New Britain herald., 1916-11-04
T0nn Topics

stock exchange, and in it the major ity of the populace see nothing very
 encouraging to look forward to this
 winter. Coal at prices ranging from
 $l0 to SIP, with some pessimists pre- dieting SEQ per ton before the winter
 is over; flour selling from $9 to $11
 a barrel; sugar, twelve pounds for $1; fresh eggs at nickel each; lard at
 eighteen cents pound and other hoHsehcld necessities at correspond 1ngly high prices are enough to make the home proVider look forward with apprehension to the coming winter. If conditions continue as they have the past year it is not improbable that the high prices of goods following the
 civil war will again be approached,
 the only difference being that today there is more money in circulation
 than in the sixties. Quoting from an old price book of the year 1868, fol-
 lowing the close of the war, we find articles selling at high prices, al-
 though some are but little higher than today. Coal for instance, in Mo-
 vember of 1868 sold for SIS and $14
 per ton. A bag of flour cost $1.94. Sugar sold at six pounds for the dol
 lar and butter sold at fifty and sixty cents per pound. Even soap was a luxury, selling at fifteen cents a cake, while a five cent box of matches cost four times that amount. Kerosene oil was almost prohibitive, selling at fifty and sixty cents gallon, almost three times the price at which motorists now kick at paying for gasoline. Lard sold well over twenty-five cents per pound. A comparison of these prices of almost a half century ago are in tereSting, and while old records in the hands of various readers may offer slight changes in some of the articles, these prices will be found to be a fair sample of those that prevailed.
 Today there is probably more mon- ey in circulation here than ever be- fore. General wages are good and work is plentiful, but while there is a lot of money it is not so distributed that there is not likely to be suffering in New Britain this winter. There are many positions held by local men with large families that have not been affected by the boost in wages. The advance in the cost of living has affected them, however, and they find that $1 today will go no further than would seventy-five cents a cou- ple of years ago. If the winter is a severe one it is probable that the several charity organizations will be soreIy taxed. Public opinion, backed up by reading and queries, seems to be that the basic reasons for the high prices of foodstuffs is due to a short age resulting from foreign exports Then, too, supply and demand and the speculator enters as a salient reason for the high prices. New Britain men and women will hold up their hands in horror at the price of pota- Ct rising price Justified, too, yet the parable of the glass house might be apropos to many. It all depends on their point of view. At present New Britain is stock crazy. Men and wo- men from all walks of life are putting their money into stocks. The maJor- ity, not for investment purposes, but for speculation. They buy these man ufacturng stocks and hold hold them for rise, when they will sell at profit. Every time their faVor1te stock rises point they slap each other on the back, rub their hands together gleefully and rejoice that the price has jumped and they are en- riched that much. As in other things, the demand and supply governs the price asd a great demand for a cer- tain stock causes it to rise. The holding Of this stock when it is in de- mand adds to it's value. All of which is regarded as a fine thing by our people.
 Take a view in another section or the country In the west people have the same inherent idea of get
 ting rich quick, but they have no DE manufa curing concerns Ihe1r Plo-
 ducts are the products or the SOIL
 flour, for instance. Therefore they invest their money in -four. Ihey
 know others want to buy 1t, thereIore thev refuse to sell, but hold it ana as the prices rise they too, are gleeIul' for it means more WeallH TOT Ihelii'
 The same way in Maine, where po- +atoes are a staple product. AS the nrice and a great demand for a cer-
 n,ieht we'll ina zine @ Maine man. just
 as honest as the average New Britain irvestor. meeting his friend on the e+reet and saying, Well, Bill, pototoes 1 sold for 225 today. They are on the | i,7nnn. The price will jump to 300 to- morrow. Sell? No, I'm going to hold onto my 5000 bushels until 1t hits 325 and make a cleanup in the market The two Illustrations are parallel l insofar as the primary reasons are 1 concerned, yet the average New 1 Brttainite cannot see the justice of 1 food producer holding out for more profits. True, inasmuch as the hold
 ing of local stocks for a profitable | rise does not mean that some poor | mortal in another part of the country l is starving to death for the need of | that article as is the case in the food
 products. yet the underlying princi-
 pal that governs the New Britain l speculatOr is the same one that 1 makes the other class of spectators 1 hold LID on the food-the mad idea i to get-rich-quick.