The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-02-14

| dIlldIl1lB ucACeTlty
Edison not only to cut
sugar cane, for
which the implement was original
ly designed, but also as a razor, ak,
hoe, toothpick, carving knife, fin
gernail trimmer, sword, cleaver, Scis-
sors, adj, Ratchet, lance, saw, pig,
sticker, snake skinner, appendix re-
mover, can opener, fly swater, screw
driver, scyth, potato peeler, baby
spanker, post mole digger hearth
and home protector, letter opener,
dugout canoe digger, argument set
| tier, fish cleaner, bread slicer, but
ter spreader and pea balancer. In
other words, handy trinket to have
, about and it's difficult to under
stand how the United States got
where it did without wider use Of
the machete.
| Anyway, the machete in the hot
countries has an economic history
and social significance, too. Every
rural family has at least one per
male. A good, serviceable working
model without any fancy carving,
but with plenty of room for notches
on the grip sells for the equivalent
of SIPS United States money. Be-
cause machetes have so many uses,
however, and because they get such
hard, everyday wear and tear and
are whetted razor-sharp almost
daily, machete ordinarily lasts
only year.
The replacement market and de-
mand are therefore steady and since
the original design of 1872 or earlier
seemed to give satisfaction down
through the decades, retooling for
new annual models never became
necessary. A manufacturer who
built up a business in machetes had
a good thing to hand on to his
grandchildren.
AXIS CUTS IN
Since the last war, however, Ger
man and Japanese hardware and
cutlery manufacturers, with lower
labor costs, cheaper materials and
more vigorous competitive sales
methods for cheaper lines Of barter
merchandise have been driving U. S.
manufacturers out of the market.
This is particularly true of the ma
chete market. The result is that
today there is only one U. S. manu-
facturer of machetes, Collins and
Company, Hartford, Conn, who
have developed this speciality into a
major line resulting in foreign sales
of thousands of dozens of machetes
a year.
Comes the war. The supplies of
German and Japanese machetes are
cut Off and the stocks on the
shelves are reduced. There is a big
demand for machetes from the Uni
ted States.
Shrewd native wholesalers and re-
tail hardware men in the machete
countries size up the situation and
decide that now is good time to
raise prices, even though there has
ben no advance in the manufacture
er,s price. Machetes which used to
sell at SIPS are advanced to $3.50
and even $3.75, just as a new sugar
cane crop is to be cut. The natives
howl as only they can howl when
being robbed and the store-keepers
shrug their shoulders as only they
can gesticulate when driving a bar
gain. All the arguments are on the
side of the merchant - u. S. prior
tiles, export control, shipping short
Iages-these are the things the
merchant points TO in justifying his
higher price.
THEN THE
POISON
Then comes the finishing touch
which is applied by the Nazi propa-
gandist and sympathizer. This snake
n-the-grass, perhaps the merchant
himself who used to handle German
manufacturers, whispers the libel
that these high prices, this shame
full gouging is typical of Uncle Shy
locks policy. All the Gringos want
to do, they alibi is shut out all COM
petition and bleed their "good
neighbors." The potentialities of this
line of poison are obvious.
This particular story has hap
DIV ending, for in the case of the U
S. marchete manufacturer, he has 6
well-organized sales force and an es-
tablished reputation. His agents art
simply making the rounds to make
sure the prices are kept down ant
the propaganda motif Is suppressed
Apply this problem to all the Other
lines of merchandise sold to the
good neighbors and you get a rea
appreciation OF some of the prac-
teal aspects of winning an economic
war.