The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1890-07-31
A CHAPTER on KNIVES AND THE
TARIFF,

Did YOU ever buy q pocket knllp
OF oOurse YOU did, Perhaps you holie'
cd TOO, that for any but the plhlheat
kind OF a knife you had 70 pay hgh
price, that IL, II You insisted upon nav
Ing one that was AZ once goon anu kppu
looking. Now, u knife really 10 not y
very expensive thing 10 make ia hhs.
land you may buy handmade hniyph or
excellent quality for less than 70 penlal
hut lust Try buying anything bul inc
rOughest sort OF a knife Ia this country
for 75 cents, aud SEQ what IN metal WIN
turn out 10 be, OF course, you can buy
A knife of a street faklr Tor almost
nothing and not an Unlocking hhlle,
either, but these are knives tlihl arc
made 10 sell, not 70 cut, Any llfht fhte
cutler will tell you that II u nonhhnne
10 pay less than slOO 70 elPp iot .
four bladed knife, and fancy prices run
up 10 twice those iignrth' a..
Why should this be NO when ~ 9thet
countries knives are 30 cheap Iuin
10 Nsohedule o. Metals" IN the Allll
list and YOU will hLd this "Pen knives
pocket knives OF all kindH, bO per cent,
The aohedule mentions knives w
prices ranging from 30 cents 20 siVo
peF dozen aa eomlug unaef lllle iate,
Ii means, OF course, That the WholelAle
price at the port OF export, IN lhcieahou
iuHt one half by our taflli, Lev w con
slider a knife that whOleaaleh ~ shel-
aeld at 800 a dozen, As soon ~ lney
got through q custom house III lhe
United stateh they are lholehhpu ln
value % per dozen, when haAen tao
value 30 per dozen, without allowance
for freight, As that h variable quhl,
tity we viii leave II out OF account, ana
assume that the knives delivered VA
this country and passed Through the
euaton hOn6e cost the importer 80 per
dozen. The importer sells 10 the lon..
ber and II YOU allow the former a pfohI
of dgi6 per cent, which II hardly 700
high an estimate, you have the price IN
creased 20 o. per dozen, Note thht the
importers profit ia not only aSla per
cent. on the original price OF ~ per
dozen, but also on tho tarih OF ~ pef
dozen. -.....,
ii the jobber 10 not too much PRESSED
by competition he VIII certainly naso
AT 20 per cent. ON his purchase, ana inc
probability ID that he viii make = goou
deal more. However the exact hguIep
arc not Important, ~ the principle II
the aame, whatever tho per cenlhge'
III he makes 20 per cent, then his selling
prlee for the knives will be $40 q dozen,
Note again that his profit Ia on the ~
originally paid In Sheffield, on the $50
tariff and on the Importers pront, Whlch
was on both These Items, Next comes
the wholesaler. Suppose his pront 10
95 per cent, where does this put the
prlceY Why, 10 $3.50 q dozen. Aitef
him comes the retailer ana what nus
profit may be- heaven olny knows III he
sells In q big city amid competition no
may have 10 be content with u modet-
ate profit but II no sells In n remote
country district he may put on 40, % OF
90 pei cent Lot uB allow him ~ per
cent. and ha will DO able 10 sell the
knives AT $3.50 per dozen, ..
That would be SlAb and q traction
and II no didn't put theproe up 10 sl'D9
he would be very moderate sort OF
man. Remember that these knives SOLD
In Sheffield at 81 per dozen or S8lG cents
apiece and retailed here NJ $3.50 apiece
WitnOuL any NlOMNHNN w. HN'hHhM
Everybody has had prollt on the tlrlu
and on the profit Of every other fellow
that preceded. DO you not believe lty
Remember that the Highest price for |
cutlery named In the tariii achednle is
81 a dozen, and, with this IN mind, 50 |
and try 10 buy q good Sheffield knife,
even n the estimates Of profits are too |
high all round the principle is not al'
tered, for, whatever the profits, they are
levied on tariff as well as on original |
price, -.l
the retail price of each knife would be
we're there no tariff on knives Allow
ing the same per centage OF prohts
as before, the importer would sell NJ
about s583, the jobber AZ s0.6B, the
wholesaler 1T Ss.32, and the retailer NJ
Sil % per dozen, nj " cents and frac-
ton; for convenience, say SlOO. In one
case the price TO the retailer is nearly
$3.50 per cent. OF the original price In
Sheffield and In the other " Is 500 per