davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1954-09-19
ASH Schedule Announced

Washington Chapter, Ameri-
can Savings and Loan Institute.
will begin it's fall schedule Of
classes on Monday, September
27. The schedule and instructors
assigned to various classes fol-
low:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS, Ste
phen Slipher, staff vice president
of the United States Savings and
Loan League.
Tuesdays-Savings and loan
principles, William E. Poulton.
vice chairman and treasurer Of
the Columbia Federal Savings
and Loan association.
Wednesday-Teller training.
William H. Rippard, controller Of
the Perpetual Building Associa-
ton.
Thursday-Real estate law.
j. George Galley. assistant sec
retary and title officer, Home
Title Insurance Co.
Grocery Group Will Meet
The Grocery Manufacturers
Representatives of Washington
will hold it's first luncheon meet
ing of the season at the Conti-
mental Hotel tomorrow. starting
at noon.
Executives Of the Food Fair
Super Markets will be guests OF
the representatives.
Jim Gibbons of Station WMAL
viii be the guest speaker.
Evening star., 1954-09-19

tUnit Of trading 10 shares sales in full Elm
bankruptcy or receiyersnip or being reorganized
going table are annual disbursements oased on the
last quarterly semiannua declaration. Unless
Ioterwise noted special or extra dividends are not
AsH extra ecared 4F or Dad Ia @
plus stock dividend. Declared paid so far this
year. Payable in stock estimated cash value on
ex.diyidend or ex-distTiOution date PAID las! year
TX Declared or paid this year accumulative issue
with dividends in arrears. Paid this year. divi-
Idend omitted. deferred action taken At last
ldividend meeting: Declared OF paid in 1254 plus
Ex dividend. KIDS Ex distribution. xr Ex rights.
XIV without warrants. WV With warrants va When
distributed. wi When issued.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-01-17
Production Outlook

So far, the discussion has been
Of passenger cars alone. and 1t has
been noted that downturn Of some
sort Is In the ofiing for this part
Of the industry. But passenger cars
are not all the industry produces.
What about trucks?
There is far less variation from
year to year in the production Of
trucks than in the output Of pas
senger cars. For instance, in the
postwar years 1947-1953. passenger
car production averaged about S
million but ranged from q 1947 low
Of 3. 558.178 to q 1850 high of $685.
063. But trucks In the same period
averaged 1920. 900. ranging between
Q 1949 low Of 1.134.l85 and Q 1851
high Of 1.426.828. This years pro-
duction of each. according to pre-
vailing industry estimates. will be
close to the average-5.2 million
cars. l.3 million trucks.
So II the production Of passenger
cars slumps-as most authorities
believe 1t will-there will be no in
creased truck production to take up
the slack.
And another gloomy development
enters the picture. Beginning In
July and running through Deem
Der, the Defense Department will
cancel approximately $142 million
worth of orders for trucks. trailers
and jeeps. About $63 million Of
this win be ct General Motors and
Dodge Division (Chrysler) plants in
the Detroit area. About o week
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-01-17
Senators Have Their Own Ideos About Farm Policy;
They Pdy Less Attention to Long Range Aspects

House bill passed late last year
would allow even more paintings
If this costs the Government extra
millions of dollars. and If it under
cuts the whole principle of the rigid
price support system, nobody during
the Senate debate mentioned it.
Southern Senators praised the bill
as a gift to their deserving con-
stituents. They said that even Sec
rotary Benson acknowledged that
cotton growers needed the extra
acreage.
There was some argument over
how to divide the spoils: Whether
the South or the new cotton-grow-
ing areas of the Southwest should
get to plant certain Of the extra
acreage.
Wheot and Soybeons
One good-natured flareup was lit
by Democratic Senator Douglas. who
comes from the wheat and soybean
State Of Illinois. He wanted an
amendment to keep farmers from
switching cotton lands into the pro-
duction of soybeans or wheat.
Southerners chuckled. Senator
Long, Democrat, of Louisiana smil-
ingly suggested that maybe the
proposed amendment also should
require any land diverted from Illi-
nois wheat be planted in non-ca3h
crops such as clover.
Senator Douglas didn't think this
was appropriate ct al.
Senate Republican Leader Know
land. who had sat patiently through
the hours of campaign speeches.
hufiily reminded the Senators that
they were considering emergency
legislation and should get on with
the vote. He said, THE Senator
from Illinois is trying to get a
laugh"
The Senators sobered, and passed
the bill with q shout.
The Senator'S had had their day.
o big day for cotton farmers. And
II Gen. Eisenhower thinks they are
in any mood to trim subsidies for
agriculture, he is-as he told his
news. conference Wednesday-not q
very smart politician.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-01-17

