The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-03-14

portion of high4grade goods sold in Bir- mingham is larger than it Is in any other town in the south. This applies to groc- cries, clothing, furniture and all other lines. I know it to be a fact that ono flour agent in this city sells 90 barrels of first-grade flour to 10 barrels of low grade, while the agent who represents the same mill in several towns in Georgia (Atlanta and Macon, being two of them) sells 80 barrels of low-grade to 20 barrels of first-grade. WherAyou compare prices in towns. therefore, is it not well to look into the quality also? Do you know that the negroes of the Birmingham district use higher grade groceries, better furni- ture and finer clothes than do white peo- pie in numbers of other towns in the south? I know it and can prove this statement to be a fact.
 Compared With Lexington.
 T recently had an opportunity to oom- pare the prices of Birmingham with those of Lexington, Ky, and found that some things were higher here and quite a good many were lower.
 Birmingham merchants don't get high CT prices than the merchants in other towns, but they should be getting them. Rents are almost twice as high here as in other towns, labor Is 30 per cent higher | and still our merchants sell goods at the same prices that other towns sell them. Why don't some one jump on the land | lords and real estate trust? Why don t somebody prove (they won't have much trouble doing it. either) that a store which rents for $75 per month in Colum- bus, Meridian and Aberdeen, Miss; Co., lumbus, Macon and Savannah Ga; Jack sonville, Tampa and Key West, Fla; A,tI IVY and hundreds of other towns I could name. rents for s2O0 to 1925 per month here. Quite a difference in the expense account between $500 per year and $2400 per year. Why don't some of the men who are kicking about high prices move to the towns where they. say things are cheaper? I'll tell you-because they can get more salary for working six months nj Birmingham than they can earn in a year elsewhere.
 'In comparing our prices with those Of other towns, quality is not considered. Lard is quoted as lard no definite, spe- cifc grade, but just lard You can find a difference in prices right here in town if you don't compare quality.
 'In comparing flour, no particular brand is quoted by the gentlemen from Epes. He simply stated that flour sold for s6.25 per barrel in Epes and $7.50 in Birming- ham. He did not state that he bought a lower grade of flour. He also quotes round steak, sirloin steak and pork chops as 21a cents pound cheaper in Epes than in Birmingham But he doesn't state that the meat he speaks of is equal in quality to the Birmingham meats
 Advantages of Birmingham.
 "The gentleman who was kind enough to quote the Epes grocery prices says that he works in Epes but lives in Wood lawn. He pays railroad fare going back and forth to his work at Epes. He pays more at Woodlawn for his groceries but still he lives here. Why? Because the life he leads is pleasanter, there is moro amusement here. He gets more out of his salary by living in Woodlawn than he can by living where he works, and yet because somebody started to talk about high prices he rushed into print to show that he can live cheaper in Epes, where he works, than he can here. There is no law keeping any one in Bir- mingham, and if he could live so much cheaper there, why doesn't he move? Rents are higher here, we must admit. Labor is higher here also, but it cannot be proven that groceries. of stipulated grade are sold here for higher prices than they are in other towns. Our merchants and our jobbers are not getting more money than those of other towns, but taking expensos in consideration, they should be getting more. SIDNEY r. LAlAHoo.