The Durant news. (Durant, Miss.) 1882-1985, 1941-03-13
"BEHIND THE SCENES IN
AMERICAN BUSINESS"
By John Croddock

NEW YORK. March 1O.-BUSINESS-In
World War |, England adopted business as
usual slogan, mainly to symbolic tradi-
tional British imperturbability. We feel IN
what that idea, too, over here. Inc present
war, by it's very nature, puts a lot more phy'
steal obstacles in the way of business as
usual for the bomb-rocked British. Yet sc
far as the symbolism and mental attitude are
concerned, the philosophy is again dominant
there. And over here, too, we nave tr1ed to
cling to that idea, mostly expressed In tho
phase saying that we could "superlmpose
our defense program on our normal INDUS
trial production program For months i
was felt we could do it-could take on any
foreseeable task in the way of defense pro
d~uction, and turn it out, without having &c
cut down on ordinary peacetlme goods anC
services. Our business has not been usual,
it's been unusually good, for many months
because to a large extent the defense drive
was set right on top of our normal Schedule
But in recent weeks it has become increas
ingly clear that the defense drive is gong &c
require some men, materials and machine!
that otherwise would be producing consumer
goods. Already adoption of mandatory
priorities has brought nome this fact to many
manufacturers, and to some consumers. u
the whole, though, the general prediction Il
that the most unusual thing about Uncle
Sans business-for many months to come
will be its unusual upwardness." Although
individual lines may be set back by the ra
tiOning system, the continued growth of de
tense production will more than offset thos'
declines in non-defense lines caused by ra
tioning of materials The Federal Reserve
Boards index of industrial production stood
at 139 in January, and is expected to hi
$50 before the end of the year. In that in
dex, the activity rate Of 1859 is rated
as 100"
NEW 'COMMUTER' ARMY-Our call
out" defense economy is creating a new army
of "commuters"-workers who drive theil
automobiles as much as 100 miles a day be
tween home and plant. This newest trend IL
personal transportation pattern appears es
sential to the armament program and, az
cording to recent surveys, is even reflected
in automobile sales as workers turn toward
low-cost, l~ow-upkeep cars in order to coun
teract the added cost of getting to work. One
company, Willys-Overland, reports greatly
increased sales in this income bracket anI
says that mileage reports from owners driv
ing to defense jobs show that many of these
lOng-distance commuters can cover 100 mile.
from home to plant on three gallons of gas
When pro-rated among four workers, as il
often the case, the cost of the trip comes
down to around IL cents apiece. More meI
than ever before are dependent on this mode
of transportation to their jobs. Irregular
work schedules and relocated plants MAKE
available transport systems impractical o.
inadequate. In their own cars overtime tot
lers can make their own schedules" From
Cape Cod, where 1000 men are buildinl
Camp Edwards, to a 80, 000-man c~onstruc
ton job for the Navy in San Diego, Calf.
the once-called pleasure car is taking it
place as a vital cog in the defense program
HUMAN FACTOR-The most importan
investment American business can make il
Latin American is in men," according to Cor
nehus ". Whitney, authorityron Inter-Ameri
Always. In a recent talk to a group of New
businessmen, Whitney said the caliber O.
representatives selected by American firm
for work in Latin America might make TIL,
difference between profit and loss" over
long period of time. He listed the major
qualifications as follows:
/. Language-A knowledge of Spanish
or Portuguese, or both.
2. observation-disclosures is of utmost i'm
portance in doing business south of tn,
equator, according to Whitney.
3. Education-A knowledge of the Gus
toms and history of the country is importan
as background.
4. Mutuality-A willingness at all time
to "~give-and-take" in equal amounts and will
an eye for developing lasting trade relation
ships.
FAST WORK-Richard w. Miller. nros;
dent of Vultee Aircraft, reports: The 81 00t
military airplanes the American aircraft in
dustry is scheduled to produce in the nov
Is months is nearly half as many planes q,
the county produced-all types-in ali tn,
81 years since the Wright Brothers first yo
their flying machine off the ground at Kit,