in the auto industry are not like
the law of the Modes and the Per-
slams. They can be-and usually
are-changed from time to time.
So assume that the dealers are
right on the sales figures for 1854
and the manufacturers are wrong.
There Is plenty Of time to revise
the second-half production esti-
mates.
Suppose that the demand for new
cars indicates As million units in
stead OF So million, and the auto
makers turn out 80 million in the
first half. 1t is simple matter of
subtraction to show that the second
half production would be 1.3 million
instead Of the originally planned 2
million units.
Soldering Consequences
/ And what would a TOO. 0O0-unit
cutback mean In terms Of labor and
materials? It would mean something
over $4,000 workers out of jobs in
Detroit. according to Michigan En-
ployment Security Commission data.
which are accepted as valid by
management and labor alike. It
would mean SIS million tires that
Akron plants would not make. It
would mean something over LIS mil
lion tons of steel that Pittsburgh.
Youngstown, Cleveland-and De-
troit--would not be called upon to
produce. It would mean many mil
lions Of square feet of safety glass
that need not be made. millions of
yards Of fabric not woven, 7O0.OO
starters. 100000 distributors and
uncounted millions Of smaller SUBJ
assemblies and parts not ordered.
It would mean. In short. the nue.
leus Of q SNOWFALL ~hich, rolling
down the economic hillside. could In
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-01-17
cutbocks

Though the ivory tower boys"
who design cars Of the future. may
live In Q dream world. the men
who schedule production and strike
corporate balances do not. The
businessmen Of the motor industry
are about Is hard-headed as they
come.
So what Is the answer to the
possibility Of overproduction in the
first half Of 1854? Cutbacks In the
second half.
The industry already is scheduling
about so per cent Of its production
for the January June period and 40
per cent for the balance Of the year
Based on So million units, this
means roughly 81 million In the
first six months and 2 million Ia
the last half.
However. production schedules
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-01-17
The Nottingham.

In Detroit right now there Is q
situation that baffies the casual OBJ
server. Ford and General Motors.
their horns locked in a battle for
first place" for their lower price
cars, are producing so hot-and-
heavily that many of their workers
are drawing fat overtime checks.
At Hudson and Chrysler, on the
other hand. there have been lay
offs-and the only checks these
workers are drawing come from the
Employment Security Commission.
Why, then. are not the laid-oh
workers shopping around Ford and
GIN in an effort to get jobs? Don't
they want to work?
OF course they want to work. To
a man whose paycheck in recent
months has averaged sos week,
the MESC jobless-insurance pay
ment of SGT a week for 20 weeks
does not look too cushy.
The reason that Hudson men do
not go to Ford is that Cd Ford win
not hire them unless they give up
their seniority at Hudson and co
they worked long years for their
Hudson seniority and do not want
to give 1t UP.
Though the sob security" of an
unemployed man seems fatuous
thing to consider, this security is
very real-if relatjve-to an auto
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-01-17
By james {. Roper

By james E. Roper
even though Government subsidies
would be smaller.
Gen. Eisenhower contends the
present system of basic price sup
ports-fixed rigidly at 80 per cent Of
parity-never has worked and never
viii. This weeks Senate vote on the
cotton bill was an admission that, in
this instance. the system Of rigid
supports Is not working.
Perhaps politics Is to blame.
Under the present farm law. the
Government buys ct q price OF 30
per cent Of parity all the cotton that
IL offered. This system presents the
danger that farmers will grow so
much cotton that the Governments
warehouses can't hold it. Such is
the case today.
Congressman thought Of this when
they passed the law. They provided
that when supplies get too large, the
Government may remove the price
supports unless farmers vote to re-
duce production. .
Last year. Secretary Benson ruled
that the United States had too much
cotton. To adjust supply with de-
mand. he proposed that cotton grow
ers reduce their paintings from IS
million to 10 million acres this year.
In . formal vote, farmers agreed
overwhelmingly.
In theory. this would have reduced
cotton production 90 much that the
Government could have sold some
Of its stocks on the open market.
But before this theory could be put
into practice on cotton, Congressman
became alarmed. Cotton growing
constituents who had voted for con-
trolls complained that II they had to
cut back production so much. they
would suffer hardships.
So the bill that went before the
Senate this week would authorize
farmers to plant an additional mil
lion acres Of cotton and still be al
lowed to sell their crop to the Cow
eminent ct 90 per eeut Of parity. A
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-01-17

