Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-02-01
WHY FOOD IS DEAR
Supply From Farms Near Cap
itaI Has Fallen Off.
SMALL PROFIT IN BUTTER
Capt. Oyster Says Prices Are Fixed
Weekly at Elgin.
PART OF BLAME ON PUBLIC
Refuses to Eat Cheaper Cuts of
Meat-Hearing Before Chamber
Of Commerce Committee.
PART OF BLAME ON PUBLIC

| For nearly three hours yesterday even
| ing the special committee of the Wash
ington Chamber Of Commerce listened to
| a discussion Of the various factors sup
| posed to be responsible for the present
high price of butter. eggs and meat.
Allan d. Albert. jr.. chairman of the
| committee. presided and ten members Of
the chamber were present.
Capt. James F. Oyster was heard with
| reference to the price of butter: Capt
John Miller gave information gained in
| forty years experience in the egg and
| butter market; William G. Carter spoke
| on the prices of meat and butter, and
John s. Walker discussed the prices Of
| general provisions. The hearing lasted
| from until O'Clock and included testi-
| mony on the general methods Of doing
business in the food line in Washington.
Prices Fixed at Elgin.
According to Capt. Oyster. the whole
sale price of butter in Washington Is
established through the quotation set by
| the Board of Trade of Elgin. ILL.,. which
| meets every Monday afternoon. He said
| the figures set by this board were ac-
| copied as the price of butter during the
week In all cities in which Elgin butter
is an important factor in the trade The
| Elgin Board Of Trade. he told the COM
| mlttee. was established in 1872 by men
making what Is known as creamery but
| ter. The grades established and the
prices set in Elgin had grown to be
standard There is no butter exchange in
the Elgin prices as a guide, the business
| mere is chiefly barter between the
wholesaler. jobber and retailer. He said
the jobber and commission merchant usu-
ally sought profit of l cent a pound
and that the retail dealers usually pay |
| cent a pound in advance of the Elgin
| prices.
Capt. Miller told the committee tnat
the main cause of the advance in the
price of butter and eggs was the falling
off in the supply from the average farm
he said that in recent years farmers
from Virginia and Maryland have been
making a good deal of money through
the sale of milk and had largely given
The farmers had discovered that with
less cost in labor and feed they could
make more money in other lines Of farm
products. Capt. Miller said he could re-
member when barrels, crates and even
wagonloads of eggs were thrown upon
the dumps during the months of May
and June. To avert this waste, he said,
the cold storage houses have been built
ana many of the eggs that come in dur
ing the spring months are put in cold
storage to meet the demand when eggs
are scarce. He said that If it were not
for cold storage, eggs would have been
81 dozen in December and January.
Better Meats Demanded.
The price Of meat was discussed by
Mr.. Carter. He said that only the ber-
ter cuts of meat had advanced in price.
and that this was due in a large part TO
the different habits of living of the peo-
lple. An important factor is the number
of families living in apartment houses.
where, without the old-fashioned faclli-
ties for cooking, there is far greater
idemand for the fine cuts of meat The
cheap cuts, he said, had almost disap-
lpeared from the market because even
tine poorer classes do not want them He
said the price of the food products under
discussion had advanced from % to 100
iper cent in the last ten years but thar
the cause was the falling off In the sup
ply rather than manipulation in tie
trade.
] Mr.. Walker discussed the problem from
the standpoint Of the retail dealer. He
said the prices of food products had s.d-
lVanced % to - per cent in recent years,
but that the profits Of the dealer were
less than formerly, even though he had
much greater capital invested This he
lsaid, was due TO the closer buying of the
consumer and the increased cost of car
Trying on the business.
Completion Of the Analyses.
i In connection with the statement by
Capt James F. Oyster yesterday before
the committee of the Chamber of Com
merce which is Investigating the problem
OF the high prices of foodstuffs that but
ter IS usually sold by the jobber to the
retailer at a profit of one cent above the
wholesale price, it is interesting to fol-
low the analysis one step further into
a description of the method of fixing the
price at which this commodity is sold
TO the consumer.
Thousands of butter users read last
week the announcement that the "Elgin
; Board had elected to make a reduc-
ton of cents a pound III the whole
sale price of that commodity, and again
yesterday the same organization issued
its usual pronouncement regulating the
price of butter for the ensuing week,
fixing the wholesale figure for the next
seven days a II cents a pound, or
cent above the previous reduction.
| Incident to these two announcements
the 'Elsin board otherwise known as
the Board of Trade of EIgin. H.. has been
thrown prominently before the public
eye because of the general agitation
against the high prices for food products
generally, as the dominant factor in con-
troll OF at least one of the articles in
everyday use by the whole people of the
icountry.
Say Boards Word Is Law.
Butter merchants do not hesitate to
acknowledge that the word of the Ell
gin board is law in the butter market,
and although they will not consent to be
quoted because of the possibility of in
curing the enmity of the combine" sew
eral Washington commission men frankly
stated today that for the first time in
the history of the butter market they
We're inclined to believe that the "Elgin
board is in reality trust dominated
and controlled by the same interests
which direct the meat market
These great interests. SO the local men
believe went into the market when but
ter was plentiful and cheap last May and
June and bought thousands of pounds OF
the commodity and placed it on storage
SO that, by controlling the market now
this same storage butter can be sold at
winter prices
Process of Price.Fixine.
| With ha prioa 6xad Nv thu .Irlr~; =,