hit a
happy balance between going crazy
in one direction and then going crazy
in another"
What is the solution?"
Il don't know anybody who has a
complete solution, but 1t certainly
won't be a perfect plan from college
professors without any business ex-
perience. Well have to work out
our salvation by slow and perhaps
painful processes. For example, early
in. the depression, President Hoover
called together number of big EN-
ployers and it was agreed there would
be no cutting of wages. That ap-
peared to be a wise thing to do at
the time. But it actually caused
more unemployment. When business
declined and fewer men we're needed
it would have been. better to reduce
everybody's pay rather than dismiss
many men entirely"
Political Aims Shift.
You don't like the idea Of .
planned economy. as proposed by
some of the professors, and yet don t
you do a lot of long-ranse planning
In your own business?"
IF we, commercial company,
were faced every four or. at most.
every eight years with the certainty
Of new president and new board of
directors who would promptly throw
out most of the key men in the
organization to put in favorites of
their own, often without regard to
their fitness, we could not do much
intelligent long time planning. There
is no continuity of policy in govern
ment. To illustrate: In the event
that the present administration should
not be returned to power next year.
1t Is natural to expect that the type
Of planning represented by the Ten
nessee Valley project. Passamaquoddy.
boondoggling and other features Of
the New Deal might be greatly cur
tailed or terminated"
do you think business must be
regulated"
"Yes, I believe firmly in regulation.
chiefly by making 1t mandatory upon
business to submit proper reports.
But ! do not believe our set-up Is
such as to permit the encroa oachment
Of Government into the field here
tofore REGARDED As exclusively that