Milford chronicle., 1938-07-01
ECONOMIC HICHLICHTS
HAPPENINGS THAT AFFECT THE DINNER
PALS DIVIDEND CHECKS AND Tax
bills or EVERY INDIVIDUAL
National aud International Problems
IH5efarable from Local Weifare

in this quotation from the United
States News: "The SeVenty-Fifti
Congress, ending its third session IN
two years. leaves record Of spend
ing more. talking more, and passing
fewer new laws than almost any
recent congress-"
Talking and spending naturally
have an adverse effect on business
inasmuch as most of the talk is al
ways directed against industry, and
Increased spending means new or
higher taxes. On the other hand,
I business usually finds encourage
ment in a Congress that is slow to
pass new laws. But here again the
last Congress was an exception to
the rule. Business wanted drastic
tax revisiOn-and what it got was a
very moderate new tax bilI which
does away with some inequalities,
but, according to most observers,
leaves the basic tax problem virtu-
ally untouched Business wanted
legislation TO aid and suceor the
railroads-and nothing was done by
the lawmakers. Business wanted a
Congress that would consider legis-
lation in the light of its possible ef-
feet on productive industry-and it
didn't get It.
AS a consequence, industrial pro-
ducti0n indexes continue to keep to
extremely low levels-and, appar-
emily, business sentiment is at lower
levels still, with a great many lead
ers unable to find any important
favorable signs on the economic
horizon. The last Congress was OBJ
viously a political Congressional is.
about a third of the senator's and
all of the representatives being up
for reelection next November,
wanted to get home to mend their
political fences. 1t is certainly no
secret that the most driving urge
felt by the average Congressman is
to keep in Office, and that he is very
likely to place this consideration
above the public welfare. Bruce
Barton, who has completed his first
ter mas a Congressman, recently
suggested that it would be a good
idea to give every retiring member
Of Congress a pension of $4,000
year-in order to alleviate economic
pressure. and eliminate the fear that
loss of Office also means-loss Of
livelihood.
Biggest question before business
now is, Can the lending-spending
program produce any substantial re-
coveTy? Usual answer is NO-the av-
erage business leader feels that the
adverse effects of further Initiating
the national debt will Offset the ben
eficiaI effects of additional pump |
printing. The sudden release of sew
eraI billion dollars may cause Q
upturn in the cycle-but
il is widely felt that much of this
money will go for non-prOduetive ac-
tivities. that some of it will go for
which are definitely dis
couraging to industry. and that the
net gain will be extremely small
. Turning to the statistics, it is
found that for the last week for
which this column has information,
business in general continued down
ward. Some items of interest fol-
low:
Securities
Market values have changed little.
market turnover has been
reduced to extraordinarily low lev
lis. On June IS. turnover on the
New York Stock Exchange was
slightly over 10000 shares-the
IloWest session since August 3. 1918.
The general tendency Of both stock /
md bond prices has been down.
ward, despite occasional unimpOr-
ant upward furries.
Motor Cars '
As Business Week puts it. the au-
omObile industry accustomed in the {
last to leading the way toward in I
reased production, is now leading
n the opposite direction" May re- d
all sales of both cars and trucks 5
Tere over SO per cent below the
anne month last year. In the first t
Teek OF June, output touched post I
"A low. Outlook fs bad.
Steel q
BAD business for the automobile :
nd railroad industry means bad
usiness for steel. Latest available !,
CURES show operations at 25 per =
ent of capacity. with the outlook in
icating that still lower levels will =
Don be reached. =
Light And Power
KilOwatt output is relatively good, =
n a seasonally adjusted basis. But =
le industry is still pursuing a very
autious line and Is spending very "
tile for expansion and development, :
le to fears of additional govern a.
Ient competition. B
To sum up, it is next to impossible =
find any really bright signs so .,
IT as major lines Of industry are s.
)neerned. We are in a static wait -
g period, and hopes are pinned on nj
II. But it is only fair to say that p.
Iese hopes are nowhere near as =
rong as they were even few n,
onths ago. A
- -
A Treasury report shows that Of or
e 1870 1000, 900 people In the U. s., E
had incomes of $1.OOO.O0O or more =
1887, Their aggregate income 50
as $73, 100000. If every penny was W
Iueezed out Of them It would not u
eet the government expenditures
r 4s hours. de