# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1950_S547
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

PUBLICATION MATTERS 547

Vil. PUBLICATION MATTERS

701]
Report of Concordia Publishing House

Under the bountiful blessing of God the Board of Directors
of Concordia Publishing House gratefully reviews a triennium of
successful operation in the service of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We gratefully acknowledge also the faithful services of our
manager, Mr. O. A. Dorn, under whose efficient leadership these
gains have been made. To a great extent this progress has been
made -possible because the management of Concordia Publishing
House has faithfully utilized all opportunities which God placed
before them.

Concordia Publishing House is happy to report that long-
awaited reductions in the price of some of its books and materials
are being made as soon as feasible. In addition to the reduction
recently announced for the Small Catechism and Vacation Bible
School series, other savings for the customers are contemplated.

We gratefully acknowledge the good will and hearty support
of the members of Synod who have recognized during the past
three years that rapidly rising costs of material and labor made
some price increases ,necessary. A careful study, however, will
reveal that, because of efficient operation, Concordia Publishing
House prices, as a rule, are no more, and often less, than similar
items offered on the general market.

Although the high cost of operations during the triennium did
not provide the usual percentage gain, nevertheless we were able
to transfer to the synodical treasury $350,000. Present prospects
indicate that the increase in sales for the triennium of May 1, 1947,
to April 30, 1950, will be about 40.18 per cent over the sales for
the previous triennium, May 1, 1944, to April 30, 1947. This larger
volume of activity and the considerably increased cost of operating

a plant on the basis of today’s economy has made it imperative |

that we maintain a much larger working capital than formerly.
Expenditures for new equipment also are necessarily greater, since
the prices of printing machinery have been increased substantially.
Inasmuch as our fiscal year closes after ‘this report is printed, the
financial report on Concordia Publishing House will be. dis-
tributed separately.

Although we were empowered to provide additional storage
and manufacturing space, it was not practical nor economical to
do so. The need, however, exists today to an even greater degree
than a few years ago. Synodical offices have been granted more
and more space. Almost 10,000 square feet of space now being
occupied by the synodical: offices will become available when the

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