The midland journal., 1946-11-15
LOOKING
AHE4D
" GEORGE S. BENSON
\ PresidtHf--Hardixg CoNegs
'SeartE. .ArkGxsas
Saddles

Casper, Wyo., boasts a saddle
maker who has been at the business
for forty years in that city. He
knows his trade, fact not hard to
prove. You see there are a great
many people in his state who know
a good saddle when they see one
and saddle maker has to be good
to stay in business long in Wyo-
ming. Not many days ago I
dropped into his shop and got intro
duced.
was prospective customer. We
need couple of good saddles at
the Harding College stable and had
shopped close to home with no Sue
cess. To my establishment the Cas-
per saddler was no better able to
supply our needs than those in
Memphis or Little Rock. He was
able, however, to give me some
facts had not learned before from
any of the saddle stores visited
earlier.
Saddletrees Scarce.
A good saddle is built on a wood
en- frame called a tree, much as
shoe is built on wooden last, ex-
cept that the tree is built into the
saddle and becomes a permanent
part of it. Saddletrees are made
by men of a highly specialized
craft. Trees have to be shaped
right, no bulkier and no heavier
than strength and design require.
Men able to do such things with
wood are by no means common.
During the war Uncle Sam need
ed skillful saddletree men in the
construction of gliders. "The gov
ernment employed most of them at
about $3.50 week. the saddler de-
clared. Good saddles not being
made any more, might have sky.
rocketed in price but the Office of
Price Administrator fixed a ceiling
to stop it. Stocks of new saddles
soon were bought up by users at
ceiling prices.
But the War Is Over
Now the glider business is slack.
Wonders have been done with glid-
ers and they are not being forgot
ten, but fewer are being built. I'm
employed saddletree men would
like to start building saddletrees
again-there's quite a demand. Liv-
ing costs have built up, however,
and they think they ought to have
$120 week. That's $4,000 a year
and $50 under their defense-plant
scale of pay.
Saddle manufacturers, like the
one in Casper, want trees because
mo trees, no saddles. They are
willing to pay tree builders $12O a
week and wouldn't kick a bit if
saddles might be sold at prices they
would easily bring. I guess there
are thousands of customers besides
me who are ready to pay more for
a saddle than it would have cost in
the months Immediately before the
war.
Ceiling Lingers On
eff today I engaged a good tree
builder" said the Wyoming saddler.
"paid him $120 a week in return
for his best services and most COM
petent work, and then sold the total
product at ceiling prices, it would
pay about three-fourths of the
wages of the man who made the
tree" Obviously it is out of bal
ance. Craftsmen, manufacturers.
dealers and users are all waiting
for ceilings to lift.
The saddle business is not large
when you contrast it to automobiles
and railroads, but it is no isolated
case. Many small business men
are smothering for sales that are
tied up by O.P.A. Small plants,
employing less than 1000 men, pro-
vide jobs for 1870 of industrial work.
ers. Carried too far, this price pol
icy can bring panic and poverty.
Liquidating some war-year bureaus
would help balance the national
budget and help clear the way for
new and much needed production.