FINANCE AND

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20272, 25 June 1931, Page 10

FINANCE AND

CONDITIONS IN U.S.'A. WELLINGTON BUSINESS MAN'S IMPRESSIONS. Writing to a business friend iu Wellington, Mr David Cody, a Director of tije Charles Haines Advertising Agency, •vho is at present on a visit to America, stated that it was difficult to exI'rcsfl a reasonably dependable opinion en the economic position of the United States. It was both easy and dangerous generalise with a Continent so large., besides which conditions were somewhat different 5n the various states. '"ln California," said Mr Cody, "I got both good and barl reports. Lvery tinto I call on anyone I make a point of sounding out the position as /leiiuite'y as I cau. J ' The writer found that in keeping with the optimistic trait of the American citizen, lie did net speak too much about the depression unless drawn out on the subject. Mr Cody remarked that he obtained foine good information fiom Mr M. A. Burlinson, of Price, Waterhou.se, and Co., St, Louis. This is one of tho largest accountancy tirms iu the world. Mr Burlinson, by the way, hails from New Zealand, humming up tlio situation frankly, Mr Burlinson slated that their experience for the lirst quarter of was realiv worse than any corresponding period of 3030. At the same time, the general feeling was that better times were coining. American business men generally were disappointed that an improvement had not set m before this. Mr Cody said that tho high wage theory was being sorely tested at the present time. Over 000 big manufacturers in the' United States had reduced by 10 per cent, and upwards. Henry Ford still clung to his seven dollars a day minimum wage, but_ the factory was now working most of its men only a few days a week, which was really equivalent to a reduction in pay. . Ever since the crazy stock market operations leading up :o and succeeding the "crash" in 1929, tho fluctuations of the stock market seemed to wield far too great an influence on the mentality or psychology of business people, as well as of ordinary lolk, stated Mr Cody. Nearly everybody, from charwomen and stenographers to the heads of businesses, turned to the stock market In 1929 as a means of making money and the curse of it .was that an enormous proportion bought "on margin ss with the result that when the crash finally did come, the loss both to nation and to individuals, was staggering. VatnrnHy, the effect of this could not W wiped out in a day. "1 mention this point," remarked Mr Cody, "became this week tho United States Steel ■ank to aa even lower level than was reached In either 1929 or 1930. The has been depressing in the exfretna, and while the stock has recovered appreciably again, the fluctuations are unnerving to the commercial cMssiiuiity.' 1 In thQ travel business the Tourist people had been hit badly. Some oftije railway concerns were offering re* dosed fare* to induce people to travel, while the Pullman Company were very k#m to aell a lower and an upper berth together, the idea being that the traveller paid only a little extra to have the weettwn to . himself. .Everywhere, Mr Cody saH, he found ttafc-bwineaa houses , were compelled to . redsee. their staffs. Some of the facloiiei were working only four days a week, and wages mostly had been reduced 1Q per cent. Some of the busiaM§ houses, on the .other hand, reported good foreign trade, which compensated for local slackness. The- lesson which been learned by American manufacturers was that it was very necessary • to build up as large on overseas connexion aa possible.3|r Cody, therefore, predicts thdt in the next year or so a bigger bid than •ver will be made by American concerns, tariffs notwithstanding. One of the American leaders of commerce, Mr Charles M. Schwab, the President of the Bethlehem Steel Corporain a recent speech at the annual t dinner of the American Newspaper Pubiirtera' Association, forecasted that within the next ten years business would make tremendous strides. He *l*ted that advertising .would be one of the main factors in bringing this about. Describing himsolf as an optiin--IMif Mr Schwab prophesied new strides ia the direction of economic. progress, but he warned industry to stimulate the pertosal interest of management and tnes .through adequate rewards. The dangerous feature of the present situation, -he said, was not tho lack of prosperity, but the over-prosperity of pre-depreseion times which led to many changes in onr ways of doing business. "I am a believer," he said, "in carefully thought out mergers to meet specific situations, but the hazard of the merger, the drawback of our modern corporate practice, lies in its tendency - to curtail opportunity." The old-time country store, he said, had the energy and force of personal ownership, but management of most industrial enterprises must, of. necessity, be entrusted, to indivduals who, in .most. instances, had a relatively saab financial interest in the business. The whole future of any corporation depended •Upon having good management, and to get good management there must be good paj*. CANADIAN WHEAT. PROSPECTS IMPROVED. .t'SITEO JTLVSB ASSOCIATION"—BY *LZCTH[C TWJMHUPS—COntBIOttr.) OTTAWA, June 23. The Dominion Bureau of Statistics in Issuing a grain outlook summary on inslroetions from the Minister for Trade, Mr H- if. Stevens, declares that without discounting . unfavourable factors, the present situation is more encouraging thai for some months. Low European wheat stocks, decreased acreages in many countries, and the unfavourable ttop prospects of North America, are factors which might being about an in,crease in price. The depressing factors are the huge stovlfj in Canada;- the world depression mid- reduced .buying power; the selfnuffideney of European importers, the large United States winter wheat crop; a sharp falllng-off in. tho/ export demand this month, and the uncertainty 01 the Bosnian situation. Consents merchandising products of I good quality can develop the unparalleled tale opportunities of. Canterbtuy mart effectively and ' most economically through the advertising «afetm» of Taa Pwsa#. t ■ : 'V