Arizona republican., 1918-03-13
RAISE IN MEAT
 PRICES CAUSES
 CONSERVATION
Wholesalers State Business Has Been Done At An Ab-
 solute Loss-Restaurants Planning to Organize

Claiming that an advanuce in whole sale meat prices to large consumers amounts to an average Of from IS to 20 per cent. considerable alarm was expressed in Phoenix yesterday over the new meat price list just issued. Restaurant men say that they must readiust their business to live while those who do the wholesaling say that at the old price they have absolutely done business at a loss. The whole matter has been taken up for investi- gation by the local food administration. The new prices went into effect last Saturday, affecting all lines of meat and compelling the retailer to charge proportionately higher on all cuts. He is now paying l5la cents a pound for cows by the side, an advance of 212 cents over the last price. For side of steers he is paying at the rate of 20 cents per pound, an advance of 412 cents. Beef loins have advanced cents and triangles 31s cents, while prime ribs have shot up to 30 cents wholesale. an advance of 50 per cent. No market for hides and other by products is the reason given by the slaughtering concerns to their custom CTS for the new price schedules. The wholesalers side of the meat tale is well presented in a circular letter dis tributed to the trade by the Phoenix Wholesale Meat and Produce company which reads as follows:
 By-Products Are Drug
 Phoenix, March 9, 1918. Dear Sir:
 Enclosed you will find price list which may strike you as being eX- orbitant rates for dressed beef and other products shown on this list. But we assure you that it is with a great deal of reluctance that we mail you list showing prices at which we are obliged to sell or suffer financial ruin. At the figures quoted it is not mat ter of making money, but an effort to get our money back on the goods we are offering you.
 You may not be informed on the market for by-products in the fresh meat line such as hides, and in fact all of the by products. But we assure you that there is no market for hides today that will yield the cost of the hide on the animal alive, making it necessary to impose sufficient revenue on dressed meat to make up for the demoraliza- ton of hides and other by-product markets.
 We have supplied you with dressed
 
 tremendous loss, expecting markets to improve. Instead of improving they have gradually declined until today there is practically no market at all for any of these products. You and We are in no way responsible for these conditions and we look upon our prod ucts the same as other commodities that our products must be sold in keeping with their cost.
 We trust you will be able to rear range your prices with your trade in q manner that will enable you to con- tinue your orders with us. We assure you that upon any decline in the live stock market or advance in markets Tor by-products We will promptly re- adjust our quotation to you We thank you for your patronage in the past anC trust that conditions will become suci in the near future that we can offeI you something better and in the mean time we will have the privilege ol serving you.
 Yours very truly,
 "PHOENIX WHOLESALE MEAT X PRODUCE COMPANY.
 ''Ie. HACKETT,
 'sNice PreSidantp