Daily Kennebec journal., 1919-12-29
HIGH PRICES
Continues from Pane One)

analysis as 70 economic or remote
causes. there are a few plain prope-
sitions which can state with which
think everybody viii agree
In the irsr place. war is always
followed by a period of high prices
War means the destruction of the ne
! csssities of life in enormous quanti-
ties. together with the diversion of
, the product or industry from it's Us
uai channels.
So this awful war winch we have
been through has destroyed clothing
and the material Of clothing TO the
ralUe OF rnillions-peraaps billions Of
doiairs So ever since the var start
ed our manufacturing INDUSTRIES
have devoted their energies 10 sup
plying military needs. and conse-
Quently have for Years neglected the
needs Of lhe civilian population.
These needs are now insistent. There
IS 1 shortage Of cloth ana clothing in
the markets ~ The world. The de-
mand far outruns production. Il
needs no argument 10 snow cilat
when cloth and clothing are scarce
this scarcity always means hign
prices.
Another factor Of considerable 81
fect IT bringing about nigh prices is
the hlgh rate Of taxation both state
ana federal. Almost every material
ana every process involved in the
manufacturing Of clothing has % pay
a heavy burden Of taxation on the
profits Of the merchant and rnanufac-
turer. This cause OF high price has
besE but little commented upon. But
. 20 m mind L IS an efficient and IN
por-ant cause of the increased cost
nj living, which includes the in
I creased coS1 Of clothing.
But. oerond these causes viEict!
result III pre general scale Of high
prices. there are. l believe. certain
factors which have affected the cost
Of cloth and clothing These are the
! :nost interesting, and believe. are
I rhe things 70 yhicn your inquiry is
! more particularly directed.
In the first place. il & measure
| during the war. ana d q greater AK
! tent since. there has developed a
1curousiy lnsistent demand for cloth
made from the finer and more eEpen-
/ sive wools- People will no longer buy
! Cloth made Of the cosrser and conse-
! quently cheaper grades. although
| clothing made from these weels IS
/ both ser--icea bic and sound Before
I the war the demand for these finer
! grades Of cloth was cniefiy-indeed
| almost exclusisely-from the more
! fastidioHs IN taste, but now every
I body demands the finer clothes and
I nobody wall take anything else.
! Let me illustrate by 4 particular
instance. We recently made up 4
sample Of cloth IN winch coarse
wool was ussn IN the warp only. The
: appearance Of the sample was but
slightly different from that made Of
1ner WOODS. II had IN 4 marked de-
gree the smooth. soft texture Of fine
wool. Its cost vas considerably less
than the fabric made OF the tuer
grades. As cloth il was good.
strong and serriceable. Before the
war il would have sold readily. but
We were absolutely unable 70 put il
On the market.
Our selling agencies told is thar
thsre was 10 demand for ii; people
would noi buy II; that customers in
sisted on fine. smooth. soft fabrics
ana that. accordingly. the nauufac-
turers Of clothing would not buy this
cloth Il We made L up IN quantity
because they could not sell clothes
made from il. To our suggestion that
when people were complaining so Of
high prices, tins cloth that would
make 4 difference Of IS or more n the
oost Of suit ought 10 sell readily.
rhe reply was that IS IN the cost Of
the cloth for a suit of clothes did
not count at all these days: that the
people demanded the best and would
put UP with no other.
Now note the effect OF the demand
On the price OF wool. The fine WOO!
comes N part from our own countrr
ort chiefly from Australia. TIE coars-
AZ woods are largely South American
and domestic.
In March. 1911. lust before We an
tered the war. the different grades q
wool were selling al pr1ces sonnet hing
Ike this: The cozrser grades 70 cazts
pound: The liner grades (domesfic),
us per pound; the finest Australian
woois. u-6 a pound. Vow these same
grades Of wool ire sailing: The coarser
grades al % cents pound. the finer
'doInestir) at e per pound. the Hness
Australian at rs pound
While the dorne site finer grades have
Increases from SIS TO Gan increase
OF % cents-and the tinest Australian
from 1.sS 70 s.-5-an increase of n-N-
the coa-ser grades have actually fallen
n price from 75 cents 10 I cents-a de.
crease Of . cents a pound
Nor Is this all While during the
war the supply of coarse woods has re-
NAMED about sta.ionsry-ags normal in
crease merely being checked-there j.
row = shortage II tie worlds SUPPLY Of
finer woods Of about two hundred nil
lion pounds.
'BCt besides this increase 0. demand
for the finer voo.s and shortage in the
world supply, the action Of our own