Milford chronicle., 1957-09-13
HUMAN VALUES

People like to be treated with courtesy
and friendliness.
That is certainly not an earth-shaking
announcement. 1t represents the height of
obviousness. Yet the principle is sometimes
overlooked or ignored. And when that hap
pens in the business world, the consequences
can be costly.
A while ago chain store organization
tested the effectiveness of price as against
friendliness in seeking business. In one COM
munity, it ran hard-hitting ads stressing
savings, lower prices and outstanding val
ues. In another community, its ads stressed
friendlineSs In the first community, sales
increased eight per cent. In the second, they
jumped a whopping. % per cent-which indi-
Gates that people put much more stress on
friendliness than on price inducements.
Whether this is generally true no one
can say with certainty. But there is no doubt
that the public at large expects the best of
treatment when it goes shopping in the
stores And it gets that kind of treatment or
goes elsewhere. Successful retailers are vi
tally concerned with the quality of their per-
sonnel, and with the ability of salespeople
and others to meet the customers, Intelligent
ly fill their wants, and send them away happy
and satisfied. One grumpy, disinterested
clerk can cost a store huge amount of bus
iness. @&#
This brings up another point. Retailing
offers splendid careers for young people
these days. And they are careers in which
the warm human values are needed, appre-
ciated and rewarded
FUNCTION OF THE STOCK EXCHANGE
It's undoubtedly true that a great many
more people understand the functions and
workings of the Stock Exchange than was
the case in past days. Something like 9 mil
lion men and women are shareowners in our
cOrporations-and it's an interesting fact
that two-thirds Of them have family in
comes of less than $500 year.
At the same time, many fallacies con-
cerning Stock Exchanges are still widely
held. One of the most persistence of these
is that the Exchanges in some way or an
other influence stock prices and determine
or help to determine whether they go up or
go down.
Nothing could be more wrong. The Ex-
change has nothing whatsoever to do with
prices except to see that they are arrived at
fairly, openly and are published promptly
That being the case, why do prices vary,
and sometimes widely? The question is cas-
lily answered. An individuals decision to
buy or sell stock reflects his judgment of its
value and desirability. In other Words it is
a matter of human judgment-and, like all
other human judgments, it may prove right
or it may prove wrong. In any event, the
hOur-by-hOur, day-by-day price of any stock
is determined by the principle of supply and
demand. AS in the case of any property, the
sellers compete for the highest price poss-
ible and the buyers compete for the lowest
price possible. The Exchange itself is mere
ly market place. 1t polices the transac-
tions and enforces the rules that is all
5000
THE WOMEN'S- VOTE
If women do not decide the presidential
race in 1860, they probably will do so before
long. The Census Bureau estimates that in
that year there will be 50, 2,250,000 men Of 21
years of age and over, and 55, 500, 900 women
The womens majority of 3,250000 will be
a gain from 1856, when it was about 2,OOO,-
600. So if the women all stood together. thew