Milford chronicle., 1961-02-17
TEN BILLION DOLLAR SAVING

ume, low mark-up, rapid turnover principle.
1t is the rock foundation of mass prOduc-
tion. One cannot exist without the other.
In 1858 the mass distribution system, for
the first time in history, employed more peo-
pie in distributing goods and services than
were employed in producing them. The sta
blllZing effects of mass distribution in eco
nomlc downSwings are impressive For eX-
ample, in the 1858 recession, factory en-
ployment fell 10 per cent while personal in
come fell only one per cent. The decline of
1888 showed similar comparison.
Of immediate concern to the consumer
is the question of just how much mass dis
tribution means in dollars and cents saw
ings. Competent authorities estimate that
distribution costs to the consumer have been
cut from 40 per cent of the food dollar to
about 20 per cent-a saving of some SO bill
lien annually on the food bidd Other lines
OF chain retailing have held prices rigidly
to minimum.
Mass distribution was logical develop
ment OF market system in wwhwich con-
sumner free choice is paramount
N%@%~S
LIVING COSTS UP
The latest monthly report from Wash
ington shows that living costs were up
again in the past month. That means they
rose from a record high to another record
high, in spite of the recession we are in -
and have been in for some months now.
Living costs cannot continue to go up,
while the economy remains depressed, with
out causing severe hardship to many lower
and lower middle-class families. Already
there are better than four millions unem-
ployed and every increase in living costs is
a blow to these Americans.
Yet there is reason to believe that a
gradual increase in the cost of living is to
be expected as normal What is needed-if
this trend is not to be harmful-is a steady,
even if small, rise in income.
This has been achieved in most of the
recent years under the Eisenhower Admin
istration-though the farmer has come off
unusually badly, in this matter of annual
net income increase.
Nevertheless ,as long as the people net
income can be increased even modestly, an
nually cost-of-living increases will not be
as disturbing as they appear on the surface
For if the economy is to experience a grad
ual infiation-which it has ever since the
Revolution-then costs of living will inch
up, as earnings of the average American
inch up. One will offset the other.
The contention of the new Administra-
tion was that the economy of the United
States was not growing fast enough in re-
cent years-two or three per cent annually.
Also, it was said there was too much unem-
pOyment and too many weak spots in the
economy. These conditions the new Admin
istration now has chance to improve them.
$685.
BAD PENNY
The proverbial "bad penny" has turned
up in a very modern guise-the allegedly
Temporary cent-a-gallon increase in the
gasoline tax imposed by the federal govern
ment last year.
~ o..xA L. l. 4. .ol
sales manager of a major oil company. AT
recent association meeting, he held aloft
two-foot-wide replica of the bad penny,
and said: "As long as the bad penney stays
on, the American motorist is being asked to
pey the entire cost of the vast new federal
highway program-and more besides .
This spokesman also used dramatic
means of illustrating the high level that
federal and state gas taxes have reached
He opened a suitcase full of bills represent
ing $21 .600-the total gas taxes that a 90
-gallons-a-month station in a typical
state has to collect in year. And the gas
station and the oil company, remember, are
only collectors, which provide free ser.
vice for governmental the gas tax money
comes from the customers.
There's an irony in the fact that exces.
sively heavy gas taxes, which now work out
to about so per cent of the retail value OF
the fuel before the tax, may become self-de-
feating. Motorists, in vast numbers, are
driving less. The sales of compact cars
whose prime appeal is economy, have beer
soaring at the expense of sales of standard
models. The result: Less revenue from high.
er taxes
Now it remains to be seen. if Congress
will, as promised, let the last emergency
cent-a-gallon gas tax increase expire nexi
June. That isn't likely to happen unless the
protesting voice of the American motorist
is heard-at peak volume.