nuclear consultant and former head of the .Nuclear Physics Div., Office of Naval Research, says that 40', c of the dollar value of over $8 billion of D P A certified construction has been slated for metropolitan areas. He estimates we could replace our total Mail order retail sales slump sharply . . . Machine industry in diversified areas in about two tools scarcity influential in 3 0 % defense lag . . . Chemical decades at the present annual rate of $18 billion spent on new construction yearly. exports break through "ceiling" The top accompanying graph applies to ' T ' H E large companies, whether General year's fleece averaged 8.23 lb. compared employment among three classifications of •*• Aniline, General Motors, or General with 8.11 last year and 8.0 lb. for a 10- the chemical industry. In the case of Electric, know that their prosperity deyear average. chemicals and allied products, June empends on how often-mentioned John Q. Not to be ignored is the recent warning ployment, as regards all employees, w a s Public buys their products. Though John that our key manufacturing plants are too lower at 739,600 workers compared with very seldom purchases a huge motor turi ir> -lv concentrated geographically, hence 741,000 workers in May. bine from General Electric, John buys or vulnerable to attack. Dr. Ralph E. Lapp, In the case of industrial organic chemiavoids buying additional electrical appliances that would use the power from that turbine. The boycott of many Johns EMPLOYMENT, Chemical and Allied Products would soon be felt by GE. T H O U S A N D S OF W O R K E R S Hence of more than passing interest is the report of sales b y Sears, Roebuck & Co., which notes that July sales were 23.2''/r under July 1950. It was the first 700 monthly comparison decline in 20 months. However for the fiscal half-year through July 3 1 , sales were 4.2r/V higher than for the first half of 1950. 600 Of course bare figures must b e inter2_ preted. It well could b e that buying power is still there among the public but that scarcity of certain goods curtailed sales. In the latest Sears catalog is frequently 200 nibher-stamped over certain items: "Sorry, not available." INDUSTRIAL ORGANIC CHEMICALS
BUSINESS
PROCESS INDUSTRIES' OUTLOOK
Thirty Per Cent Defense Lag And speaking of scarcities, the bottleneck of insufficient machine tools has again been emphasized over the past week. A. H. Raskin, writing in the N. V. Times, points out that though machine tool makers have stepped u p production from $250 million before Korea to $600 million now, it is still woefully low. Says Mr. Raskin: "Every type of artificial respiration and forced feeding known to Washington is being applied to fatten up the industry's output. With jet engine production stalled and virtually every other major program retarded for lack of tools, top priorities have been assigned on manpower and materials to aid the industry." The ]V. Y. Times editorializes on th»s situation and on the 3 0 % lag in the output of weapons for the Armed Forces at the end of the first year. The editorial concludes: "Solving new problems is an old story for our machine tool builders. Thus, b y mid-1941 the United States had overcome Germany's seven-year head start and was overproducing the Reich in machine tools 5 to I." News concemi?jg key fibers produced b y nature is encouraging. Tims a nearrecord cotton crop of 17,266,000 bales has been forecast by the Department of Agriculture. This would be a gain of 7,254.0 0 0 bales over last year. T h e samp d partment ;.ivdicts a shorn wool output this year of 229,111,000 pounds, a gain of 4
