# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1935_S238
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

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296 Proceedings of Thirty-Sixth Regular Convention,

We have not had many losses of accounts, but we must refer to
the fact that our pastors, teachers, or Sunday-school officers quite
often pay all their other bills first and attend to ours last, simply
because they are members of Synod. This is not a correct condition
of affairs. We realize that in recent years many a person, particularly
also many a minister and teacher, has been unable to meet his obliga-
tions; but we are severely criticized -for having “such a dispropor-
tionate amount of accounts receivable,” some of them quite old. The
opinion of some in our Board is that the management should be much
more severe in collections and credits. As a general business propo-
sition that is entirely correct; on the other hand, since it is our
business to supply the religious books for our constituency, our cus-
tomers assert that we cannot exercise the same severity as an ordi-
nary business. We should be glad to have at least the committee that
reviews this report for Synod express itself on this question: Shall
we continue as in the Past to be rather easy with credit, or shall we
conserve the property of Synod by instituting rather a no-money-no-
books policy ?

In this connection we may mention that we are also criticized
for still upholding our cash-in-advance Policy with reference to
Periodicals. We are convinced that this Policy has saved Synod large
sums of money.

In August, 1983, the proclamation of the code saddled upon us an
increased production cost of over 17 per cent., and the Board promptly
instructed the management to increase our selling prices propor-
tionately. This resolution, however, was never carried out, even
when the intensification of the code regulations raised our production
costs still more. We have deliberately chosen to maintain our old
selling prices and simply accept a smaller profit. We assumed a con-
siderable responsibility by the decision, and we await Synod’s approval
or correction. At the present time our net-profit rate has been re-
duced to approximately § per cent. on the sales and about 3 per cent.
on the capital. (We may have to revise this figure when our fiscal
report is available.) Fifty years ago the profit rate was over 40 per

far enough in that direction. The latest Federal instructions for
capital-stock taxes allow up to 12% per cent. profit on the capital
before assessing “excess profit” taxes,

The codes (we come under several of them) are observed by us
even though we have a petition pending under which we claim exemp-

- schedules. (Our petition was denied just before this report was given

to the printer.)
The relations between employer and employees are entirely un-