Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1909-12-01
MOST PROSPEROUS
WAS YEAR 1909
Continued from First Page.)

CONTINUED from First Page.)
country. A schedule was prepared to
record the actual experiences of re-
tailers in buying and selling a carcass
or half carcass of beef, and among the
facts ascertained We're the weight and
wholesale cost of a certain piece of
beef, usually a half carcass. Then fol-
lowed the weight and retail price of
every cut for which uniform price
was charged by the retail dealer. Thus
it became possible not only to COM
pare high priced and lowpriced cuts.
but also to compute accurately the total
retail price per pound and consumers
cost of the beef piece for which the
wholesale price per pound and cost of
the entire piece had been reported.
Pays SO Per Cent Above Wholesale.
For the fifty cities the total retail
cost charged to customers above the
wholesale cost paid by the retailers is
So per cent. In five cities the rate of
increase is 90 per cent or under; in
ten cities, 81 to 80 per cent; in twelve
cities. 81 to 40 per cent; in twelve cit
les, Al to so per cent; and If eleven
cities, over so per cent.
The average retail price exceeded the
average wholesale price by S1.4 per
cent in the North Atlantic states; by
SO per cent in the South Atlantic; by
IS per cent in the North Central; 39.4
per cent in the western: and the high
est increase was found in the south
central states. "a per cent.
A gross profit of 90 per cent was
found in New York City and in Phila-
/ delphia, IS per cent in Buffalo, n. Y.
36 per cent in Boston, Mass, II per
cent in Baltimore, Md, AZ per cent in
/ Washington, D. c., As per sent in Chi
cago, ILL.,, 25 per cent in Cincinnati, o.,
/ % per cent in Omaha, Neb.. % per cent
! in Kansas City, No. 81 and 35 per cent
in Minneapolis and ST. Paul, Mimi, 40
per cent in Milwaukee, Wis, and De-
troit, Mich, 80 per cent in st. Louis,
Mo-, Ga per cent in Mobile, Ala. 80 per
cent in San Francisco. "a per cent in
Seattle, and 81 per cent in Denver, Col
The lower the grade of beef the
greater the percentage of gross profit
In Boston, for illustration. the rate Of
gross profit is nearly twice as great for
| beef costing s cents at wholesale as
for beef costing IL cents and 11a cents
Low priced beef is marked up nearly
twice as much relatively as high priced
beef In other words, perhaps it is a
safe inference that the poor peo-
pie pay nearly twice as much profit
as the wellto-d people pay.
Features of Retail Business.
The retailers delivery service Is
costly. however, and the retail business
is overdone. The multiplication OF
small shops is a burden to consumers
and no source of riches to the small
4 shopkeepers. When twenty or more
small shops divide the retail business
within an area that could be served b!
one large shop, the expenses of the
many shops for labor horses. rent, ant
other things. that are in excess of wha-
would be sufficient for the one shop
| must go into the retail prices of tn,
meat sold.
Furthermore, customers choose tn,
!; higher priced cuts of meats. Steak
and roasts are the preferences, ant
these must have names that are re
gartieti as respectable. Consequently
the highest price-porterhouse steak
at prices as high as 25 and 80 cents
pound, sirloin at 20 to % cents ant
rib roasts at 20 cents.
Prices and Supply Of Meats.
The ascending prices of meat sug
gest inquiry as to whether the prices o
the farmers beef cattle and hogs hav
increased at the farm in the same de
gree that meat has to the consumer
For the purpose of making compar
tisons' the mean price level of 1896
1900, a period of comparatively 10y
prices, is adopted as base line, rep
resented by 100, and for each ANNA
and commodity this price level is com
puted.
No Gain in Unfed Beef Cattle.
} The farmer has failed to receive
: share of higher beef prices with regar
to the raw animal. The price level q
{ two-year-old steers at the farm bein
regarded as 100 for 1896 1900, the pric
of such steers rose to 1859 in 1900, de
!, clined to s5.5 in 1905, and rose to 100
in 1909, all for the date of January
and for prices at the farm, substan
TALLY before corn feeding had begun.
Beef Prices Due to Corn Prices.
= The price of corn in 1909 at tn
' farm is represented by PISS compare
with 100 for the price level of 1896
1900, and the price of the best natiy
steers at,the Chicago stock yards in til
same year is 1899, which is much aboy
the index number for the price of tt
q animal at the farm and much below tt
!. price of corn at the farm. The infer
!. ence is that the farmer gets some re
= turn for the high priced corn that
feeds to his steers, but not retur
equal to go cents bushei for his cor
: which is the price for the last tH
years. AS for the unfed steer, it do'
not participate in the upward mov'
is ment of prices in its farm value.
is The wholesale prices of fresh be
q carcasses have increased in about Il
= same degree that the prices of stee
" have at the stock yards, and the r.
IA tail prices OF fresh beef have keep. pa
with the wholesale prices.
The increasing prices of fresh bee
therefore. are due to increasing pric
Id of animals at the stock yards, and tn
D. is explained by the abnormal circun
n. stances to which the raising of be
animals has been subject in rece
years.