Evening star., 1939-05-23
Dilemma Pictured
As|ndustrySeeks
To Move Ahead
New Discoveries HeIp,
But Federal Curbs
Block Advance
SPECIAL Dispa tch to The Star.

Special Dispatc tch to The Star.
NEW YORK, May 23-"Test
tubes in some laboratory are Offer
ing some challenging new frontier
for industry to penetrate. Scarcely
day passes that the press does
not make reference to some new
wonder of science. Month after
month some new potential industry
is born. 1t is realization of this
fact that spurs industry forward -
writes H. w. Prentis. jr., president
of the Armstrong Cork Co. Lam
caster. Pa, in the current issue
of Steel magazine.
Filled away in the hope chests
OF industrys development depart
ments are yellowing pages of
projects yet to be undertaken
Every industry has them. They
are not haphazard tree planting
programs or quickly conceived ideas
designed to give few hours tenn
porary employment to phlegmatic
section of the population which
asks no more than that.
These mfulfllled projects of in
| dustry-so long held in abeyance-
are projects of progress. They call
Tor additions to existing plants
plans for new factories; installation
| of newer machinery to replace OBJ
| solescent equipment; extension of
! Office facilities to relieve congestion
and increase efficiency. Locked in
the vaults of many research labora-
tories are developments that have
yet to see the light of day. Al
though research goes on, industry
does not catch up Countless
projects repose in the archives of
many a concern-Waiting the day
where the expectation Of profit from
business ventures will be great
enough for men to carry out their
plans.
Workman Suffers.
The one individual who suffers
| the greatest personal hardship from
/ this static condition is the Ameri-
can workman Just as labor finds
small demand for its services, so
does capital lack profitable mar
| ket. Once the reward for capital
investment can be made attrac-
tive again, such funds will readily
create the means of increased en-
ployment
The heavy tolls industry is
obliged to pay in the form of ex-
cessive taxation, the uncertainties
caused by experimental legislation
and the generally higher cost of
| doing business-all have discour-
aged the investment of funds in in
dustrial enterprise.
The experience of our own COM
pany illustrates the tax burden now
borne by industry. Our accrued
taxes for 1888 of S1,105. .59549 are al
most as great as the sum of Sl126.-
433 disbursed to the stockholders in
dividends during that period. The
taxes amount to 78 cents per share
of common stock, to $l27.48 for every
domestic employe and to Sl21.9O
for each stockholder.
Big Expense Seen.
"The cost of keeping tax records
involves substantial expense. Dur
ing 1888 1,030 returns had to be pre-
pared and submitted to Federal
State and local taxing authorities,
compared with 869 during 1887 and
about $50 in 1884. The greatly in
creased tax burden that American
enterprise is now called upon to
shoulder has unquestionably handi-
capped industry in its effort to re-
store employment.
With the greatest material
wealth. we probably have today half
the unemployed men and women of
all the important industrial coun-
tries of the world. Our Federal
debt has skyrocketed s24, ZOO 00O, 900
since 1880. An analysis of the cost
of government indicates that more
than one-fourth of the national in
come is absorbed by the expense of
maintaining our governmental ac-
tivitles. Prior to the World War,
the cost of government was consid-
erably below 10 per cent of the ma
tional income.
The number of Federal employees
and public benefciaries has in
creased so rapidly that today about
100000 persons are receiving
checks from the Government. Gov
ernment Intervention in agriculture
has evolved no solution of the farm
ers' ills. We find the Federal Gov
ernment steadily encroaching on the
functions of industry and already
engaging in some fields of business
Branded as False.
"The prophets of failure main
tain moreover that we are slipping
industrially; that industry can no
longer be expected to keep our peo-
pie at work. They assert that there
are few, If any, new industrial worlds
to conquer. Such statements are
untrue. Similar predictions have
been made time after time in the
past. Even as write, the test tubes
in some laboratory are offering
some challenging new frontier for
industry to penetrate. Scarcely a
day passes that the press does not
make reference to some new wonder
| of science.
| Month after month some new po-
tential industry is born. 1t is the
realization of this fact that spurs