Wrigley Plan

To get goodwill, loud robust William Wrigley Jr. thought nothing of distributing 29 carloads of Gem razors and 1,000,000 electric clocks along with his gum. Early in Depression he pleased the South by announcing he would convert up to $12,000,000 from his southern gum sales into cotton (TIME, April 13, 1931). He had already boosted Wrigley sales in Canada and attracted wide publicity by buying quantities of Canadian wheat in a depressed market. By the time he died in 1932 the U. S. consumption of gum had risen in 18 years from 39 sticks per capita to 100, and more than 50 of them were Wrigley sticks.

His son and successor, Philip Knight ("P. K.") Wrigley, did not inherit his father's flamboyant sense of salesmanship. Quiet and methodical, he likes to fiddle with machinery and motor boats, keep out of the limelight. But in the dark days of February 1933 he astounded conservative businessmen by upping Wrigley wages 25%. And he was the first to put the Blue Eagle on his gum packages. Last week Gummaker Wrigley again made news by announcing a $1,000,000 employes' "assurance" plan. "In talking with workers in our factories," said he, "I discovered that their chief worry is not the amount of their pay or the length of their day, but the specter of sudden loss of work.'' With its stockholders' approval, William Wrigley Jr. Co. arranged to pay workers receiving $6,000 or less per year between 60% and 80% of their working wage during layoff periods. Unlike most labor insurance schemes this one called for no contributions from workers. The money was to come entirely out of operations, was to be guaranteed by $1,000,000 out of surplus. "This is not a hard-times stopgap," said President Wrigley. "The idea is to give employes the same 'backlog' of income that stockholders have in the surplus of the company." Wrigley Co. surplus at the end of 1933 was $34,599,000; the company's net earnings last year were $7,528,000, half a million better than for 1932.

Predicted Funnyman Will Rogers: ''Mr. Wrigley . . . did a thing today that will eventually become universal."

Last week General Electric's President Gerard Swope, author of many an industrial plan for social betterment, announced a prospective profit-sharing program for General Electric's 50,000 workers. For the past 17 years ending in 1932, 30,000 workers have received a 5% bonus. Hereafter each & every General Electric employe will share up to 12 1/2% of the company's earnings available for common stock after 8% of its book value is deducted. Before the plan can become effective G. E. must earn 83-c- a share on common stock. Last year it earned 38-c-.

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