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THE
VOL. LXVII. No. 7
Published Every Saturday by Edward Lyman Bill, Inc., at 373 4th Ave., New York.
August 17, 1918
Single Copies 10 Cents
$2.00 Per Year
Co-operative Trend in the Industrial Field
T
H E war is bringing about marvelous changes in industrial practices throughout the nation. Co-oper-
ation and co-ordination have perfected the organization of different branches of industry, have brought
a great many conflicting minds and the strongest kinds of competitors together, all for the common
end of ( i ) winning the war, (2) consolidating and perfecting their own individual and the combined
businesses of the industry to which they belong, (3) the development of plans whereby business will not only
be perpetuated, but conducted along new and larger lines after the war is ended and American ideals triumph
throughout the world.
Tn discussing the trend toward organization in all branches of industry, Forrest Crissey recently pointed
out that no manufacturer can operate his business along the lines of highest intelligence and efficiency with-
out teamwork with his competitors, and without that co-operative study of trade tendencies and trade problems
that is only possible in a well organized association of the main body of the members of his industry. He must
command a bird's-eye view of the vital statistics of his industry, and must be in touch with the best minds
and the best methods in that industry before he can work, to the best advantage, and it was aptly pointed out
that the small manufacturers are the ones who profit most by their contact with others of their craft.
Some of our propagandists believe that this co-operative development in the industrial field may lead to
Socialism, to a larger control of industry by the nation, thus making the American as an individual merely a
cog in the wheel of a great national machine.
We greatly doubt whether such a consummation is desired or in any way possible of realization. H is
true the supreme factor in American business to-day is the Government, and as President Wheeler, of the
Chamber of Commerce of the United States, points out: "Through its power to regulate the distribution of
fuel and materials it controls practically all the industrial activity of the country. Through its military and
industrial powers it affects all labor. By price-fixing it controls mining and important agricultural operations.
By licensing and priorities it controls traffic on both land and sea. It operates railways, shipyards, munition
plants. It owns navy yards, armories, gun factories, powder plants, and is a security-issuing corporation.
"An unprecedented degree of the power of industry has, because of a people's passion for victory, been
willingly given up to those in authority over us. Yet business lives. The Government desires it to live. The
Government calls upon it to preserve, to strengthen its own organizations. The Government urges it, not only
to make its voice heard now, but to take serious counsel regarding the future.
"This work has begun. Parliaments of business are gathering daily at Washington. Upon the calendar
of their deliberations is written: First, how can we help win the war? Secondly, what is our program, once
the day of victory has come?"
On every side there is an enthusiastic willingness to help our Government triumph in the prosecution
of this righteous war, but at the same time there is a desire to maintain industry on as healthy and as
permanent a form as is possible under prevailing circumstances.
Competition in business is not shelved, and it will not end with the war. It is not improbable, however,
that competition hereafter will be on a cleaner and healthier basis. The Government at the present time,
through its various departments, is carrying on a great campaign to rid the nation of the dishonest
manufacturer and the dishonest merchant—people who try to win by "foxy" methods, by misrepresentation of
their wares, and by misleading advertising.
There is evident an awakened consciousness—a great moral uplift, as it were, and better ethical standards
have been established in the business world. People are realizing that honorable, upright, straightforward
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