Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1910-01-27
Who Is At Fault?

The meat boycott, which is gradually
Eexteiding into the. smaller towns and
Ecities, seems to have accom- Dlished
part of the work expected ofEit.F In
Chicago food prices have been reduced
from to per cent, in the wholesale
markets, on such commodities as eggs,
butter, potatoes, pork products and the
better grades of dressed beef. 1t is
also announced that some cut has
been made in the price of hogs. cattle,
sheep, wheat, corn, oats and pro-
visions in the speculative market. The
traders give three reasons for this de-
crease-agitation against high prices
of food stuffs, break in the corner
on butter and a decline in the demand
since the holidays.
The question Of high priced food has
been brought home to the workingman
within the last few months and he
has united in what appears to be an
effective protest. 1t is doubtful if any
single cause can be assigned for these
high prices. The retailer is taking no
more profit than he says Is necessary
to make his business success. There
is undoubtedly some truth in Sec. Will
sons assertion that the expensive de-
livery system enters into these prices
to a greater extent than the consumer
realizes. The jobber or wholesaler
that he has been taking more than is
due him. The producer also has been
getting a larger profit lately than he
has had in the past.
The three parties. while each has
added but little, have consciously
or unconsciously combined to make
the price to the consumer extremely
burdensome. The producer must get
such price for what he has to sell
that he can continue to produce and
get pay for his time and reasonable
return on his investment. The same
is true of the wholesaler who assem-
bles the products of the producer and
distributes them among the retailers.
The retailer in turn assemblies the
various commodities in which each
proposes to deal and again distributes
them. OF course the consumer pays
for all of this.
If the boycott reduces the profit of
the retailer little. the profit of the
wholesaler a little and the profit of
the producer a little, it's affect upon
industrial conditions will not be dis
astrous, but if the producer declines
to sell to the wholesaler any cheaper,
that is, if he declines to give up any |
of his profits and the wholesaler in |
turn declines to yield, the retailer will |
be compelled to stand the loss or go |
out of business. The people have |
reached a point where they will not |
continue to pay exorbitant prices.
If it is true that a part of this high |
cOSC Is lTdcedDle 10 d SCdTClly vi h.lS
product, exporters of that product |
should be discouraged in some way. |
If we are already beyond the export |
ing stage and are now importing, some |
way should be found to increase the |
in this country. Wages |
have not kept pace with the advance
n prices and this boycott is but
'orm of protest. Its success depends
upon it's popularity in the various
1t is very probable that,
as in the case of the meat trust, con-
cession will be made until the people
again take up the use of meat in large
quantities and then the old prices will
prevail What the next step will be
s matter of conjecture.
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