"Making America Click"

Last week the National Association of Manufacturers met for its 43rd annual congress with the biggest attendance ever, come to Manhattan to ogle Guest Speaker Anthony Eden (see p. 9) and mull the keynote of "Making America Click."

For its first 37 years N. A. M. helped America click chiefly by being a clearinghouse of industrial information, a super trade-association. But under Roosevelt N. A. M. has become more and more the Voice of Industry, first pro-New Deal, then so bitterly anti that N. A. M. sound-offs sounded like Republican campaign speeches. Two years ago under the guidance of Chairman Colby Chester of General Foods Corp., N. A. M. developed a new attitude, something which might be termed "reasonable liberalism," approving certain New Deal reforms, asking for modest changes, waving the olive branch rather than the hatchet. Last week the Voice of Industry, despite some raucous cracks from the gallery, maintained this conciliatory tone.

The conception of industry having a united voice is of course, entirely illusory. Last week the opinions of the assembled bigwigs ran the gamut of virtually every major subject and only after 17 versions of the resolutions had been composed could they agree. The results naturally were as vague as the results reached by similar compromise in political platforms. But in backing collective bargaining and many New Deal reforms, while pleading for tax revision and cessation of government competition with industry, N. A. M. was also obviously sincere in its good intentions, its belief that it is now meeting the New Deal and Labor at least halfway.

Though America is still far from clicking, retiring President Charles R. Hook felt justified in remarking: "I believe in all sincerity that our activities during the past year have brought industry and the Government substantially closer to mutual understanding, respect and cooperation."

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