anaheim-gazette 1948-01-08

Thursday, January 8, 1948 GENERAL E CU Expected i $50, First cuts on refrigerators, rang machine motors, automatic bla No strings attached Production at General Electric reached a new peacetime high in 1947. So did output of most all other industrial and agricultural items in this country. Yet costs and prices went on up. The country is calling on Democrats and Republicans to act against inflation—against the cost of living. Employers are urging employees to produce still more. Employees are demanding that employers pay still more. Everybody is telling everybody else what to do. Nobody seems to want to start doing something himself—to start practicing what he preaches. So General Electric makes the break—without asking anyone else to do anything first—and with full knowledge of the hazards of stepping out alone or with the too few who are already taking this course. Curbing inflation is everybody's job To cure inflation we have got to get production up still further, and we have got to stop spending our present savings and begin making new savings even if this does mean considerable self-denial on the part of everybody. Production alone cannot cure inflation. Price cuts alone cannot cure it. The public must also stop putting a present income dollar beside a dollar of savings and then offering the two dollars for one dollar's worth of goods. Goods given away abroad should be covered by taxes or savings, and we ought also make new savings to equal what we put now into facilities for more consumer goods in the future. To cure inflation we have got to get production up still further, and we have got to stop spending our present savings and begin making new savings even if this does mean considerable self-denial on the part of everybody. Production alone cannot cure inflation. Price cuts alone cannot cure it. The public must also stop putting a present income dollar beside a dollar of savings and then offering the two dollars for one dollar’s worth of goods. Goods given away abroad should be covered by taxes or savings, and we ought also make new savings to equal what we put now into facilities for more consumer goods in the future. Obviously General Electric cannot in the end accomplish all this alone. General Electric is not so presumptuous as to suggest anything like that. General Electric employs only 1/3 of 1% of the country’s work force and supplies only 1/2 of 1% of the country’s goods. General Electric needs a vast amount of help if its bold move is to pay off for customers, employees, stockholders, and the whole public. So General Electric begins right at home and makes these appeals to its associates and neighbors: Appeal to G.E. suppliers Please try to get your costs to us for goods and services reduced at least 5% quickly—and then go on from there to try to help us get ready for the next price reduction. LET’S EACH ONE BE CURRENT PROBLEMS— GENER ANAHEIM GAZETTE ELECTRIC CUTS PRICE acted in 1948 to save consum 50,000,000.00 ators, ranges, oil and gas furnaces, irons, clocks, di omatic blankets, home radios, home television, an Appeal to G.E. employees Please forego any further pay increase demands now and go on to try to help us at least save 5% in the present cost of labor. Please renew your efforts Appeal to G.E. employees Please forego any further pay increase demands now and go on to try to help us at least save 5% in the present cost of labor. Please renew your efforts to eliminate waste of time, effort, and materials. Please help eliminate tardiness and absenteeism. Please see if this effort on our part isn't worthy of an even intensified interest in your work. Please try to join in the thrill of this common experiment and go home not tired and disturbed but more satisfied with your accomplishment and its consequences. And try to save 5% to 10% of your own pay—no matter how hard that may be. Appeal to G.E. merchant neighbors Please get after your suppliers to see how you and they can help our employees and their families and neighbors save the 5% to 10% and still enjoy nearly the same quality and quantity of goods as now. Appeal to G.E. savings-organization neighbors Please join with us in giving every encouragement and aid to our employees and their families and neighbors in making it convenient and easy to save. We will gladly cooperate in any local savings program, and we especially hope to see our employees' "E" Bond purchases raised from the present $15,000,000 annual rate to double or even triple that amount. Appeal to G.E. public official neighbors Please try to get the cost of government down so that the 40-odd percent of this and any other such price cuts—that must be lost to national and local Appeal to G.E. public official neighbors Please try to get the cost of government down so that the 40-odd percent of this and any other such price cuts—that must be lost to national and local governments in taxes—will not have to be collected from the public in some other way. Appeal to G.E. neighbors—all Please cooperate in every possible way with all local and national campaigns to put off buying things not absolutely necessary. Particularly, please try to stop food waste and eliminate the needless extra consumption of food per person. This will help spare the food needed abroad and keep from bidding up further our own food prices here. ONE BE COMPLETELY SELFISH ABOUT THIS GREATEST PROBLEMS—BUT LET'S BE SURE IT'S "ENLIGHTENED SELFISH" GENERAL ELECTRIC PRICES! consumers 0.00 clocks, dishwashers, washing vision, and many other items How selfish is this program? How selfish is this program? It is completely selfish It is completely selfish—for General Electric, for each General Electric employee, customer, and stockholder—for each member of the consuming public—for each person with an accumulating pension, an insurance policy, a U. S. Bond, a savings account—for any person who just wants to get out of the squirrel cage of inflation... this foolish act of the dog chasing his tail or the man trying to put out a fire by pouring oil on it. It is for the good of all This is a completely selfish program for every man who knows how good this country is and who wants to continue to be free and not a slave. It is a completely selfish program for every honest business, union, and political leader who would like to stop doing wrong along the lines of all these "something for nothing" or "somebody else do it" plans but who up to now has had to keep on knowingly doing wrong just because he thought the customers, employees, stockholders, voters, and general public would not understand if he did right. It protects jobs and living standards If enough people decide to do right about this price, production, and savings program, we can stop further inflation and begin the correction in the cost of living. In our case we expect to continue to offer prices at least as low as these, provided no further increase occurs in our own labor costs or in the price of components and materials which we purchase in It protects jobs and living standards If enough people decide to do right about this price, production, and savings program, we can stop further inflation and begin the correction in the cost of living. In our case we expect to continue to offer prices at least as low as these, provided no further increase occurs in our own labor costs or in the price of components and materials which we purchase in so great measure from others, and provided there is no further distortion of the material situation through rationing or new allocations. We hope to extend such action to other product lines, as similar action is taken by our suppliers or others affecting our costs. If General Electric should be unsuccessful along these lines in arresting its rising costs, then today’s action will have to be reversed. General Electric will have to pay the added costs in further cheapened dollars. It will have to try to return again to passing on these extra costs in successively higher and higher prices—in order to try to preserve the Company and the jobs of 197,000 employees directly along with countless other thousands indirectly.