worker. Hudson, in it's recent lay
off, is reported to have idled men
with as much seniority with tie
company as 18 years. But such
senior man was among the last to
be laid off and will be among the
first to be rehired
The worker knows this, and Ford
knows it. too. If Ford took him on
today. Hudson might recall him to-
morrow, and there would be a blank
spot on Ford's assembly line the day
after.
So Ford will hire him only If he
goes back to the Hudson paymaster
and gets a "quit slip" This slip
shows that the worker, after 49,
years with Hudson, has given up all
his seniority and pension rights. and
is ready to go to work with Ford
at 7ero seniority. If he ever goes
back to Hudson, his seniority there
well be zero, too.
And in turn. the worker realizes
that if he goes to work for Ford.
he will be a Junior hand-the first
to be laid off, the last to be called
back. That is why auto workers do
not float from plant to plant in the
time of one company's adversely and
another's prosperity.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-01-17

ago. q news dispatch from here
quoted an industry spokesman as
discounting the effect of this cut
back by saying that civilian truck
demand would Offset the slump in
military production. Early this
week. no Spokesman was available
in Detroit to suggest that there was
any such increased civilian demand
for trucks in prospect.
What this adds up to is this fact:
Last year, the industry produced
trucks for defense plus l.3 million
units for civilians. This year. de-
Tense output will slacken but civil
ian production will not pick up. II
adds UP to a slump in the truck
industry overall. perhaps of the
magnitude Of is per cent Of total
1858 output.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-01-17
Prospects

In sum, the prospects for Detroit
seem to be bleak: Seven per cent
jobless now, rs per cent by midyear,
perhaps as much as ID per cent by
next winter.
A slackening of demand for cars
is partly responsible. The absence Of
a truck market to take up slack on
cars is responsible in some small
measure, too. And the defense cut
backs scheduled for July and later
have an effect as well.
Will the defense cutbackS turn out
to be the straw that breaks the
camel's back and forces the Gov
eminent to recognize Detroit as
distressed community? And if SO.
will the ludicrous-yet tragic-come
to pass, that buy cutting back on
defense orders the Government will
find itself in position where 1t will
have to issue some new defense
orders with which to prime Detroit's
pump? No one here has that answer
right now.
AS far as hard times and their
counteraction are concerned. Mayor
Albert E. Cobo has an answer.
Mayor Cobo says he doesn't think
things will get too bad-but cautlcnS
IN the next breath that he is an in
durable opti.1.i5t.
If his optimism is ill-founded,
Mayor Cobo says. he has more than
$500 million in public works author
lied and ready to go. plus several
millions more in work still to he done
on uncompleted projects.
That. the Mayor of Detroit thinks.
might help If worse comes to worst
In the motor capital Of the world.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-01-17
More or Less for Formers?-

