The evening Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1918-1920, 1919-02-17

and other cities told of decentralization
in wholesale prices. Corn, oats, bar
ley and rye dropt four to ten cent:
bushel. Pork fell off dollar {
barrel. Cheese might "continus
strong" but eggs fell off fifteen cent:
dozen in four days, and butter ter
cents pound ina week. Sucl
sharp declines came, as the New
York World notes ain succession tt
general tendency prevailing in prac-
tically all markets rejecting the nee
essary costs of living"
But while the wholesaler and the
average consumer who reads his daily
paper knows that prices are begin
ming the descent to something like
prewar levels, the retailers, The
World remarks, in general appear to
be still dwelling in the outer zone
of darkness" And The Evening
World calls attention to a certain
strange sensitiveness of the retailer
toward declines in the wholesale price
of any commodity he handles:
"Let the wholesale price be adj
vanced two cents, and behold even
before it is announced the retail
price bounds up ten cents.
'Let the wholesale price come down
ten cents and a month later the re-
tail dealer may reluctantly shave 8
penny off the price he has been
charging his customers"
Irony and bitter testing at the ex-
pense of the unpopular retailer might
be quoted from dozens of newspapers,
but his case is presented not by one
of his own trade, but by wholesale
dealer in butter and eggs who told
a New York Evening Post news
gatherer:
"The retailer has lot of goods on
hand that he paid high prices for. The
effect of a decrease in prices doesn't
affect him for some time after it
has occurred. When he has paid
sixty-fve cents for supply of eggs
he is reluctant to make cut in his
prices because the market price has
dropt to ffty-five cents"
This authority goes on to give
some reasons why the consumer
ought to feel very happy, even if his
grocer is only beginning to give him
the benefit of the new prices. He
sees nothing ahead but ga tremen-
dous decrease in prices, even to the
prewar standards" And here are
some of this practical business mans
reasons for saying so:
"There is tremendous production
going on in this country. Extreme
prices have encouraged the raising of
everything. There is bumper crop
of wheat and corn. Therefore cows
and hens will be well fed, and they
will be productive. In the United
States there is today $575,000,000
worth of cattle more than there was
a year ago. There are large holdings
of poultry all over the country. There
are such tremendous quantities Of
food that I don't know what we're
going to do with it. Schwab has
warned us that the export trade is
going to be very disappointing. AL
ready England has cancelled meat
contracts. And the United States
Government, formerly the largest
purchaser in the market of every
commodity, has withdrawn from com
petition.
"Last year the Government COM
Wandered forty per cent of all the
b,,t+a,. fo,. +bo coId;o,,c ord oo,.co-
ponding quantities of other products.
Imagine the effect the withdrawal of
this factor will have. With this out
look in supply, prices will go down
inevitably
The chief cause of the drop in pric-
es, says the Detroit News, is the large
surplus of foodstuffs that has been
piled up awaiting wars demands OF
possible further advance in prices,
but which must now be disposed of
For instance, we read,
Federal reports show that hold
ings of meat in refrigerators are six
ty-five to eighty-fve per cent higher
than in 1914; in other words, there
are 900,000,000 pounds of frozen
pork, 350,000,000 of frozen beef, and
106,0O0,000 of frozen poultry"
And there are other obvious rea-
sons for the drop in prices, the St
Louis Globe Democrat notes. The
open winter is one very strong fac
tor
'It has permitted unimpeded trans
portation of foodstuffs, and there
have not been the vast losses from
freezing suffered at this time las
year. The supply of vegetables from
the South has greatly helped, as i
has caused a switching from meat Il
vegetables, the lessening demand low
ering meat prices. The export de
mand for meat is also dwindling. TIL,
open winter has also moved the hen
to greater activity"
Nor is it food alone that is being
affected, as the st. Louis daily re
minds us. Reduction in cloth price
has begun, both wool and cotton fab
RIGS being affected" Clothing dealer
are said to "expect a material re
duction in next seasons prices and
still greater reduction for the sprin,
and summer of 1920" Yet after con
sidering the falling markets for bot
food and clothing, The Globe-Demo
crat warns the consumer that tho h