Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 2 · column 1 of 3 · from the scan, no model involved
It . W • WKaasKaGKanaa&aasaaKa^^
RAPPAHANNOCK -NEWS'; PUBLISHED THURSDAY MORNING At Washington, Rappahannock- County, Virginia Telephone: washington~2851 . vf* ■ — - .——y r - 1 — > ■■■ -r ■ .. BASIL C. BURKE, <HL, Owwr - i ROBERT X. MANY, Editor aad Pabliahw *• Mm. SARAH LATHAM, Baste— togw » ; Entarad as Sscond daaa Mail at the Pont Offiea at Washington, ▼*. SUBSCRIPTION (in advance) --—I«0 PER YEAR > r A Real Recession When the snow is gone and we have thawed out again, there will be facing us the stark reality of a recession. Hie headlines will tell of 5 Bullion or more unemployed, and of Federal pump priming programs. Nowhere will the old terrifying word “depression” be used, only the new, easier word, “recession.” But even with a recession come unemployment and fear. ,1 To a community largely'agricultural business seems fair-7* ly normal. Cattle and hog prices are holding up. Fruit ^ prices should be good* this fall* In the liieantiine, what of . this recession? i. * , * The politicians'tell us the dip is about to reverse itself. j Except as to timing, most analysts agree. The dip, they say, 1 came too fast and went too deep to be an indication of a' j long term trend. Instead it was the result of a sudden al! most universal depletion of inventories. ^Joficerns sold without replacing stock. However as our friend Earl Sutton says • “You can’t sell the shelves.” Some time soon replacement ’ ’of inventories must begin, and as demand for goods returns, employment will increase, and, say the analysts all wiii he rosy again. »:•; , C One sour note, soft but persistent, spoils this symphony of recovery. There is no getting around the fact that big in* dustry, particularly the automotive and steel industries, has priced itself out of the market. On the swell of a rising fade ' big industry and big labor joined hands and rode that tide •for all it was worth. Industry bosses granted wage increases that only inflation could support, because competition ■> in price was forgotten. There was only competition in proS" duction. Get it made, and the consumer will pay for it After the grand year of 1956, however, the consumer stop. ' ped paying and cars stopped selling. Now automobile plants , v are laying off workers as car inventories pile tip. Steel mills have cut production almost 50 %. Tire manufcturers, fabric * and glass producers are cutting back. New cam are priced too high for the yearly replacement our production requir- es. White collar workers, farmers, small businessmen, - small laborers simply cannot afford a new car eveiy year. - But big labor is not willing to accept wage cuts that would » enable automobiles to be produced at a yearly replacement price. That is why the sour note is a persistent one that will not be remedied by inventory replacement or pump priming. * - - ‘ In our high speed, interdependent economy, one large segment cannot remain for long so far out of balance without affecting other portions of that economy. Widespread unemployment in the vast automotive industry or steel Industry obviously can hurt the price Of *?®ef .°*j*P: pies. The problem of wage inflation in big industry should be scrutinized fairly and impartially, and sofae* remedial steps taken before this real recession goes too far.
58.2%