The Senators were almost jovial
as they eyed a tasty legislative dish
"a bill to benefit farmers who grow
cotton.
The dish was so savory that the
Senator'S didn't want to down it
with one gulp. Instead. they toyed
with it for four hours. Then they
passed 1t with unanimous shout
as enthusiastic as If they were re-
electing themselves to Congress
Maybe some Of them were trying.
The timing was significant. The
action came only "a hours after
President Eisenhower had asked Con-
gress to ease up on the 21-year habit
Of substituting farmers.
The quick Senate vote sure to
please the cotton growers-indicated
confirmation of what lot of poll
ticians have been saying: Congress
in this election year Is inclined to
give farmers more, not less. Unless
Gen. Eisenhower and Secretary of
Agriculture Benson can make q dra-
matte stand in the weeks ahead.
Congressman probably will cling to
their formula Of nuzzling up to the
farmers when an election nears.
They remember that in 1913
Harry 8. Truman astonished the
political world by winning the pres
idency. The reason was that he
carried the great Farm Belt. He
carried 1t after crying that the Re-
publican Congress Of that year was
scuttling the farmers.
The Administration Angle
This year. Republicans don't want
to be as vulnerable. In the present
farm controversy, Gen. Eisenhower
and Secretary Benson say they are
trying to help farmers. They have
asked Congress for flexible price
supports on basic crops.
The administration would vary
them between Is and 90 per cent
of parity. The idea is that this
would lead to better adjustment Of
farm production and q more PROS
porous agriculture In the long, run.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-01-17
Production

Last year this motor center
doomed. The industry as whole
produced 81 million passenger cars.
and (including 800 900 cars left over
from 1852 production) put 81 mill
lion units on the market. Dealers
sold 6 million.
This year there was q carryoyer
from 1853 Of 100000 cars. which
will. Of course. be sold early this
year concurrently with the 1854
models.
And what are Detroit's production
plans? This early in the year, the
program cannot be nailed down with
any exactitude, and estimates de-
pend as much on the men who are
making them as on the data avail
able. Currently, the most pessimis-
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-01-17
Labor Outlook

As was mentioned earlier. there
are now l07 900 jobless in the De-
troit metropolitan area. Two
months ago. there were 10000. Two
months hence-if nothing unfore-
seen happens-there will be be-
tween 111.000 and $4,000 unem-
ployed. At present. Z per cent OF
the labor force is idle. The pro-
lection for the first half Of 1854 in
dlcates rs per cent on June 80.
What does this mean in terms of
Detroit's economy?
Back in the ''old dayS"-before
World War 1.-THE motor manufac-
turers liked the idea Of a labor
surplus. According to the State
Employment Security Commission,
it used to be the industry's policy
to encourage and maintain q labor
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-01-17
q s0iniuIIy empIOyed 900. Eatml

tic producer (Kaiser) estimates q
total 1854 output Of As million cars.
The most optimistic General Mo-
tors) projects an industry-wide pro-
duction Of SO million. Ford, also
on the optimistic side. guesses at
SIS million.
The guesstimate that Is taken as
deflnitive in Detroit. however, comes
from John r. Stewart. chief statis-
tician and economist for the Detroit
Board Of Commerce. Mr.. Stewart
predicts an output of 5,225,000 in
1854.
So the total number Of cars avail
able to buyers this year-if produc-
ton estimates hold up-will be in
the neighborhood of Sc million.
And this prospect has scared the
wigs of automobile dealers through
out the country. who have learned
recently from sad experience that
the postwar boom In the salesroom
is thing Of the past.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-01-17
By Wilton, Hines

DETROIT. - The worlds motor
capital is trying its best ia. be opti-
mistic about national economic con-
ditions in 1854, but steadily increas-
ing doubts and worries haunt this
heavily industrial metropolitan area
Of S.3 million people.
The motor industry has just COM
pleted its second biggest land.
financially, its bestl year In history.
Spokesman for the industry are her
aiding 1854 as the second best"
financial year-anpther. more OPP
tirnistic, way Of saying it will not
be as good as 1853. Yet in spite OF
public expressions Of optimism. this
fact remains: Right now, Z per cent
of the Detroit areas labor force
lot 900 workers out Of l .5S3, 00O-are
out of jobs. And the prognosis y
that conditions win get worse before
they get better.
Detroit is probably one Of the most
sensitive areas In react1ng 70 ma
tional trends. This ID because the
automobile, on which Detroit's econ
omy is based. Is Q ''postponable"
commodity. Most people like TO drive
q new car. But when things tighten
up, most people reflect that the OLD
bus still has another years use In
it-and delay their new-car pur-
chaSeS.
All the recent talk about trolling
readjustments'' and orthodox re-
cessions that tend to ring
the depression bell in the average
mind-has brought concern to De-
troit. Even the vague idea. how
ever ill-founded, that this is the
time for retrenchment could put De-
troit into a slump If enough people
got into that frame Of mind.
And because the $10-billion
year automotive industry looms so
large In the national economy. an
Industrial downturn In Detroit would
have grave repercuSsionS elsewhere.
FOR instance. when layoffS start ut
auto plants here, layoffs follow at
tire factories In Akron-and not
much more than ~ hours later.
Parts fabricators In Toledo start
putting the bad news on the bulletin
board in q few days. Steel mills
begin to slacken production. Car
loadings out of Detroit decrease. and
the railroads feel the pinch. And so
1t goes.
In short, an adverse frame OF
mind nationally could hurt Detroit,
and cutback in Detroit's auto pro-
duction could hurt the Nation. 1t
is a vicious circle that no one has
yet discovered way out Of.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-01-17

