The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-02-26
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
INFORMATION BUREAU
FREDERIC J. HASKIN, Director,
Washington, D. c.
THE RETAILER AND THE PRICE

Washington, D. c., Feb. ga
woman who holds a position in the
United States Food Administration, re-
Gently went to a small store in WASH
ington to purchase some dog meat,
for which she had been paying twenty
cents a pound. She learned that the
price had risen over night to thirty
cents a pound. She demanded to
know why.
The groceryman shrugged his Shout
ders, wagged his head, wiggled his
eyebrows, and uttered a single name.
"Mr. Hoover" he explained.
Then he found that he was in much
the same position as the truculent gen.
tleman who undertook to lick John l..
Sullivan, not knowing who the fighter
was For the woman of the food ad
ministration proceeded to explain to
that grocer with eloquence and force
that Mr.. Hoover did not regulate the
price of dog meat; that, furthermore,
he was reducing prices. not raising
them, and that any grocer who tried
to cheat the people and then put the
blame on Mr.. Hoover was little if any
better than Hun
The woman was right in everything
she said. You may think what you
will of Mr.. Hoovers methods. You
may consider him too radical or not
radical enough. You may want to
Know why he doesn't reduce prices
fifty per cent right away. But you
have no ground for distressing his
motives. Furthermore, if you look
into the matter closely you will find
that he undoubtedly has reduced the
prices OF some commodities, prevented
spectacular rises in others, and held
down the general cost of living at
time when 1t is as hard to hold down
as an excited bronco.
The public should realize that its
best hope of food at a reasonable cost
is the food administration. The food
administration has control of the man
ufacturer and wholesaler. 1t is ask
ing for the cooperation of the con-
sumner and the retailer. The prices
and abundance of food depend largely
upon the measure of cooperation
which these two accord Mr.. Hoover
And the retailer who seeks to make
MS patrons believe, as some retailers
undoubtedly do, that Mr.. Hoover is to
blame for the high prices, is a traitor
to the cause of food conservation.
When your retailer tries to give you
that for an excuse, you may know you
are in the wrong store. The right
store is the one that has a food ad-
ministration poster in its window or
on its wall, showing that the owner of
the store has pledged his honor to give
his customers the most moderate
price he is able. You will usually find
better prices where you find that
poster. Wherefore it is not only your
patriotic duty but also good business
to shun the grocer who tries to ex-
plain to you that Hooverism is the
real cause Of high prices.
A visit to the food administration
would convince any skeptic that the
spirit of that organization is right.
From the administrator down to the
humblesu stenographer, they are one
ana all food conservers, who practice
what they preach, and preach on every
possible occasion at great length and
with undoubted sincerity. They be-
lieve that they can feed the people of
America at reasonable prices, and
still send enough food to Europe to
win the war. They recognize that
their first duty is to feed America
They believe that the thing can be
done by arousing spirit of co-opera-
ton and willingness, without food
cards or autocratic mandates as to
what you shall eat and how much.
Most of the retailers are falling in
with that spirit. This is shown by the
fact that over half of all the retailers
in the United States have now signed
pledges of cooperation with the food
administration. But there are still
some retailers like the one mentioned
above, who can see nothing in this
situation but a chance to make some
easy money and offer an equally easy
explanation for their prices by men
tioning Mr.. Hoover or the war. Such
retailers are easy to spot and easy to
avoid.
The way the retailers are falling
slowly into line is shown by a study
of retail prices actually paid by con-
sumers In all parts of the United
States These prices still unaccount-
ably and unjustifiably vary No
doubt some of the variations are due
to local conditions, but most of them
are due to the attitude of the retailer
veyor of the necessaries of life in a
time of national crisis. Take wheat
flour for example. The average price
of a sack containing an eighth of
barrel is $1.60 for the whole country.
Yet in Utah you can buy that sack of
flour for $1-31, while in Florida the
average price is $1.S4. The average
price of round steak for the country
is .291. In Massachusetts, it costs 1886
on an average, and in Oregon only
.229- All thru the list of foods, SINH
lar variations will be found. Any con-
sumner can, of course, learn what the
price ought to be by consulting his
loca. paper where the food admins
tration publishes every day a list of
fair prices. The only trouble with
ferentiate between different kinds of
stores. Those that allow credit and
deliver goods have to charge more
than those that do neither. Those
that pay high rents for fashionable
locations must also charge higher
prices. You should learn the type of
stores in your vicinity that can afford
to give you the best price, and patron
iZe that, unless you want the extra
service, and are willing to pay for it.
In some cities the keepers of small
cash stores without delivery service
charge as much as any others. They
have no right to do so. In most cities.
however, a surprising variation will
be found in the prices of different
classes of establishments. Thus
STUDY in New York showed that the
price of sirloin steak in chain stores
was 35 to SO cents a pound: in retail
city markets % to 30 cents a pound:
in high class grocery stores so cents a
pound and in the typical small cash