Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1946-01-02
Golden Year Expected
# Labor Strife Ends,
Transition Speeded !.
BY JOHN F. CHESTER,


BY JOHN F. CHESTER,
Associated Press Business Writer.
NEW YORK, Jan. 1.-THE great
est production machine the world
has ever known appeared today to
need only a missing part or two to
transform 1916 into glittering gold
letter year for American business.
Business leaders from one coast
to the other predicted, as the old
year faded, that before the new died
there would open boom period that
well could last out the decade.
Most of them, however, added 'ifs."
The big 'if" was whether labor
and Management could reconcile
their differences and produce the
manpower cog needed to make ths
machine work. Many also placed a
lifting Of controlled price levels in
the necessary-to-success category.
There was controversy on this point.
Conversations with businessmen
across the country, nevertheless.
indicated strong majority opinion
that the question marks would be
dissolved, perhaps not in the early
months, but certainly in time TO
make 1916 a banner business year.
If nothing else, 1945 proved that
the industrial machine itself was
strong enough to stand plenty Of
bouncing around without break
ing up.
In prize fight language, industry
took $63 500, 900 900 sock on the
whiskers-that was the total Of
terminated war contracts - but
shook off the blow and came back
strong as the bell rang for the end
of the year.
The index of industrial produce
ton, which dropped like a plum
met throughout virtually the en-
tire year, finally began to level OIL,
and showed signs of recovery at
the year end. Widespread strikes,
of course, buffeted against this
swing.
Reconversion Well Started.
The job of physical reconversion
from war to peacetime production
"a problem that gave many q
businessman the filters as VI day
neared-proved to be less Of .
problem than almost any one ex-
pected. Well before the start Of
the new year reconversion was so
nearly completed that it ceased to
be discussed as major problem,
and the word itself began to drop
out of everyday language
But with the physical job almost
completed and the whole country
crying for goods, American business
found itself at one of the strangest
crossroads in its history
The conundrum at the crossroads
was which way to go on wages and
prices. Labor leaders throughous
the country asked for higher wages
Immediately to cushion the drop
from wartime take-home pay. The
Government favored wage increases
where possible without increasing
prices, and with price relief to fol-
low in six months If justified.
Scores of manufacturers baked.
They pressed for = higher prices to
meet higher wage costs and get
the industrial wheel to turning.
Intricacy Demonstrated.
The result was strikes, some big,
some small, and the public began
to realize almost for the first time
how intricate the industrial ma
chine had become. New sleeping
cars for soldiers were held up be-
cause of relatively obscure strike
in a mattress factory. A whole big
automobile plant was shut down
because of walkout in q gear
making shop hundreds OF miles
away.
The General Motors strike was
felt across the country, not only
because Of the large number Of GIN
plants involved, but also because
the concern supplied parts used by
other automobile manufacturers.
The threat of a major steel strike
in January caused even more con-
Germ.
Some considered it significant
that the calling of TOO ,000-man
strike, unless wage increases were
forthcoming, was announced in 1945
to be effective in 1916.
Manufacturers Accused.
From both labor and governmental
quarters, and from some segments
of business as well, came charges
that manufacturers were holding
back on production in order to
realize a greater profit by selling
under more favorable tax setup
in 1916. John w. Snyder, director
of War Mobilization and Recon-
version. was one of the first to
make the charge openly. John L.
Lewis, president of the United Mine
Workers, criticized the calling Of
the General Motors strike in 1s45
for somewhat the same reasons.
Despite all difficulties, the big
gest of which was the tremendous
wholesale cancellation of war con-
tracts, businessmen were still abls
to put the brakes on the swiftly
falling curve of industrial produc-
ton. The drop began to slow down
in October.
On the basis of Federal Reserve
Bank figures, with the 1935-193s
average taken as 100, the produc-
ton figure stood we'll above $50
early in the year 1t went down
See CHESTFR poco A-o01