For New England

Said the Governor of Connecticut to the Governor of Maine: "Fly home with me." Said the Governor of Maine: "I will." Governor John H. Trumbull of Connecticut had traveled to Boston to meet Governor Ralph Brewster of Maine and taken him by airplane to Hartford for the second New England Conference last week. These conferences were organized a year ago to seek some sort of co-operation between the strongly individualistic communities and industries of New England. Long ago this district yielded its literary and cultural prestige to Manhattan. But industrially, especially in shoes, textiles and knit goods, it held its predominance until shortly after the War. Since then it has not progressed as have other sections of the country. It has even retrogressed in some instances. Chairman Owen D. Young of General Electric pictures this New England as the result of a social, industrial, political snobbishness. New Englanders go about in high stiff collars, each tending his own business. They should take off their collars and work together.-- Such is his diagnosis. The prescription includes the pooling of electric power resources in all the six New England states (including the Passamaquody tidal power project; see p. 28); the social unification of diverse peoples towards their common prosperity ("By and large New England is better off because of the immigration which she has had"); inter-related transportation ("Co-operation or unified action by the New Haven and the Boston & Maine should enable them not only to provide the most economic and satisfactory service within New England, but would also in her dealings with outside lines make New England the master of her own resources"); and changed investments ("I am wondering whether you have not been so long in the habit of investing outside of New England as to make it bad form to keep your money at home"). Commerce Director Julius Klein also accuses New England industry of narrowness. While studying 350 firms there, he found that only one had a business analyst. Like pre-War Europe this section has disastrous overconfidence in past methods and trade processes, whereas U. S. "industry has grown precisely because it has the highest scrapheap in the world." The machinery in one New England textile factory averaged 23 years in age. One shoe factory kept making high buttoned shoes because "Uncle Ezra," founder, had done so. Industries should balance their manufacturing schedules to run evenly the year through. They should diversify products.* Above all they should analyze their customers' wants and satisfy them. But all is not stodginess in New England. Many individual concerns have adjusted themselves, notably the ship builders. As soon as they found they had no orders for large boats, they changed their plants to make small pleasure crafts.

*Mr. Young says that he and Governor Trumbull belong to an island club the rules of which forbid members wearing ties or collars while on the island. For infraction the offending member gets a ducking. "Wouldn't it be fine if New England could have a dinner with its collars, and, neckties, off..?" *The textile groups with boots and shoes constitute 31% of New England industry. The balance is spread over 200 classifications, all highly localized. Thus Maine and Massachusetts make 75% of New England paper and wood pulp. Rhode Island and Massachusetts make 99% of the jewelry.