Show INSIDE STUFF J f. f By PAUL MALLOK MALLON t WASHINGTON Aug J The l-The The fig tires show Y Joseph P. P Kennedy told the truth when he said business was better than business confidence Official a and d unofficial tabulations Indicate that we are arc are in a n summer S recession lon which is Oni Only P Prices eu now about 5 per perI per I And An Mercury cent nt more than I Z ve n Higher seasonal That is i hardly amazing in I view of or th the drouth strikes heat am and l Dinner tinner r business skittishness You I would naturally exp expect t the recession ito to be at t least three times that much fin lr Iri the face o of oL all aU these thee troubles jp The 8 season seasonally a ori ll lIy adjusted monthly j J bus busin business chart proves that production was off fI about aboul 4 i points in Jul July em 2 wages 2 and sales 1 S The only things higher in Jul July were f. f the e price index and arid th the t thermometer r octer e t 1 Continued on P Par Page jp Ten I INSIDE STUFF Continued from Page pue One The price level was higher than it has been for two years yeu-s. And drouth did it Government business seers with these figures in front of them take a less excited view of conditions than for instance the in New York They look on the drouth as a more more serious hazard to business than strikes Labor troubles can be settled set et tIed but the drouth cannot Both arc are national problems but are local There is another more marc widespread national problem less obvious but possibly even more Important In their view That is the thc subject of which Mr AIr Kennedy spoke the thc the at at times irrational uncertainty among some business busine men ot When Mr Kennedy spoke as chair chair- Neither the dr drouth uth strikes nor heat I had much to do with the de decrease rease of industrial production product on in July It was due mainly to Increased prices of steel and lumber and the fact that textiles still are on a 25 per cent cu curtailment curtailment cur cur- program The drouth and strikes hurt department store sales and car loadings s 7 o A General Motors executive walked into the N R Ii A headquarters the other da day He lIe was formerly connected connected con con- with the N R A and just dropped in for a chat Under his arm was a fat Price Trice Policy Polley book about the Fills Ver Very size of the old old- Large Larg Volume fashioned family Bible N R n Aers probably had never seen seena a Bible and inquired about it They were amazed when informed that it was the price policy of General Motors Motors Motors Mo Mo- tors reduced to writing The price policy of the N R A has never been reduced to writing it ng Neither Neither- has the labor policy except in the most general terms That started a round of discussion about the advisability of reducing all allN N R A policies to detailed writing so all the bickering and uncertainty of the different code systems could be avoid avoided d. d There would be bo one rule for all aU It could be done but it would would take take more print paper than there is able In the world Inside the N R A organization the morale is fc not what it used to be General Johnson has been carrying the rules and regulations of that out out- lit fit around in la his head since the start tart man of the securities commission his voice was drowned Electric Fan out by the To Be Theme nation of Dollfuss Do For Advisers w which h I c h occurred the same day His cooling promise of restrained and sensible business relations was lost lostin lostin lostin in the face o of the hot blasts from Europe It was lost only temporarily From the way Mr Roosevelt's economIc economic eco ceo counselors are now murmuring murmuring murmur murmur- ing among themselves you can see very plainly that they arc are going to meet Mr Roosevelt at the pier with advice that Washington turn the electric electric elec elec- fan on the business mans man's brow There will be more speeches like that of Mr Kennedy and Kennedy and more than speeches o e s Meanwhile you can get a general idea of how things have been going from the following table of business indices The average years 1923 1924 1 and 1925 are for each index except prices W c P S Sr I ro M r me mee rn n ro roV roaf g. g S l. l e 0 g. g 0 E h p nr nrc V af p g S. S R e Eo w Average c 0 M r G S' S tn c a n a min sv I n 0 3 a-a a 1 Iii n 0 n 1 r. r 1929 1011 1 1077 77 tit 1930 96 92 92 1931 81 75 92 63 March 1932 67 61 72 26 July 1932 58 51 65 27 January 1933 65 56 60 22 March 60 50 57 14 May 78 56 67 16 July 85 65 70 21 September 84 60 70 30 October 77 58 70 0 37 December 75 62 69 69 58 January 1934 78 64 68 49 February 81 64 71 45 March 85 66 76 33 April 86 62 77 32 May 86 63 77 26 June 84 64 6 74 71 29 July July 80 63 73 29 June and July privately esli estimated They have never been put on paper either I IThe The result Is that since Johnson Joh on has been away there has been considerable considerable con con- interoffice confusion con con- conflicts conflicts filets of authority disputes as to pro pro- procedure Some eSome Some executives have become become be be- 6 come 1 There has haS' been a a big rush lately lately latel among va vacationing government off oUi- oUi dials to get back on on the job before the boss comes back from Hawaii Hawai Roper and Tug Tugwell well a arrived rived the same day acting asif as asif asit if it thoy had n never ver been away Copyright 1934 for The Telegram |