Show big merchant sees cure for financial ills decries bar barometer 0 m eter used as measure for business siness retail merchants through the suggestion selling of attractive merchandise well decorated windows constructive advertising and intelligent sales bales effort can contribute more to the return ol of business prosperity than all the theories analysts and critics combined said J C penney founder of the J C penney company who is making an extended tour of the country in ia the interests te of better business present conditions are putting new corces and new opportunities at the disposal of men who are capable of handling them it la Is time for the country to face facts of this sort I 1 do not believe that adjustment is nearly as necessary in the national pocketbook as aa it is in the national mental attitude critics active we have had an avalanche of critics critics of governmental administration critics of business organization critics of morat moral standards critics of 0 everything in the world that because of its importance in our social and economical setup attracts general attention 1 I believe one of the best things we could do as a nation at the prose it time would be to subject the critics themselves to a certain amount of their tendencies have been to tear down and yet they have offered nothing in the way of how to rebuild they have succeeded in getting us nervous without making us work bis big mistake seen students of business have been making one gross mistake in their study of general conditions in retailing they have made compari sana na with previous years on the basis of dollar and ceat beit volume they have bee been neing ular ly unmindful of the fact that commodity prices have shrunk in some cases up to 50 per cent 1 I have cef failed to find any well organized retail outlet in which the gross sales volume loi in dollars aud cents lias has shrunk to a degree commensurate with the shrinkage in commodity prices the yard stick on retail sales salea volume is fully as much one ol of number of items as it is one of dollars and cents volume naturally profit comes from dollar and cent volume but number of items sold Is still an accurate barometer on go gereral jeral buying activity the wise merchant is setting his standards of operation to accord with the new measure adopted b by y the buying public questions savings A study of savings banks in leading banking centers shows a most unusual amount of money being deposited it may or may not be b the best policy tor the individual during the times of economic readjustments to put all hia haa money into savings it de beads on whether he can get better net returns through interest paid by r savings banks or through increased activity based on increased buying with its authentic upward influence on payrolls it he has been said that people ca cai caa A save themselves out of a job almost as aa easily as they oin oan save themselves into financial security the hording of 0 money for far the sake isake of accumulation of the money itself has never been constructive tive to national financial welfare the intelligent spending of money changing it into productive work has never tailed failed to bring increased ma and selling activity |