The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1911-12-11


COFFEE AND TARIFF.
r.e efforts Of she Democrats 20
eha-s, ,he h.eh cost OF living n
n. ad"anced prices Of commodities
70 M tariff is like nearly all the csn-
er political logic of that party-'t
will no. bear investigation. All SORTS
Of explanations have been offered Tor
This advance, among which are me
tariff. the trusts. the increase in gold
n,e.ai. the m;ddleman. the retailer.
TRANSFORMATION and changed conditions
In living of the lhefe
are others but these vii: SUI
aee 10 show the variant views
of the doctors who have attempted
TO diagnose the disease Of the body
polite. When doctors are confused.
they usually declare the patien, is
suffering from a complication OF dis
eases. This permits their Judgment
to he corroborated by the pos, NOR
tenn. This would probably he the
safest course in attempting TO ana
I'VE the increased cost OF living.
bUt OUT VI lle liotllltiSaSs ~ -
which are held accountable for the
result. i, is not difficult TO say that
the tariff alone is NOT responsible.
Neither figures nor statistics are nee
essary TO prove the position. Co1ee
has heen on the free lis, for years
our recollection Of history is that
no duty except in war time has ever
been collected on it. Now il the tariff
alone were responsible for the in
creased cost Of table commodities
during the last few years, coffee
should not be just the same in price
during all this time: no advance
should have been made. Yet as a
matter Of fact. every housewife knows
that the price of coffee a advanc-
ed almost the same as that of but
ter and eggs and meat and -four and
sugar. If the tariff were responsible,
this should not have been.
Way back in the EOS coffee was
sold at nine and ten ccnts the pound.
1t was green" coffee taken directly
from the burlap sack in which the
retail merchan, received i, in hun
dred pound lots. 1t vas weighed on,
on scales on one end Of which was
a block Of metal weighing one or
two or three pounds as required. and
the coffee was poured into the scale
scoop on the Other end until the
scales balanced. They were not the
self-calcuia,ing kind that with the
the article. The merchant tied up
the coffee in cheap brown paper and
If he were harmonious. would put
the paper in the scoop and pour the
coffee on it SO that the coffee was
short the weight Of the paper and
the merchant in this way made the
customer pay the price Of a piece
Of cheap paper probably fifteen inches
eguare at the rate of nine or ten
cents a pound. That was the cost
Of the package. The coffee itself
reached the retail m%erchan, in the
same sack in which /, was placed on
the coffee plantation. Compare
those wrappers with the ones in
which the coffee sold in Grand Forks
reaches the housewife and i, is not
difficult to see some Of the difference
in cost.
In those days the housewife roast
ed" her own coffee. using a lump Of
butter and the white of an egg for
glazing. She ground it in a coffee
mill. which was an essential part OF
the equipment Of every kitchen. She
ground only enough for each meal.
70 that nne Of the strength was lost.
Now the housewife purchases coffee
roasted and ground, and contained in
costly packages to prevent loss of
strength. And even with these pre-
cautions the quantity required to pro-
duce the same quality Of liquid cof-
fee is much greater thar was re-
luiyed under the old system. Green
coffee los. mona Of its strength, as
a be veriaed.oy any one who visit
ed the old time store. The aaycr OF
green coffee was in the air. The
changed conditions account for the
advance OYER the old prices, and were
a choice between the old conditions
and the present ones necessary. there
would be few to go back to the old
times. The scheme would be abou,
as popular as getting up a homeseek-
er's excursion TO a cemetery.
But these things hardly accoun,
for the advance within the last few
years. after the new system wa,
thoroughly established. The tariff
can not be charged with the increase,
because there is no tariff on coffee
1t seems probable then hat the trou-
BILE lies in a monopoly Of the marke,
by n or two hrms-principally one
the Arbuckles-who by monopoliz.
ing he method Of preparing coffee
is able to fix the price. Smaller con.
Germs that are able I procure the
raw article, take advantage OF the
situation and charge trust prices
Consequently the price stays up. ever
II coffee could be sold at a lowe,
price at a fair profit.