pointing out that the great cry has been for
lower marketing or merchandising costs, and
that one of the best ways to reduce marketing
costs is to increase the rate of turnover in
retail and in wholesale houses; further, that
all students of marketing have been urging
retailers, especially, to increase their turn-
over by buying in smaller quantities and by
keeping their stock at a minimum.
Mr. Swift believes that this is a sound
practice, and states that his company caters
to it in their own manufacturing and distrib-
uting methods. He believes that “hand-to-
mouth” buying has come to stay, and that it
will be necessary for the manufacturer to ad-
just himself to this new condition. In com-
menting on this phase of the situation he
advises as follows:
“Although we realize that this development means
higher operating costs and greater storage expense
to the manufacturer in some instances, we do not
believe that ‘*hand-to-mouth’ buying is inimical to
mass production. In fact, there are some advantages
to the manufacturer in forcing him to also adopt
more of a ‘hand-to-mouth’ policy. He is not so apt
to get caught with heavy inventories of raw materials
and semi-finished products during periods of price
decline or business recession. Neither is he likely
to suffer so much from cancellation of orders.
“Taking manufacturing and marketing costs to-
gether, it seems to us that ‘hand-to-mouth’ buying
tends to reduce the price differential between raw
materials and consumer goods, and that therefore it
is beneficial to the public at large.”
Berieves Resurt WiLL Be StaBirizaTion
oF Prices AND ProbucTION
Mr. F. Epson WHITE, the president of
Armour and Company, views the situation
as follows:
“It is generally recognized that business has been
undergoing a very marked change in every particu
lar for the past few years since the post-war boom of
1919 and 1920. The barometers issued a few years
ago to measure business trends seem to have lost
their ability to forecast.
“Production capacity, in all lines of business,
shows development on a scale far in excess of ordi-
nary distribution capacity, and, while the latter has
increased to some extent, it is quite evident that
there is a greater productive capacity in most lines of
business than there is ability to sell and consume.
“I think the ‘hand-to-mouth’ buying has been de-
veloped, first under the loss that occurred from in-
ventory shrinkages, and following that, the caution
that economists and bankers have preached on all
sides to the buyer against the practice of carrying
large inventories under the new era of merchandis-
ing, and that we will never again see the buying
made on the old basis of a season or two ahead of
the actual consumption.
“I feel that this hand-to-mouth buying is here to
stay, and in the long run the effect will be to more
soundly stabilize prices and production. This will
all lead to the discouragement of speculative buying
and should develop helpful, permanent and stabilized
business.”
“THE ONLY FUNDAMENTALLY SOUND
Tung iN Business”
Mr. C. W. ParTeRsoN, the president of
Austin, Nichols & Co., who are large import-
ers, exporters, manufacturers and wholesale
distributors of food products, writes as
follows:
“I really believe that the ‘hand-to-mouth’ proposi-
tion has come to stay and that it is the only funda-
mentally sound thing in business. We here, of
course, in years past, have done a large future busi-
ness and are still doing a big future business, but it
gets smaller each year. We experience a great deal
of difficulty in delivering our futures when the mar-
kets go down and we have quite a time filling orders
when the markets go up.
“The manufacturers as a rule on strong markets
prorate their different packs of canned goods and
merchandise. It may to some extent work hardships
on the manufacturers or the canners—it will only
be a financial hardship. They will have to arrange
to have more capital in their business or more lenient
credit lines to carry their merchandise, which is
packed once a year. They are in a position to con-
trol the situation—the markets, etc.—and it is only
economically fair that they should do so rather than
to pass this burden on to the small retailer, who only
has a few thousand dollars in his business and who,
through thrift and frugality, may succeed if he does
not permit speculation to enter into his transactions.
“We are the largest canners of vegetables in the
country and, naturally, we will have to carry quite
a lot of our merchandise throughout the season, but
[ believe when all is said and done it will be the
