The Durant news. (Durant, Miss.) 1882-1985, 1940-08-22
BEHIND THE SCENES
-In-
AMERICAN BUSINESS
Bv John

BY JOHN CRADDOCk
New York, August 19.-Business
In view of the general recognition
that the pace of national defense
goods production in the chief gov
erning factor in the state of business,
news that the "log-jam" which has
held up aircraft procurement ap-
parently has been broken up is of
prime Importance. An agreement has
now been reached between the gov
eminent and the aircraft industry
THAT will allow for awarding of con-
tracts and immediate undertaking of
production-without waiting for en-
actment of the new tax bill covering
excess profits Within a few
hours after the agreement was reach
ed it had borne fruit, in the form of
an $11, 900 000-contract with one
firm for 700 planes, and other con,
tracts were expected to be signed
within a few days. These would in
volve about a dozen other aircraft,
accessory and engine manufacturers,
for production of approximately 1000
ships for the air corps-at a complete
cost of around $500, 000, 600. This
development will almost surely open
the way for similar arrangements
with respect to production of many
other kinds of munitions.
Washington-Just what does all
this national defense plant-building
and equipment-installing mount up
to? Government economists have just
surveyed the whole scene, and come
up with the estimate that plant ex-
pansion and new equipment pur-
chases Of industry, for 1941, will be
right around $4,000, 0O0, 000-as the
result Of the defense program. Such
figures, of course, are always mere
ly relative. 1t makes them more
meaningful when it is explained that
this is about one-third more than was
spent, on the average, in the years
of the last decade-and about three
times as much as for the low years
of 1882 and 1888, when capital out
lays for new plant and equipment
dropped below a billion. And if it
finally becomes necessary to create
new industries to supply Uncle Sam
with rubber and other strategic ma
t~erials now mostly imported, the ex-
penditure may go well beyond that
$4,000, 600, 900 mark.
Penny Saved, Penny Earned =
That's the tried-and-true philosophy
Mrs. Melville Mucklestone, president
of the National Consumers Tax conf
mission, applies to our problem of
paying for ornaments. According to
a study made by this women's tax
education organization, the millions
Uncle Sam must have for arming can
be returned to taxpayers pockets by
local government officials-by ad-
opting modern, efficient governing
methods as the Contribution" to the
defense program. Just two money
saving techniGues-centralized pur-
chasing and sound civil service con-
trol-would save enogh tax money
annually to pay for 5000 pursuit
planes and nearly 5000 tanks. In a
message transmitting results of the
study to the quarter-million NCTC
members in As states Mrs. Muckle-
stone, a past national president of
the American Legion auxiliary, urg-
ed the women to a renewed drive for
efficiency and economy in local gov
eminent "as a patriotic duty"
Bits O. Business - Nationwide
check by National Retail Dry Goods
association brings prediction that
September = November season will
bring per cent sales increase
Largest contract yet signed
under national defense program is
just announced-with Chrysler cor
poration, totaling $4,000, 600, with
20 of those millions for plant and
equipment, the balance for tanks; ex-
pected to be in quantity production
In a year . it's estimated auto
production for the 1910 model year,
now closing was 4,164,693 units
which is nearly 23 per cent more
than in preceding model year; dea-
lers are now moving stocks at ex-
treme sacrifices to clear their floors
:. leading employers of Santa
Barbara, Cal, hold payday on Mon
day instead of traditional Friday or
Saturday-on suggestion by the Gre
dit bureau that thus tie temptation of
weekend spending would be lessened
and more bills would get paid.
y
Industrial Unity-As fellow mem
bers of the distilled spirits industry,
the nations distillers, rectifiers, i'm
porters and wholesalers have many
common problems. Among them is
maintenance of sane relations with
governmental authorities by way of
protecting the industry against regu-
restrict normal business operations
lations which they feel unnecessarily
without contributing to the public in