Evening star., 1936-05-26

MOre-Or LeSSP ana Ills SeCoIlu, d'
San Francisco, was called More and
Better Jobs" Taken together, they
form a symposium of ideas in answer
to the oft-heard query-"Well, what
would you do to re-employ 1o'ooo'-
O00?"
As head of the General Motors
Corp, Sloan talks by experience OF
what has actually been accomplished
in the automotive industry by actually
putting into effect the philosophy OF
lower prices and lower costs through
efficiency and a consequent increase
In sales and in pay rolls and in the
number employed.
Direct Answer.
The first comment was directed at
President Roosevelt's remark IN his
New York speech wherein he said:
Reduction of costs of manufacture
does not mean more purchasing power
and more goods consumed. 1t means
Just the opposite"
The foregoing has been the subject
of much controversy, yet, Sloan Is
among the first Of Americas business
leaders to speak out frankly about
1t. He says:
Il sincerely hope that we may have
a broad discussion Of that rather
astounding pronouncement before we
reverse our industrial technique.
cannot believe that this means what
it really says. 1t must be based on
the belief that a reduction in the
cost of manufacture means a reduc-
ton in the wage scale. That is
not necessarily SO, in fact, 1t should
not be So
1T can be demonstrated beyond
any reasonable doubt that those in
dustries which have been most sue
cessful in reducing the costs of goods
and services and expanding their
markets have, at the same time, paid
the highest wage and have continually
raised that wage through evolution.
Points to Records.
'It would naturally follow from
what our President stated that II the
reduction of costs decreases con-
sumption, then an increase Of costs
should increase consumption. 1t Is
impossible to reconcile that philosophy
with the past record and today's ex-
perience.
"I believe that if we reduce the cost
of goods and services by greater eff
cheney, by better technique and thus
are able to make lower prices, we
shall stimulate the market because
more can buy Hence, more jobs and
more things for more people. That
at least has been our past experience
and it is still the fact today
Sloan takes issue, too, with those
business men who have been arguing
for "stabilization" of prices. He in
sists this means "an umbrella over
the inefficient" The labor leaders
like some industrialists have swal-
lowed this philosophy, he declares.
And here is the kernel Of the whole
address:
America must decide between two
opposing principles Of industrial op-
Grafton; competition, on the one hand,
or regulation and ultimately regi-
mentation by Government, on the
other. The latter, to my way Of
thinking, offers the only possible sub
stitute for the former; the issue is
plainly before us.
However Objectionable industrial
competition may be to some, or all Of
us, am convinced that competition
offers the only solution to the perfectly
natural desire and right of more peo-
pie to have more things, and espe-
cially the opportunity to afford the
full employment of our workers in the
production of wealth.
Sees Alternative.
''It seems perfectly plain that if the
exchange of labor for goods and serv-
ices, or one form of goods or services
for another, can only take place on
the basis Of arbitrary terms set by
the seller, irrespective of their value
to the buyer, and if no one will work
at less than stated wage, irrespec-
tive of the value of that wage in terms
of goods and services, then we might
just as well recognize and accept per-
manent depression, permanent unem-
ployment, a continuous dole, and make
the best of it."
Certainly the automobile industry
which is profitable these days has
followed the principle of greater dollar
value and has by real efficiency made
headway.
It Is in the San Francisco speech
that Sloan accepts 100 per cent the
philosophy of the Brookings Institu-
ton of Washington and contradicts
President Roosevelt's contention at
Baltimore that the answer to unem-
ployment is ''to have fewer workers
working less"
The Brookings theory LIS that Amer
lea has not yet reached the stage of
industrial development 'in which we
have the man power to produce more
than our people, as a whole, have the
desire to consume" and that "it is i'm
possible materially to shorten the
working day and still produce the
quantities of goods and services that
the American people want to con-
sumo"
Emissions worker Shortage.
Sloan goes SO far as to say that If
the problem is intelligently analysed,
it is possible ito develop in this coun-
try a worker shortage instead of
job shortage" He thinks better
jobs" both socially and economically,
are possible if industry will move to-
ward "the maximum possible con-
tinuity of employment with an annual
wage as great as possible in relation to
the hourly wage"
Progress is being made toward this
objective, the motor executive pointed
out. But the important factor is this:
"One way to provide more and better
jobs ts by Increasing the hours. Of