The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1949-02-17
HERE'S ONE PROFITS
.BOASTLABOR APPROVE
By NATHAN ROBERTSON

papers last week missed a story on
their own advertising pages which
should have been on the front
pages.
1t was an advertisement by one
of Americas leading manufactur-
ers that it was making the biggest
profit in history. When a manu-
facturer brags about his profits, it
is news. Most of them use the adj
vertising columns to try to kid the
public hat profits are not high
enough.
But the real news in this adver-
tisement was that the company
was showing the rest of industry
how to make the American econ
omy work for full production and
full employment permanently with
out the booms and busts that have
marked our past history with
tragic consequences.
The advertisement was a full
page job in which International
Harvester disclosed that its profits
in 1948 were the "largest in its
history" But the story Interna-
tional Harvester told in Dragging
of it's profits is one that should be
applauded by all of labor, which
to the surprise of some manufac-
turers-will not oppose profits of
the kind International is making.
The reason labor will applaud
International's profits is because
they came from volume production,
at lower profit margin than the
company used to enjoy. AS the ad-
vertisement pointed out, Harvest
er's profits last year were only AT
cents on the dollar of sales as COM
pared with 8.3 percent in 1941.
That profit margin was the lowest
in many years, Harvester said.
Here is a dramatic demonstra-
tion of what labor economists and
New Deal economists have con-
tended for years-that it is pos
sible for industry to enjoy higher
profits than ever before at a lower
margin of profits per dollar, if it |
will stress production, instead of
restricting production by high |
prices.
This is just the kind of pricing
policy the Presidents Economic
Council has been urging on indus
much success. In
stead, companies such as General
Electric have continued to hold
heir profit margins up close to
where they were years ago-with
he result that their volume of
profits has zoomed to record break
ng heights. This has meant high
prices to consumers, continued in
'lation, and the danger of a tragic
oust when prices come down be-
,ause consumers can no longer
lfford to pay such prices.
AS a result of such pricing polio
es by most of industry, corporate
Profits last year were about 20
billion dollars, or more than double
What they were in the boom year
If 1929, or the biggest profit years
Turing the recent world war. These
profits, on top of higher
wages, have sent prices Zooming f;
upward. That is why in
lustrial profits have not dropped,
long with farm prices in recent
months.
In its advertisement Internation-
i Harvester, instead of complain ,
ng about high wages and blaming y
hem for high prices, as most corp
rations do, Dragged that average +
arnings of its non-salaried fac +
ory workers had increased 92.6% }
ince 1941 and that other salaries
ad gone up correspondingly.
Explaining how it had distribut-
d only part of its profits, and used r
ne balance to improve plants, In f
Harvester said: =
profits at work made it possible ;
Or International Harvester, in
948, to serve more people-em-
loyes, customers, and stockholders
lin greater measure than ever be-
)re. By continuing to earn a pro-
t, we hope also to continue to
srve more people in greater t
Ieasure than ever before" Ii
Here--spelled out by Interna- c
onal Harvester and not by New f
cal theorists the prescription W
,r permanent full employment in o
merica. 1t is particularly graft d
ring that this demonstration
,mes from international Harvest p
:, which studies have shown main Il
lined highly rigid prices during
lie disastrous depression Of 1880 CT
hen the income of its farmer con- a.
lmers was shrinking away almost ii
nothing. Apparently lnterna- ly
onal Harvester has learned II
o,n,, frho,,l~ Cd o,,1 .c,,owo,x, n,