Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1919-08-09
Present High Prices From
the Retail Merchants Kiew

country seeking tho products OF our
mills and looms--and they are offering
the prices that get the goods, too. In
creased wages OF clerks and everything
elise. OF course. has had AN influence
also.
Clothing.
The clothing men tell us the same
story as the dry goods men. c. ~.
Hinkley. who recently returned from
New York. was told that prices viii
inevitably go higher. The top viii be
reached in the spring OF 1890. hut n de-
cline In expected In the fall. Labor ~
the principal element OF expense In q
factory. and about every factory Is on
"a forty four hour week basis. with
high wages At the present time all
the mills are behind on their orders
Merchants last winter and spring were
slow in placing their orders. They were
waiting for the prices- TO drop. But
they didn't drop. Then the orders all
came IN la "a heap. Thc foreign huyer
Is on hand and has an attractive offer
to the manufacturer. A lot OF the raw
material In not obtainable In their own
country and America must supply the
world.
The Baker.
Now, how about the baker with his
l0-cent loaf OF bread? To our question
Aren't you making more money now
than you did before the war;" he re-
piled. IL should say not" His story
seems reasonable with eighteen ounc-
cs OF dough we make n iO-ccnt Loaf
with flour from sig to sii per barrel
Before the war we used sixteen ounces
OF dough for a 5-ccnt loaf. with flour
from 81 to si.25 per barrel. II can be
clearly seen that to secure the same
ratio of profit the present loaf should
sell for considerably more than 10
cents. And In addition 10 all this, a
good baker received about SEQ per week
while now a good baker pulls down
about forty plunks each week.
The Barber.
We didn't ask the BARRIERS why
had put the question TO them we have
an idea they would have told us that
it was not on account OF the price
Of soap, but that the cash income
would in measure enable them to
pay their grocer. butcher. and other
store bills and expenses.
Tho Shoe Dealer.
We asked one of our shoe dealers
why he charged so much for shoes and
he replied that 1t was simply because
he had to pay the Wholesaler big
prices.
The Carpenter, the Laborer, Etc.
Let's go on down the line. and we
asked a carpenter why he gets more
for hie 10 hn, la H., n
had to get higher wages than form
erly in order to pay the grocer. the
baker, the butcher. the merchant,
etc. etc. and the same would be CIV
en- US from all laborIng men.
The Cafe.
'"rhe II. c. of L. just gets my an
CORA" said one of our cafe men. I'VE
do business on n very close margain.
in fact. If l closed my doors and
hired out to- n farmer at the present
wage scale | would make more money.
My meat bill runs about $500 a week,
while the cost of eggs, butter and
groceries nearly scares me. The good
old days were much better for us. And
then there is the help proposition
with its increased cost. It's enough
to bring gray hairs to our head In a
day."
The Butcher.
The butcher at the retail block, IL
he is a proiteer. won't admit 1t. With
the high cost of everything he has to
have a greater margin than formerly.
The Farmer.
Did we ask the farmer IL he wa. get
ting too much for his produce? No.
But If we had, we know he would say
no. We ali want to see the real pro-
Queer receive just and reasonable re-
turns for his labor and capital in
vested.