Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1919-12-29
PEOPLE DEMAND
ONLY COSTLIEST
CLOTH, SAYSWOOD
manufacturer Says There Is
NO Sale for Clothes Manu-
featured From Coarse Wool,
However ServiceabIe.

~ o. AeitAOA III tllt present
nigh prices of clothing. according to
William NJ. Wood, president or the
american Wooden company. Mr.
wood, who recently charged that
some of the merchants in Lawrence
We're demanding excessive prices for
heeessaries and were in the habit of
raising prices with every increase in
the wages in the company's mill here.
gave out a statement tonight in re-
Spouse TO request for his views upon
the high cost of clothing.
II our people would consent" was
nus conclusion, ito wear good, sub
stanual, durable clothes made of the
coarser woods, clothing could be pur-
chased at considerably lower prices
than those which now prevail"
Ills statement in part follows:
II is generally thought that the
cost of cloth is the controlling factor
IN the cost of clothing, but the fact is
mat the cloth cost is less than half
the cost of completed suit. and other
FACTORS contribute quite as much To
The price of clothing.
Cost of Labor Does It.
In the last five years the nrica of
cloth in the ordinary suit of clothes
mas advanced no more. indeed. has
advanced little less than the cost
or labor and other materials that gn
INTO the making of the suit. The fol-
lowing figures show this which 7
have from manufactures All ,ner-
chant OF clothing Of the highest prom
lnence in Boston,
me cost in 1879 of the cloth for
suit of clothes of particular grade
Is $IS'oG The corresponding cost in
IVA was $4,5S, showing an increase
III the cost of cloth of 5000.
me 1919 cost of making this suit
- Sl4'si. The corresponding cost in
isl4 was $4.9S, showing an increase
IN the cost of making of $9.49.
Ihese figures show that cloth con-
trioutes slightly less than labor and
other materials to the increased cost
ol ciothing. Therefore, to your ques-
uoil why prices of clothing continue
so high throughout the country. the
reply is because the costs of labor ana
cloth and other materials that go into
clothlng continues so high"
Shortage in Cloth.
After pointing out that there 10 a
shortage of cloth and clothing in the
markets of the world, which always
means high prices" and that almost
every material and every process in
Volved in the manufacture of clothing
has to pay heavy tax, both state and
federal, Mr. Wood continued
INA measure. during the war, in to
a greater extent since, there has de-
Neloped a curiously insistentF demand
Tor cloth made from the finer and
mor9 expensive woods. People will no
longer buy cloth made of the coarser
and consequently cheaper grades, al
though clothing made from these
woods is both serviceable and sound.
Before the war the demand for these
finer grades of cloth was chiefly---in-
deed almost Xclusively--from the
more fastidious in taste, but now
everybody demands the finer clothes
and nobody will take anything else.
Can't Sell Coarse Cloth.
we recently made up q sample of
cloth in which coarse wool was used
in the warp only, The appearance of
the sample was but slightly different
from that made of finer woods. 1t had
in a marked degree the smooth. soft
texture of fine wool. AS a cloth it was
good, strong and serviceable. Before
the war it would have sold readily, but
we were absolutely unable to put it on
the market. :
Our selling agencies told us there
was no demand for it: people would
not buy it; that customers insisted on
fine, smooth, soft fabrics and that, ac-
cordingly, the manufacturers of
clothing would not buy this cloth if We
made it up in quantity. because they
could not sell clothes made from it.
Cost Doesn't Count.
To our suggestion that when people
were complaining so of high prices,
this cloth that would make differ
ence of IS or more in the cost of a
suit ought to sell readily the reply
was that SIS in the cost of the cloth
for suit of clothes did not count at
all these days. that the people de-
manded the best and would put up
with no other.
"Nor is this all. While during the
war the supply of coarse wool has
remained about stationary there is
now shortage in the@world's supply
of finer woods of about 200, 900 900
pounds.
1.-THE action of our own government
has still further contributed to keep
prices up.
What Government Does.
During the war agents of our gov
eminent purchased from the British
government some hundred million
pounds of Australian wool. When the
armistice came they released or trans
ferred two-thirds of this wool back
to the British government. The one
third that our government held they
offered only in limited quantities, the
keen competition for which carried |
it to tremendously high prices. Re- |
Gently the government sold some of
this wool in Boston at SAYS a pound. |
81 am not criticising government
officials They doubtless felt justi- |
fled both in returning this fine wool
to England and in getting the highest |
price possible for the woods they have |
on hand.
'They are selling these woods at |
prices far in excess of what they paid |
and therefore making profit for the |
government-which I assume they
think highly creditable to themselves. |
But when you put the question. why |
our people have to pay such high |
prices for fine clothing which they |
insist on having, you must not forget |
that one of the reasons for 1t is that |
the government is holding the wool |
which II bought at war prices for a i
profit"
BOY FOUND IS NOT |