LAME DUCKS.
Page 27
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By the "Inspector"
WHEN ON.F,. comes to think of it, it is an extraordinary reversal of conditions that, whereas but a few months ago the whore industry was immensely agitated because it could not, try as it would, secure production that would adequately meet the requirements of sales departments, now here we are, with practically not a single exception, looking at the reverse of the picture— production, having surmounted a lot of its earlier troubles, not the least of which, of course, were the moulders,' and coal strikes, is, other things being equal, able to deliver the goods in great quantities and of the right quality; while sales departments . who, but a little while ago, sat with orders dropping into their laps in overwhelming quantities, are, at the moment, frankly pleased when they secure anything in the shape of a new order, or a confirmation, to go ahead, • of a " suspended " ono.
Most of us know the position and, generally speaking, we are quite appreciative of the causes of it. So far as our own industry is, concerned, there is, of course, not the slightest suspicion that demand, as demand, has disappeared; that we have reached the end of the world's requirements, or indeed of those of our own country and its Dominions overseas. We • have, as a matter of fact,barely touched the fringe as yet, so far as demand is concerned. Indeed, the position of demands should be the cause of considerable heartening, and should instil into those who are always rather quickly inclined to be "doleful Jimmies" that degree of confidence which is an allimportant characteristic in crises of a nature shailar to that with which we are, undoubtedly, at the present time, faced throughout the country.
The position is, of course, that while there are still thousands of organizations and firms and individuals whoa must, in the near future, proyide for more adequate road transport sertices, of their own at home and overseas, everybody is scared to death at parting with whatever money they can lay their hands on. It is' one of those old socalled vicious circles again, and we have had more than enough of them since the war. Not so long ago we had wages chasing costs, and .costs chasing wages. The present position is in no small measure due to that method of circular progression. .
Now we have jumped • into the circles again. " gets nervous and holds his Money for 'all he. is worth, packing it away in a stacking if necessary; " B " wants " A7s " money and cannot get it, so hie in turn cannot pay " C " ; " C " treats his friends in the same way, until " Z " says to "A" "I cannot get anybody to. pay me, you will have to wait for yours." " A " gets more nervous than ever, and the., circle starts again until, in the end, we are faced.' with a position where everybody is frightened to buy anything and ia only concerned With conserving such resources as he has at the moment. Of 'course, the utter uncertainty of the Government's policy is acting as a, tremendous encouragement to the present national stagnation.
unemployment, of courSe, is the direct result of this complicated state of affairs: if people don't buy, manufacturers cannot make, stocks cannot be shifted. All sorts of palliatives Are being proposed to remove this unemployment bugbear so far as is humanly possible, for, in the background, there are ugly bogies peering through the mists. Unemployed workers with nothing more to think of, more or less desperate and badly disgruntled as much with their own leaders as with their employers, feed readily on any mental fare that is stimulating, with little regard for its wholesomeness. Doles to workmen and emergency-arranged jobs are, of course, no solution whatever to the economic position of the country: they are merely an attempt to avoid worse happening as the result of the state We have got into. They are, however, tmayoidable.
It is a mercy to know that there are more statesmanlike and constructive methods already being discussed. For instance, it is now being debated widely as to whether a scheme could not be brought into operation for each trade to support its own unemployed. Personally, the Writer is rather without hope of the practicability of such proposal. Take our own industry, for, after all, it.is that with which we are Most concerned for our bread and cheese. The motor industry as a whole has, from its earliest days, always attracted a number of adventurer traders and exploiters, and not a few manufacturing_ organizations have been boosted into large dimensions on financial and conetructive base p which were anything but sound.
Such organizations, I am sure, could not fail from their inceptionto be harmful to the industry as a whole (and I am, for the moment, considering the pleasure-car trade as well as the commercial-vehicle industry). We have an unduly large numberof mushroom concerns with us—not so many in the industrial side of things, but quite a number so far as cars are concerned. It is not apparent to the writer as to why such an industry as ours should be asked to contribute heavily to those who become unemployed as the result of the breakdown of these unstable structures, whose co-operation was never invited and whose efforts to extend the motor-vehicle industry were, from the first, regarded by those whose businesses were on sounder foundations with something Ain to alarm. It is hard luck on the employee, but in certain cases the industry will be bette.r without the employer.
There must be othe:r industries with much the same sort of problem, -but it does not seem a proniising -proposal that each industry should look after its own lame ducks unless the industry itself has had a say as to what, eggs the same ducks should be hatched from.