Omaha daily bee., 1910-02-04

grocery is s1.6O a bushel. The best country
sausage brings ~ cents a pound on the
farm and from 20 to IS cents in the Wash
ington grocery. John A. Stewart OF New
York, relates how asparagus raised IN
northern New York. sold for 3 cents a
bunch on the farm. 6 cents a bunch in the
neighborins village. and IS cents a buRoh
in New York.
II is the same with the other things the
grocer sells. The January quotation for
matches, retailing at two boxes for 8 cents,
was SLIGO per IA Loxes. The highest grades
Of Java and Mocha coffee we're quoted at
26 and "a cents a pound, respectively. Ex-
ira fancy dried peaches we're priced at 8
cents a pound, the finest salmon al IS
cents per can, the best baked beans at
S1.15 a dozen cans. Decent bottles of horse
radish at 621R cents a dozen. 10-cent bot
ties OF petroleum jelly at 20 cents a dozen,
25-cent bottles of laudanum at S1.9O per
dozen. EPSON salts at 2 cents a pound, and
so on without end.
1t is plain. therefore, that the retail food
dealer gets a large gross profit. He lays
heavy tribute upon the consumer, but
what about his net profit? One sees but
little evidence that he enjoys much OF that.
Few grocers are getting rich and many OF
them go into bankruptcy. Aye, there is
the rub. Competition, supposed to be the
life Of trade, has broken up the food re-
failing business into such little bits that
each retailer must make an enormous profit
to get a living out of his business. He
must live whether he sells $1,000 a year
or $25, OO0. The smaller his sales the greater
per cent he must add to each dollars
worth Of business, and the larger his busi-
ness the closer margin no can give.
The situation is the same in other things
which the consumer uses. A country mer-
chant went to Baltimore to buy goods. He
bought a suit Of clothes at $3.50, which he
retailed at $40; a Panama hat for "a, which
retailed at IS. Collars at 50 cents a dozen,
which retailed at $50 per dozen. Dolls
bought for 80 cents a dozen were to be
retailed at 10 cents each. Toys which
would bring % cents each at retail were
bought at $1.@ a dozen. Statistics show
that the best sewing machines cost only
about $4 to make, and bicycles even less.
Shoe strings that are sold for s cents a
pair cost 60 cents a gross.
But with all these figures, the average
merchant is not growing rich. The retailer
must pay his rent, his help and his de-
livery expenses. His rent is higher be-
cause the lot on which the building stands
is worth twice as much as ten years ago.
The landlord had to pay S6 a day for tho
bricklayer and the plasterer, and "a a day
for the carpenter who erected the building.
And so it goes all down the line. The
farmer must have more for his beef cattle
than he realized twenty years ago, for the
corn he feeds them is worth twice as much.
He must get more for mis- wheat than he
did twenty years ago, for the labor he
hires costs him as much again. The laborer
must have twice as much as he had twenty
years ago., for his clothes, his food and his
rent have doubled in price. Relative prices
have increased relatively everywhere, but
what difference does 1t make to the average
Individual If he earns a thousand dollars a
year and has to spend $500 for living, or
whether he earns 5000 and has to spend
1880? ~
This thing of prices works some strange
anomalies. Secretary Wilson says that be-
yond a doubt. American food products are
being sold cheaper abroad than at home,
and that the glory OF having the cheapest
food stuffs in the world has passed from
us. A. r. Cahill. a representative Of the
London Board of Trade, who is investi-
eating prices in America, says that he has
discovered a riddle he cannot solve, the
AilS iCdu pays D CeHtS LOT a fourteen ounce
loaf of bread, while the Britlsher, with his
bread made of American wheat, gets a
sixty-four ounce loaf for 10 cents.
1t is difficult to predict the outcome of
the present hue and cry against the in
crease in the cost Of living. The national
protest OF the consumer would undoubtedly
be effective II it were carried forward
with the same enthusiasm that marks its
start. But as a rule the dear public, after
being driven to desperation in some such
matter. suddenly sits up on it's hind legs
and how to the moon. 1t makes the
welkin ring for q space, then as suddenly
forgets its crusade and lapses into for
bearance and inactivity. 1t is to be hoped
that in this instance the consumer will
prove to be long-winded, that he will con-
tinue to "holler" Justify and at length, but
II this crusade does not prove to be a
flash in the pan it win be contrary to the
history OF such movements.
By F1EDERIC ]. HAsRTM.
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES OF THE
LAW.