Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1914-10-01
A War Lesson for
Peaceful Homes
(From Chicago Examiner. Aug 2s. IA


(From Chicago Examiner. Aug %. IA y
The Hold.up man always
wears q mask. Sometimes hi
comes through a window and
ste.ls your jewels. Sometimes
he steps out of an alley and de.
man,.s your purse. At other
times lie hides behind some
terrible crisis like this Euro.
pean War, and holds you up on
the price of your groceries and
meats, and on whatever of the
other necessities of life you are
compelled to buy.
AT all times he is nameless
and, like other criminals, even
in the annals of the police he is
known only as John Dough.
During the past few weeks.
YOU have seen the prices raised
on a score of commodities that
ere not related in any way to
the European War. You have
seen prices go up where they
should have gone down. And
the situation has become so *
IRENE that the United States
Government has been forced to
tske measures against these
hold up men of Commerce, who
have been plying their trade as
ruthlessly as a thug with
a gun.
But there is one thing you
may not have noticed the big
gest thing of all, and that is
this: NOT AN ADVERTISED
PRODUCT ON TIE MARKET
HAS YET RAISED ITS PRICE!
And practically every Adver-
tised store in this city is still
giving you the same prices to.
day that it gave you before the
War started.
This shows one thing: That
the businesses that advertise
pledge themselves to keep faith
with the people. They are not
nameless like the dealers in the
raw products who have nothing
to lose. They have spent their
money to create a good name
and they are wise enough now
in a crisis to maintain it.
If ever the public had a good
lesson in advertising, the lesson
is being taught today.
You can 20 thro' this city
end practically every unadver-
tised store has raised its prices.
While practically every adver-
tised store is keeping faith
with you. Some of these big
advertised stores are actually
selling their present stock OF
groceries at lower prices than
they are buying their future
stocks They are paying more
for their flour and sugar than
they are asking you to pay.
And this applies to manv
lines. One great Shoe Manu-
facturer has just turned down
a European order for one mill
ion pairs of shoes at an increase
Of 81 90 per pair; because if he
filled that order he could not
supply his own trade at home
and so would lose the trade
that his advertising has built
up
Another great advertiser of
Bread is still selling the same
sized loaf at the same price. al
though flour increased in price
the day the war was announc-
ed
II is notable thing that your
advertised Baked Bears, your
advertised Cereals, YOUR adver-
t;sed PROPRIETARY MEDI-
CINEs, your advertised soups
and meats. YOUR advertised
drugs, toilet accessories, shoes,
hosiery and clothes, furniture,
pianos and talking machines
have all maintained their regu-
lar prices to you although the
prices of the raw materials
that go into these things have
long since been frightfully ad-
vanced.
Therefore, it is not necessary
to ask that ycu keep faith with
these manufacturers ard these
stores wfo are keeping faith
with ron 1t is not necessary
to ask that you call for these
advertised products by name
/; nd that you go only to these
advertised stores. Because
they are practically the only
q, es who hav,, shown their
willingness to put their avarice
behind them and to play fair ir
these times of stress.