The Daily Alaska empire., 1948-04-12
Big Profits
Cincinnati Enquirer


 This is the season of annual T. pc4 ts from bs ness corporations. As they in, the labor press jumps on them with such expressions as "unpre- cedented money grab" the idea being of course to give workers the idea that companies make excessive profits and that wage increases are in order.
 Some companies do make large profits. it is true Some even make excessive profits But lot Of com panies are not making large profits even in these boom times. And considerable number of companies actually are losing money-strange as it may seem in these boom days. This was true In other pooms and it is true in this one.
 On one day recently, the last day for which figures are available 4 companies made their reports Of the 4l companies, 27 made larger profits than the year before, IT companies made less ana Aour actually lost money.
 The losses for the four companies ranged from S7O9o00 to S19 100000 The company that lost s1e0OO 900 actually lost $4000O0OO but Federal tax carry back of S2O700000 halved its loss. But it still lost heavily.
 This one-day set-up is not an isolated one. An examination of annual reports the two preceding days showed almost exactly the same ratlos-out o1 every 2 companies reporting, eight showed profits larger than the year before three made less and one actually lost money. Many companies made more money last year than in 1946 only because their opera lions were hapered severely by strikes in the first half of 1946.
 But our point is this If labor thinks it should ask wage increases on the basis of "unprecedented profits what about the companies in the same in dustry that made less money or actually ost money! Do they pay the wage increases, too? In one article saw. stress was laid on the big profits of automobile companies, particularly General 1 Motors What about Kaiser er-Frazer? It made S4ll
 share last year. but in the year before it lost SABA a share-a net profit for the two boom years of exactly less than nothing Do the wage increases at General Motors extend to Kaser-Frazer, too? Or take the Packard Motor Car Go. It pays It's stockholders the munificent dividend of Is cents year. Last year it earned 26 cents share, in ls4o I % Tn S4 OooOOO on it's operations only tax adjustment enabled it show any profit at all Is Packard making an excessive profit?
 Are all automobile companies making big profits just because General Motors made big profit last year? Is the General Motors profit excessive? Gen. made S288 900 last year In 1946 it made s87 00o GOO Incidentally this S21 000000 less than its dividends called for that year and the S21 000 had to from surpus. In the two big boom years General Motors earned s375,000000. But in the 2l2 years since V-Day General Motors has spent S6o0,- 900 o00-neary twice it's earnings for the two boom years-on plant expansion and modernization to give more jobs to people Who pays for that?
 Because of rising costs including wages, General Motors finds that takes nearly twice much capital to conduct it's business today the for the four prewar years. Where does this come from? It would be a good idea to take all of the facts into consideration when considering the profits of industry--any industry