The Hokitika Guardian FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1922. AMERICAN BUSINESS AND COMPETITION.

Hokitika Guardian, 3 February 1922, Page 2

The Hokitika Guardian FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1922. AMERICAN BUSINESS AND COMPETITION.

Whiting towards the end of November the National Bank of Commerce in New York reports that business in athe United States is better and sentiment throughout the country reflects courage. Such progress as has been made by the business community towards normal conditions results from a realisation that artificial levelg of activity will not again be reached in any period near enough to affect the problems of to-day, and from a determination to practise economies of operation more rigid than heretofore thought possible. The need of personal effort and economy is also being increasingly recognised in giving a day’s work for a day’s pay, and in care as to personal expenditure. Some port of the recent gain in business is unquestionably a result of seasonal demand. Permanent improvement depends to a largo extent on foreign buying power, and even more on .the adjustment of con-' ditions under which the farmer ope-

rates. The la<st three years have clearly shown that the European situation can be stabilised only by the political and economic efforts of the countries concerned, and this, it is pointed out will result in a gradual readjustment of the burden of price inequalities now resting on the American farmer. The advice further states that in the period immediately ahead manufacturers will face the most severe competition in a generation. It is now clear that many important industries are seriously overbuilt, when measured in terms of effective demand both in America and abroad. There is no method bv which competition can he avoided, but there are methods by which it can be met successfully. Overhead charges should be rigidly examined and cut to the lowest point consistent with productive efficiency. Costs should he critically studied, and such examinations should include not only factory operations, but the entire producing organisation. In periods of high profits useless frills are certain to bo introduced into the best systems, but careful and courageous elimination is now necessary. In many lines labour costs imust be further reduced, and this can he accomplished in part by lower wages and production. A considerable part of labour inefficiency is at times due to actual defects in plant and organisation, and it is suggested that the first duty of business is to provide the best means for effitient production by its labour, while the next essentia] is the essential is the insistence on a day’s work for a day’s pay.