In Miami Beach last week, the
National Automobile Dealers' Asso-
citation rose up In arms against what
1t regards as the threat Of "overpro-
duction" In Detroit. r. 8. Armacost,
outgoing president Of NADIA, tan
gled with L. d. Crusoe, general man
ager of the Ford Division Of Ford
Motor Co, after the latter predicted
SIS million sales in 1854.
Mr.. ArmacoSt said fatty he did
not expect dealers to be able to I'M
load more than As million new cars.
Other dealers agreed substantially
with Mr.. Armacost's outlook and
limited at widespread revolts II man.
ufactprerS' attempt to force large
stocks on retail outlets.
The Ar Of Selling
Detroit's attitude toward sales Is
one Of having nothing to fear but
fear itself. A common observation
among industry spokesman here Is
that II dealers VIII get out Of their
showrooms and start selling cars
they win ind market. There are
ACKNOWLEDGMENT Of them-who
have never sold an automobile In
their lives" one motor authority
here declared.
To this. the sales manager Of a
large Washington concern said last
week:
Eve have been selling cars since
last June. We've been initiating the
value Of trade-ins and giving ire
mendous discounts. People who
think we aren't pushing should
come down and see for themselves.
I'VE sold almost 5000 new cars
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-01-17

Alongside these predictions comes
one from the chief statistician Of the
Michigan Employment Security
Commission, Guy Tracy. Mr.. Tracy.
basing his estimate on only two
factors, predicts a general down
turn in the neighborfood of 20 per
cent which will be felt not only this
year but well into the 1960s.
Mr.. Tracy's considerations are
these:
/. National population trends.
2. Automotive ''scrappage" rates.
Population Trends
Population trends are related more
or less directly to original demand
for cars by people who have never
owned one. Scrappage is related to
replacement Of old vehicles which
leave the road permanently and are
torn up for scrap.
The national population. Mr..
Tracy points out, is. increasing, but
at q slower rate than in the late
'40s and early SOS. New households
established-a reflection of the num-
Der of young people getting married
and setting up housekeeping-de-
clined from 1882, 900 in 1949 to an
estimated 100000 for 1854. This
sharp drop has resulted from the
abnormally small baby crop" of the
early depression years. These babies
are starting to grow up and get
al ~
them to establish new households.
This situation probably will not be
alleviated until after 1861. In fact.
new households will drop as low as
100000 year by the late SOS.
So the original demand Of new
houSeholders for cars Is bound. ac-
cording to Mr.. Tracy, to level OF
for q few years at As per cent or
less Of what we have come to con-
slider normal.
Seroppoge Rates
At the same time. the Nation is
heading into low scrappage period,
The industry figures that cars start
getting into the "scrappable" cate
CORY at about age Is. Twenty per
cent Of all the cars of that age on
the road in any given year are
strapped. The rate for 14-year-old
cars is 80 per cent. 1t is SO per
cent for 15-year- vehicles.
In 1855 the first Of the wartime
cars win come Of age for scrapping.
And from 1855 through 1859 there
viii be lean period coinciding with
the World War ii civilian produc-
ton shutdown. Normally, about IA
million units should have been
turned out in the four-year period
1942-1945. Actually. the industry
made fewer than 100000 cars. So
scrappage-which reflects replace
ment demand-will be only slightly
above 2 per cent of normal in the
last half Of this decade.
And, says Mr.. Tracy, these two
situations alone. which add up to
20 per cent decline in sales, would
prevail even If there were no other
economic considerations. like a re-
cession. in the picture.