Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-10-30
Food Mart Turned to
Stock Exchange, Rea-
son Assigned by Will
liam T. Mcintyre

WhEN you walked down the aisle on
MS arm year ago. one of the
.nousnts that coursed through your busy
iNn, amid the echoes of the wedding
narch, was that from the moment that YOU
60. .osseu .' the threshold of your home. your
Yourself the most prudent ana econo,n,cai
ot housewives. You had pledged yourself
TOT better OF worse" but YOU Intended that
SO tar as your housekeeping was concerned
.'a .us.e was 70 be no worse" The domestic
,,.s s'a was TO be constantly bettering. and at
w w snu OF the first year you pictured your
iueal expressing his admiration OF vour
susinesslike housekeeping. and the won
ucrtul table" YOU had set upon the Some
"nat limited sum allowed for thai purpose.
Meh, today Is the anniversary OF that
,,',,o, SSs'Sn S when you made that resolve, and
wnat happened this morning7
He came downstairs. propped his naner
asainst the bread tray and said something
like this. did he not7
Hem What's this? Rolls again? How
ot,en % have I told you prefer soft bread
win eggsf' Then you tried 10 explain ,hn,
what he mistook for a roll was the ,oa, ~
nread itself that you had put whole upon
.he tray because the last time you sliced il
ne criticized the thlnness OF the slices.
NOT HOUSEWIVES FAULT
Then the tears that YOU had been reso.
Iuteiy holding back filled your eyes In
spite oil your strongest effort. and you told
him how Il was WV
You had tried. ever since YOU moved over
INTO West Philadelphia, TO cut down ana
ecohoinize' and had never wasted the veri.
est scrap of food. You had weighed every
questionable package ms delivered bv Tho
groceryman and had compelled the hucl<Ster
10 replace all wilted or unripe articles You
nao pinched and scraped to the utmost but
the prices OF the staples. the things you
really could not do without. had been going
up, and up. and up. and It wasn't your
fault. so there!
So. after your husband had gone To his
office, you called up the EVENING LEDGER
ana related your difficulty The EyrNtNo
LEDGER has submitted Il to a grocer in
your neighborhood. who for thirty.three
years has watched the changes in foodstuff
prices. and with an anxiety similar to yours.
for his living. like your own. depends upon
the ups and downs OF the articles he handles
that go upon your table daily
The foodstun market has been converted
into stock market that's the situation
In nutshell" declares William T Nc.
1ntyre OF 634.36 North Thirty-eighth street
There Is the same speculation with the
products that we eat as there is with stocks
and bonds. II this could be stopped. then
l believe we would see an adjustment Of
prices that would make everything lower
and end this manipulation by the big men
UP TO THE GOVERNMENT
I'm my opinion It is up to the Govern
ment. There ought 10 be a law passed that
would prevent this manipulation that I
speak OF IL seems TO me that foodstuffs
ought to be considered differently from the
other articles Of speculation. and IL "cor-
ners" In wheat and -four. as well as the
other food materials. were checked and the
holding OF meats and canned goods bought
up at low prices to be released only at high
figures, be prohibited. IL would go far to-
wards solving the problem of living costs.
"In food at least the law OF supply and
demand should be the governing factor, not
the manlpulations Of a few men who are
able to control the business Of the country.
For good part OF the thirty-three years
that l have been In business have fur
nished Philadelphia prices to the Govern.
ment. and l have seen changes that I be-
lieve, were uncalled for by the crop or by
other conditions upon which the market
should depend I have read some of the
articles on present prices in the EVENING
LEDGER, and In some cases l am afraid
the quotations are a bit too high. They are
bit above what get for the same articles
here. But the market is changing every
day, and maybe the prices / quote today
will not apply tomorrow.
Now, let us take meats. They are down
little the last few days. but still above the
figures of a year ago. Sirloin brings thirty
three cents. as against thirty last year.
Round steak. now twenty-eight to thirty
cents, was twenty-slx TO twenty-eight. Rib
roast has risen from twenty and twenty
two to twenty-five cents pound, while
chuck is eighteen to twenty cents, instead
OF sixteen to eighteen. Boiling beef Is about
the same, at ten cents. Pork loin chops that
were about twenty cents are now
twenty-five. while sliced bacon brings thirty
cents. or twenty-five cents In the piece.
which was the price for sliced meat year