79S 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



August 1, 1921 



tics and conj^estion in distribution are positively due to 

 lack of standards and excess variety of fabricated pro- 

 ducts. Proper cooperation and general adoption of en- 

 gineerintj standards would no doubt sjo a lontj way toward 

 eliminating waste and duplication in tbe making of com- 

 modities in styles, sizes and sorts that are not only con- 

 fusing but that serve no useful ])uri)ose. 



Much is being done by private initiative, the United 

 States Bureau of Standards, and the Fabricated Produc- 

 tion Department of the Chamber of Commerce of the 

 United States, toward popularizing the slogan, "Stand- 

 ardize and simplify." Were it to be adopted also by the 

 International Chamber of Commerce the friends of real 

 industrial reform might well congratulate themselves on 

 the achievement, as it would indeed be an augury of bet- 

 ter times in the ver\- near future. 



DETECTING THE INDUSTRIALLY UNFIT 



Ejipr,ovMENT managers can find in the United States 

 Navy's system of detecting the unfit and classify- 

 ing the fit for various kinds of work much that should be 

 helpful to them in dealing with industrial applicants. 

 Even more than the Army, has the Navy stressed the 

 need of mental as well as physical and other tests. In 

 making the mental test the Navy does not content itself 

 with determining merely the normality or feeble-minded- 

 ness of a candidate, but it gets the applicant to reveal in 

 a brief, agreeable, standardized interview his real per- 

 sonality ; and accordingly is he indexed and graded. The 

 old-time application blank has been found to be as mis- 

 leading as the letter of recommendation. It is elusive 

 and one-sided, leaving largely with the man himself the 

 determination of his ability ; and undesirables cannot be 

 trusted to record their failures and deficiencies. Under 

 the Navy plan not only is the candidate judged by his 

 api)earance. attitude, manner, etc., but he must show 

 whether or not he is a shiftless wanderer, a failure in his 

 school days as well as in his manhood, a man who could 

 not hold any job a year, or one who perhaps is a chronic 

 invalid, whose ailments may be vague enough to him but 

 are very real to a mill manager who must have only "live 

 ones" in his employ, and whose constant struggle is to 

 keep his labor turnover down to normal limits. 



EXPENSIVE HOARDING 



Trvi.nt; hard after the great war to regain its stride, 

 indu.stry in general has no more pressing need than 

 ample lifjuid capital. Yet we are told hy Federal statisti- 

 cians that a vast amount of funds that should be avail- 

 able for the financing of world enterprises, and that might 

 be easily conserved, is being hoarded. It is stated that 

 of the approximately $65,000,000,000 aggregate annual 

 income of the people of the United States actually less 

 than $20,000,OlX),000 is now reinvested as productive caji- 

 ital. Economic and financial experts well realize the sig- 



nificance of this colossal wastage, and ilie_\ have pro- 

 posed a veritable host of plans for the replenishing of the 

 world's lost capital. While many of them are admirable, 

 none is conceived in a fairer, more whole-hearted, more 

 helpful, or more economically sound spiiit than that of 

 the United States Government Loan Organization. 



To aid the nation's industries and raise the workers' 

 morale, the Government is making a special appeal to em- 

 ployers to urge and enable their helpers to invest some 

 part- of their savings, no matter how small, in Treasury 

 savings securities ranging in denomination from 25-cent 

 thrift stamps to $1,000 certificates. To their great credit 

 numerous employers not only have assured the Gov- 

 ernment of their support but have been vying with one 

 another to see how large a percentage of their work- 

 ers they can engage in the commendable work of pro- 

 viding for the "rainy day," and for industrial pros- 

 perity. 



One of the first to appreciate the merits of the Trea- 

 sury Department's plan was J. J. \'oorhces of the Voor- 

 hees Rubber Manufacturing Co., Jersey City, New 

 Jersey. In referring to the introduction of the plan 

 in his factory, he says: "I am sure the plan will be 

 successful because my employes realize it is the easi- 

 est and most convenient method by which they can 

 save with a minimum amount of efTort on their part." 



AS TO THE "GYP" 



CONSIDERING the word that has made a place for itself 

 in the tire trade ; whence comes it, and exactly what 

 does it mean? When derived from "gypsy" it refers to 

 a sly, irresponsible individual, a wandering, unscrupulous 

 trader. As a noun and not an abbreviation, it means a 

 vulture, with all of that foul bird's appetite for offal. As 

 a verb it relates to trickery and thievery. Thus the trade 

 stigmatizes the maker of, or dealer in, misbranded or 

 unbranded tires, the creator of cut prices, the expert in 

 the tricks incident to the depraved trader. Not bad as 

 modern word creations go. 



While so many L.^RGE growers of cotton in the 

 United States, discouraged by a temporary recession in 

 prices, have greatly reduced their acreage this year, Sec- 

 retary of Commerce Herbert C. I-Ioover. with a confi- 

 dence born of great faith in the future of American in- 

 dustry and fortified with ample information as to na- 

 tional and international needs, has i)lanted 600 acres of his 

 1,200-acre ranch in the San Joaquin \'alley, California, 

 to Pima cotton. It may be true that the cotton demand 

 is now light, and that the carry-over is large, but every- 

 thing indicates that the demand will soon come back 

 strong, that before long the pendulum nmst swing the 

 other way, and that real advantage for the cotton-grower 

 lies in being ready to meet the returning demand at ad- 

 \'ancing jirices. rather than in limiting production to bare, 

 present necessities. 



