MOffMB
ANAGEMENT SPEAKS
January 2, 1952
he Employees of Erwin Mills:
want to take this opportunity
fish eaeh one of you a Very
py and Prosperous New Year,
as been with keen regret that
ve seen so little of you during
>ast year while serving as Presi
of the National Association
lanufacturers. Now that lam
: fall time I look forward to
ing each of our plants as often
ossible, and to seeing more of
My experience in traveling all
the United States and meeting
ness men in every type of in
ry, while strenuous, was bene
-Ito me. I hope that experience
enable me to do a better job
he Presdient of our Company.
r e regret that the lack of busi
has forced us to run short time
ecent months in many of our
its. The truth is that the textile
istry has been going through a
depression. I am sure you
w that a very great number of
ile plants have been experi
ng short operations. Further
e, a number of our products
inue to sell below costs. How
, improvement is predicted for
industry, and we surely hope it
soon be a reality. I want to
re you that we will continue
ig the best we can for you.
he unsettled world situation, of
rse, gives us all concern, but let
liope that by working with our
nds abroad we can maintain the
ce that we all pray for and work
bard to secure.
Faithfully yours,
Wm. H. Ruffin
President and Treasurer
illiam H. Ruffin
as Busy Month
)ecember was a busy month for
, William H. Ruffin, President
i Treasurer of Erwin Mills, Ins,
1 retiring President of the
lal Association of ManufiMpt
On Monday and Tuesday, fp*
iber 3rd and 4th, the 'rst
lational Conference di Manu
turers, sponsored by NAM, met
study various aspects of pro
itivity in Europe and America,
this meeting, Mr. Ruffin wel
led the international delegates
I in his speech brought out sev
-1 questions pertaining to produc
ty. Many of the ECA members
AT THE ANNUAL N.A.M. DINNER
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I Boating, Robert Montgomery,, Wm. J. Grede and William H. Ruffin meet before the annual N.A.M Dinner.
7 t
THE ERWIN CHATTER
Vol. VIII, No. 1
SOME FACTS
About Your Company
And Your Job
iERWINr
HOW EACH DOLLAR RECEIVED FROM SALE OF PRODUCTS
IN 1951 WAS USED
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Ha lah U mil inducted the 56th
taMi •# American Industry.
AftfelfcMay luncheon meeting of
Congress, Mr. Ruffiin made
£ijming speech in which he urged
Americans to "look behind the head
lines to see how far we have fallen.
For every influence-peddler there
must be an influence-buyer, he said.
"For every bribe-taker there must
be a bribegiver. For every tax
flxer there must be a tax-avoider.
For every corrupted official there
must be a corrupter. For every
JANUARY, 1952
crooked politician there must be tens
of thousands of politically lazy and
morally apathetic citizens."
Mr. Ruffin urged all businessmen
to dedicate themselves to make their
contribution to the "fundamental
American concept of individual re
sponsibility. That concept in ac
tion," he concluded, "can be as pow
erful in the defense of our individ
ual freedom and national security
as any armadas we can launch, any
air fleets we can build or any armies
we can muster."
The NAM 56th Congress ended
on Friday night with the annual
dinner at which the actor and radio
commentator, Robert Montgomery,
and Bishop Henry Knox Sherril of
the Episcopal Church were the
speakers. President W. H. Ruffin
presided and the Rev. E. A. De-
Bordenave, rector, Christ ChurchJ
Philadelphia, gave the invocation.
Mr. William J. Grede, president of
Grede Foundries, Inc. of Milwau
kee, Wisconsin, is the newly elected
president of NAM. Mr. Ruffin was
elected Chairman of the Board.
We at Erwin Mills are extremely
proud of the oustanding work done
by Mr. Ruffin as President of NAM
and the recognition given him
throughout the world.
Memo to Reporters
Recently, your editors have re
ceived objections from some of
you that your news has been cut
before being published. We
would like to explain the reason
for this. Some months there is
more news than can be put in
"8 pages. Other months there is
less news than will fill up 8
pages. When this happens, we
are forced in the first instance to
cut, and in the second instance
to And material in order to com
plete the paper. To avoid con
fusion, henceforth, we will make
it a policy to devote two full
pages to each location. In the
event that any location does not
send sufficient material to AH up
its two pages, we will run in the
extra space, any excess material
which we might have omitted
previously. We sincerely hope
that this explanation will make
clear the variations of the space
in the Chatteb devoted to each
location.
The deadline for pictures for
% February CHATTER will be
January 25th and the deadline
for newa will be tfehmiary J#t.
Circulation 6,000
Outlook For 1952
"The cotton textile industry,
which entered the year 1951 in an
excellent position to provide not
only for all defense needs but for
civilian requirements as well, ap
proaches 1952 bound by limitations
and faced with many uncertainties.
"Nevertheless, despite the restric
tions imposed upon it and the con
fusing developments of recent
weeks, the industry will embark
upon the new year with less doubt
than ever before of its ability to
fulfill whatever military require
ments may be necessary and to keep
civilian production at whatever level
may be needed."
Thus Charles C. Hertwig, of Ma
con, 6a., president of the American
Cotton Manufacturers Institute, ap
proached the outlook for the cotton
textile industry at the year end.
This industry, said Mr. Hertwig,
has demonstrated beyond all doubt
its tremendous productive capacity
and its increased efficiency which
have stemmed from the widespread
program of rehabilitation and im
provement following World War
11.
In fact, he said, a major contrib
uting factor to the depressed state
in which it finds itself at the year's
end has been a very real underesti
mation of its productive power,
coupled with an exaggerated esti
mate of military requirements which
it has been called upon to turn out.
The major need now, he em
phasized, is that this industry be
permitted to operate in an environ
ment free of the uncertainties which
Only in sueh an environment, nie
continued, can there be attained the
balance between supply and demand
which is essential for a healthy
economy.
"Because of the general timidity
in baying which characterized the
closing months of 1951," Mr. Heart
wig said, "the industry is hopeful
that there will be an accelerated de
mand ior its products in the new
year. In fact, the absence o£'any
volume buying in the textile in
dustry since as far back as April,
1951, should have created a tre
mendous vacuum in American mar
kets by the beginning of 1962.
The mills, consequently, have reason
to believe that the coming year
will see a substantial improvement
over 1951, because of the production
that will be needed to fill the shelves
of retailers and the linen closets of
the consuming public.
"Moreover," he added, "because
of the relatively small volume of
government business placed this
year, the industry believes both the
number and the volume of business
of such contracts will be stepped up
sharply in 1952."
The ACMI executive pointed out
that despite rising costs of pro
duction, prices of cotton textiles
have been declining. In some cases
they have reached such a level as to
threaten serious financial loss. The
healthiest. development which could
now occur, he asserted, would be
the removal from cotton textiles of
price controls which long since have
outlived any usefulness they may
have had at the bediming of the de
fense program.
"The truth ia," he declared, "that
the situation now is mot the preneura
of plentiful dollars against a scarci
ty of cotton textiles, which coaM
make for inflation. It ia,
the pressure of excessive supplies of
these goods against a demand which
has sfc»xjdy declined."
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