Judge — October 17, 1931 — page 15: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Too Much Competition WaT are the weaknesses Americanindustry? Thi question was asked of seve hundred bankers and industrial ecutives by ¢ Peterson Company. ‘The a quently was “excessive competition. What are the chief needs of Ameri can industry? This question was also asked, and of the total replies 14.2 r cent said “reorganization of dis- tribution,” 12.5 per cent said “me crs,” 11.3 per cent said “price con- trol” and 6.4 per cent said “consolida- tion of allied industries.” Now it would be all of these under the head of abolishing excessive competi- tion. Add the figures together and you discover that more than +4 per cent of these authorities believe that we have got to do something about the terrific cost of cutting one another's throats. That means, as a first step, repeal of the Shert aw and th modification of other anti-trust legis- lation, Eventually it means deliberate, united national planning of produc- tion and distribution. A Modern Crusoe W F owe the following story of real life to an ¢ nt piece of re- porting, done for the New York Her- ald Tribune by Maron Simon. There was in Brooklyn named Michael who ran a little r: shop. With his wife and four children he lived above the shop. He forty-six years old and life was hard and dull. On y he and four friends went fishing off Long Beach, A storm blew up and their rowboat was cast ashore on a barren island, on which there was nothing but a half-ruined shack. For two s the storm held and they were maroc At last the water calmed and they were able to row the four miles back to the beach. Michael went straight to his shop. And there on the door his astonished fair to say that remedies come was JUDGE eye beheld “F , Ile went in. All his stock was gone except three radio sets. His wife had sold him out. “LT was so mad,” he sa “that I didn’t even go upstairs to find out what had happened. I just packed up and left.” He took the three radios, went down to the beach and hired a boatman to row him straight back to the barren this time. The story goes that ever since boy- hood he had dreamed enviously of Crusoe. He fished for food and made friends with the wild duck: his clothes muddy and torn and no- body cared. He sat and dreamed and had a grand time. Now we do not know what strong irritation in the first place had his wife to act so hastily. We know that after two weeks the wife got mad enough to go to court and have a warrant issued for his arrest on ach bandonment. All good, steady married folks will shout in cho. rus that she had every right so to do. But he had a married son who seems to have sympathized with him. Before the police found him, the son came out to the islan He was welcomed, the story says, by a father far more care- free than he had ever known, who said, “AIL I want is to be let alone and to have a rowh The son knew a man who would trade a rowboat for one of the radio sets, and he even went with his father to get it and strapped it on his car and brought it to the beach, whence the father rowed off- gain alone. Then in a little while the polic and took him away island—alone ame We suppose he was tried and con- vieted and put in j he can think and dre: on a desert island. We suppose he was very wrong all the time. We don't know of care about that. What we do know is that our heart warms to him. There are so many men of forty-six or thereabout who regret the adventures they never had in youth. There are so many husbands being driven to more money than they are capable 1, where possibly ‘There are so many of us, of both sexes and all ages, who are battered by the city, rasped by its noise, choked by its dust, elbowed by its hurry, who crave a bit of solitude and quict —and haven't the nerve to go and get it as Michael did. He may have been heart- shiftless, even craven. But he saw an excuse to be himself, and he abbed it. So here's to you, Michae' nother age or another plac they ¥ ht have honored you for your indi. viduality. As it is, you're no indi- vidual at all—you're nothing but a defaulting husband: The Golf Ball Scandal D' rrens have heard with duffer-like enthusiasm that after next April the permissible weight of the golf ball : increased from 1.55 to 1. The increase of .07 of an supposed to represent the dif between making that long nd being sunk in the dite! But a gentleman with a jeweler’s seale and a passion fo} iracy con- tributes something new to the subject. He put on his scale four of th ent balls, four different) ma found that every one of them we 1.40 ounces or less. That is, .15 0) ounce less than is allowed even under this year’s rule. The more than twice the authorized. This has all th seandal, The ference carry discrepancy is increase now aspect of a major of ball manufacturers have been taking away from us a great deal more yardage than they had to. For our t. we propose to b suit against them, citing as damages: Bets lost... . $84.73 Balls lost (v Hue ) i 06 Clubs broken in anger. 45,00. Mental anguish. 5,000.00 Loss of prestige. 10,000.00 Total. We may be forced to make concession on the some last item. RJ comicbooks.com