THIRTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, OFFICE OF THE SILEELLEY, To the PRESIDENT: I have the honor to submit herewiti for transition to Congo the Thirteenth Annual Report of the Secretary of Commerce, i four parts, as follows: I. Progress in the eliminator of industrial waste. II. Economic review. III. Legislative recommendations IV. Condensed reports of its in in this report. The Bureau of Me from the Department of the imer: is merce on July 1. 1925. As tua rate year, the report of the pureat for tim made through the Secretary of the invert Yours faithfully, Part I.-PROGRESS IN ELIMINATION OF WASTE [By HERBERT HOOVER, Secretary of Commerce] Great progress has been made during the year in the national movement for elimination of industrial waste. The Department of Commerce, in continuation of its work of the past five years, has devoted much of its activities to this end. While various divisions of the department have been actively aiding in the campaign in many specific directions, it must be borne in mind that the whole program is one fundamentally to stimulate action among industries, trades, and consumers themselves. It is obviously not the function of Government to manage business, but to investigate economic questions, to survey economic phenomena and point out the remedy for economic failure or the road to progress, to inspire and assist cooperative action, and to stimulate forces to these ends-surely all these are well within the proper field of public service. It seems worth while at all times to reiterate the fundamental purposes of this campaign. The philosophy that underlies it has but one purpose; that is, to maintain American standards of living for both workers and farmers, and to place production on a more stable footing. The high standards of living enjoyed by the American people are the result of steadily mounting per capita productivity. There is only one way to further advance these standards, and that is by improved methods and processes, by the elimination of waste in materials and motion in our production and distribution system. Just as 20 years ago we undertook nation-wide conservation of our natural resources, so we must to-day even more vigorously sustain this campaign of better nation-wide utilization of our industrial resources and effort. More especially is this the case in view of the many complex forces which have arisen from the war, and particularly the difficulty of maintaining our situation as against the competition of a world of lower standards overseas. The term "elimination of waste" is subject to some objection as carrying the implication of individual or willful waste. In the sense used in these discussions elimination of waste refers wholly to those wastes which can be eliminated solely by cooperative action in the community. They do not refer to any single producer, for in the matters here discussed he is individually helpless to effect them. Nor do they imply any lessening of fair competition or any infringement of the restraint of trade laws. In fact, the most casual in vestigation of the work in progress will show that its accomplishment establishes more healthy competition. It protects and preserves the smaller units in the business world. Its results are an asset alike to worker, farmer, consumer, and business man. It may be worth while repeating the major directions of this effort as they were outlined by the department at the beginning of this undertaking four years ago. 1. Elimination of waste in railway transportation by the provision of adequate facilities and better methods. 2. Vigorous improvement of our natural interior water channels. for cheaper transportation of bulk commodities. 3. Enlarged electrification of the country for the saving in fuel, effort, and labor. 4. Reduction of the periodic waves of unemployment due to the booms and slumps of the "business cycle." 5. Improved statistical service as to the production, distribution, stocks, and prices of commodities, both domestic and foreign, as a contribution to the elimination of hazard in business and therefore of wasteful speculation. 6. Reduction of seasonal employment in construction and other industries, and intermittent employment in such industries as bituminous coal. 7. Reduction of waste in manufacture and distribution through the establishment of grades, standards of quality, dimensions and performance in nonstyle articles of commerce; through the simplification in dimensions of many articles of manufacture, and the reduction of unnecessary varieties; through more uniform business documents such as specifications, bills of lading, warehouse receipts, etc. 8. Development of scientific industrial and economic research as the foundation of genuine labor-saving devices, better processes, and sounder methods. 9. Development of cooperative marketing and better terminal facilities in agricultural products in order to reduce the waste in agricultural distribution. 10. Stimulation of commercial arbitration in order to eliminate the wastes of litigation. 11. Reduction of the waste arising from industrial strife between employers and employees. What the country as a whole has accomplished during the past five years in increased national efficiency in these directions is impossible of measurement. Nor does the Department of Commerce lay claim to credit for the great progress that has been made, save as we may have helped to organize a definite public movement. That 66548-25-2 movement is the result of a realization by every group-business men, industrial leaders, engineers, and workers of the fundamental importance of this business of waste elimination. In addition to elimination of waste we have had the benefit of notable advances in science, improvement in methods of management, and prohibition. Thanks to elimination of waste and these other contributing fac tors, we can as a Nation show one of the most astonishing transformations in economic history, the epitome of which lies in the following table from the Department of Labor: While wages are higher than in 1920, wholesale prices are lower. We have thus the highest real wage in our history, and we have had three years of remarkable price stability, which has reduced speculation in commodities to a minimum. We can hold that stability if we avoid speculation. A comparison with similar British indexes gives striking evidence that these results are peculiar to the United States. INDEX NUMBERS OF WAGES AND PRICES, GREAT BRITAIN, 1920-1924 The activity of the Department of Commerce in this field of waste elimination is indicated by the fact that since the work was launched on a large scale in 1921 some 900 group conferences have been held, practically all at the request of the industries themselves, and 229 committees are now at work on various phases of the program. |