Mountain advocate. (Barbourville, Ky.) 1904-1935, 1912-08-09
BREAK IN COST
OF LIVING BURDEN
Financial World" Sees Deep
Significance Behind the
Late Downward Trend OF
Food prices.

years, SAYS az article in "Thc Fin
ancial World" The first signs
come from the West, where there
h is been a veriiable panic smash in
the cost OF all vegetables. This is
due largely to the vastly larger
crops ofpotatoes, and garden stuff
OF all sorts, including small fruits.
Sugar is down from 11a to . cents
per pound below The seasons high
price. butter is 3 to 8 cents per
pound cheaper. -four is off 30 to rs
cents per barrel. potatoes have
crashed from 50 per bushel to 10
cents, and a Chicago dispatch saws
that consuming interests are buying
very sparing'v of packing house
products because OF the brighter
prospects for much lower prices for
live stock the balance of the year
The brigh, outlook for corn is
another factor making for eager
ness on the part of shippers to get
rid of their holdings before the ex.
pected break comes. The fact is
not to be lost sight of also that
steel products show no great activ.
ity at the slightly risen prices and
that the artificial rise in copper and
tin have resulted in burning the fin.
gers OF many spectators, The re.
action from the high prices evil is in
full swing.
The rapid exhaustion of the buy
ing power OF the great masses OF
the pnblc has been quite as much OF
a factor in bringing down prices as
have the larger crops. Syndicates
may warehouse food supplies, keep
ing them for a certain length OF time
in cold storage and force the public
to pay exorbitant prices, but the
time inevita bly, arrives when the
people, exploited to the limit,
through sheer necessity, and exhaus-
ton of ability to buy freely, cut
down their buying orders and the
cold storage people begin to do the
worrying. Then they commence to
sell for what they can get, irrespec-
tive OF whether further supplies are
great or small. II, as seems to be
the case at present, the supplies out
side syndicate control are becoming
larger and larger, so much the
worse for the food cornerers
Undoubtedly the cost of handling
all food supplies at the great CEN
tiers oftrade activity is greater than
ever before and a higher standard
OF excellence and quality of supplies
being demanded, it is hardly to be
expected that prices will ever again
be as low as they were ten and ht
teen years ago. it must be remem-
bered that the marvellous growth
of all our larger cities in the last
decade, has led t. a broad specula,
tive movement in urban real estate.
Spectators have bought up small
and large plots all around our big
cities. These had been devoted to
intensive farming. the raising OF
chickens, hogs, fruit and the small
vegetables and supplies OF these
commodies from these nearby points
have consequently steadily diminished
and their cost increased because thew
have had to be brought in from dis
tant points. the cost ct handling
has been greater, transpnrtati'
charges have added to the prizes.
All these products being ptr'shahlc
the risk OF the shipper hae been
greater and this has helped in pu'-
ting prices up another Notch L"
til some means can he devised Ia re.
duce this p,eulative movement in
land and restore the conditions
around our urban ceulers, To what
they ones were, "A restoration III the
cheap living, ERA oi fifteen years ago
can not be expected. However tie
public will be greatful for the recent
reliei aud trust II wilt 90 further.