Daily Kennebec journal., 1919-12-29

Boston. Dec 2s--The insislence Of
the public upon cloth made from me
woois IS a large factor III The pres
ent high prices Of clothing, accord
ing 70 William NJ. Wood. president OF
the American Wooden Conpauv. Mr..
Wood, who recently charged that
some Of the merchants IN Lawrence
were charging exorbitant prices Tor
necessar5es and were N the habit of
raising prices with every increase IN
wages IN the company's mills IN thar
city, gave OUT Il prepared statement
tonight III response 10 request for
his views upon the high cost OF cloth
ing
IF our people would consent was
his conclusion. TO wear good. sub
stanral, durable clothes made OF the
coarser woods. clothing could he pur-
chased at considerably lower prices
than those which now prevail"
/ His statement follows:
y ain asked to give my views as
10 why the prices OF clothing continue
SO high throughout the country. In
view Df the fact that we nanufac-
tIra cloth. no1 clothing. 1 assume that
my opinion is asked especially 10
find out in what degree the high
price of clothing Is due 10 the cost
of cloth.
1t Is generally thought that the
cost Of cloth IS the controlling fac
tor in the cost OF clothing. but in
fact the cost OF cloth is less than
half the cost Of a complete suit. and
other factors contribute TO the price
Of clothing quite as much as the cost
OF the cloth.
The first thing 10 note is this: In
the last five years the price of cloth
IN the ordinary suit of clothes has
advanced no more. indeed. has ad
vanced a little less than the cost of
labor and other materials that 20 into
the making of the suit. The follow
ing figures show this. which | have
from manufacturer and merchant
! Of clothing of ne highest prominence
IN Boston.
The cost IN 1919 Uf the cloth for
i SUIT Of clothes of particular grade
Is s13.sT. The corresponding cost IN
1914 was S4.5S showing an increase
in the cost Of cloth of a19.
The 1919 cost Of making this suit
IS S14.4T. Tie corresponding cost IN
1914 was S49S. showing an increase
in the cost Of making Of So. -.
These figures show thai cloth con-
tributes slightly less than labor and
other materials 20 the increased cost
of clothing Therefore 70 your an
swer why prices Of clothing continue
50 high throughout the country the
reply is because the costs of labor
and cloth anu other materials that so
into clothing continue so high.
IF wa go a step further back and
ask rou why the prices of the goods
that 20 into clothing are so high. the
repiy IS that these, prices are high
for the same reason that the prices
Of other things which we buy ara so
high. But the question you really
mean 20 put. I take il. IS why have
the costs and prices Of everything,
and especially Of clothing, SO gener-
ally Increased"
This. you will admit IS i pretty
difficult situation 70 answer. The
economists and learned people n
general have had much TO say about
it. If they have bean unsuccessful
in giving a satisfactory answer it
would be highly presuInptious IN me
10 attempt 10 analyze and state with
accuracy the operation ana effect OF
the different causes which have con-
trlbuted 70 bring about existing high
prices But without attempting any
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