The Washington herald., 1910-01-24
Fruits Are Cheaper.

Declines IN general prices, as between
the high record of 1907 and that Of
January 1 last. have required in the item
of fruits, which is more or less a luxury;
chemicals and drugs, building materials,
and naval stores.
This week will see some interesting
developments in the movement against
the high cost Of living. Next to the
action Of the Federal authorities against
the beef trust. the investigation by the
/ District of Columbia Committee Of the
House of Representatives promises to
yield the most satisfactory results.
| That committee is scheduled TO begin
| its investigation tomorrow into the high
prices prevailing in the District. While
the inquiry viii be confined 10 condi-
lions in Washington they wifi apply
throughout the country.
The announcement has been made that
the committee will summon experts
from all parts of the country. One Of
the first TO testify before the committee
will be Secretary Of Agriculture Wilson.
He seems to be the only person who has
really made an investigation into the
conditions. and who will be able to
present hard and cold facts.
The Secretary had his men at work all
over the country collecting information,
and he already has formed some pretty
definite conclusions, which he has eX-
pressed off and on recently.
Bulletin This Week.
The Secretary already is satisfied that
the farmer is not getting the exorbitant
profits out of the beef that he raises,
and it is said that a bulletin win be is
sued by The Department Of Agriculture
this week setting forth the fact
The Bulletin. it is predicted. will show
not only that the number Of animals
used for food has increased in the last
year, but that the increase has been
greater in proportion to the previous
supply than the increase in population.
The Secretary of Agriculture has little
doubt that the excessive profits on other
farm products also are going into some
body else's pocket. In the Secretary
opinion, there is some excuse for a GER
tain increase in the cost of living. be-
cause the farm area has not been keep
ing pace with the increase in the
population. but this condition does not
exist in the present prices.
One cause for high prices. as the De
partment of Agriculture views the situa-
ton, is the decline of the neIghborhoOd
farmer. Fifteen or twenty years ago
farmers living near small cities used to
have their family customers. The fami-
lies arranged regularly with the farmers
for their supply of pork, butter, eggs,
fruits. vegetables potatoes. and some
times lambs and other meats.
Competition Too Great.
The neighborhood farmer began his de-
cline with the appearance of the refrig-
orator cars. The little farmers dropped
out under the hard competition of the
refrigerator business and the big ones
took TO disposing OF their products only
10 the commission men or shippers Thus
cities that formerly supplied their demand
with homegrown products now depend
absolutely upon products shipped in re.
frigerator cars.
The service that the extravagant Amer.
lean demands Of his butcher and hi:
grocer is another thing that the Depart
ment of Agriculture finds figures in tht
cost. The American to-day wants quicE
delivery by his butcher; sometimes HI
even wants his butcher and grocer TO cal
at his house and take his orders Al
that adds to the cost in the end.
The figures that the Secretary of Agri
culture has collected thus far show tina
on January l, 1903, the price of beef wa
90 per cent higher than the average leve
of price in the five years from 1896 I,
1909, inclusive. The price that the farme
got for his beef before they were fat
tened was only a trife higher than tn
II average price he had received in the 1896