The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-10-12
QUOTATIONS ON 42 ARTICLES

There are forty-two quotations in | the list Eliminating twenty-eight be- | cause the variation is only fractional I and negligible we have fourteen more to consider. Of these fourteen, six are
 fresh meats, which Rust be considered separately, since A grocers do not handle them. The eight remaining arti- cles are: Sliced bacon, canned salmon,
 butter, cheese, baked beans, prunes, coffee and bananas.
 These eight articles of consumption are groceries that can be purchased in various grades. You can't make the arbitrary statement that coal is $S ton--there are grades that average from s6 to S10, perhaps. Neither can you say accurately. that canned sal mon is 259c in Atlanta and 35c in Birmingham. No doubt you can get a cheaper grade of salmon in Birming-
 ham for 2oc, cheaper than your 25sc salmon in Atlanta. It's the same way with cheese quoted at 40.9c, Atlanta. . and 42.6c, Birmingham. There are va rious grades of cheese-the best grade costs 40c pound wholesale; a cheaper grade we could sell at less than 40.9c, the Atlanta price quoted.
 Baked beans are quoted at IT .4c, Atlanta; 19.5c. Birmingham. There are various qualities of canned baked beans. You can buy some kinds here at 15c. Bananas are quoted at 309c Atlanta; and 39.2c, Birmingham, As matter of fact, bananas have been sell ing in Birmingham since May at any where from zoe to 40c, according to size. Prunes, similarly, vary according to- size and quality-there is no arbi- trary price for just prunes.' There are various qualities of breakfast bacon. Isn't it rather indefinite to rr,ota m pere1y ibacon sliced"
 PRICES PRACTICALLY THE SAME "So much for statistics. You are faced with a formidable table that on the face of it seems to prove abso- lutely that the cost of living is higher in Birmingham than in Atlanta You analyze the figures and discover that twenty ei ghts of the articles are prac- tically the same in bNh cities, some of them lower in Birmingham by&a fraction of a cent, some of them higher than in Atlanta. You find that the eight remaining grocery items are arti- cles that vary in price according to quality, and that can be bought even more cheaply in both cities than at the | prices quoted What have your fig ures proved?
 They say figures don't lie, but ] l have found that the only really truth | ful figures are the kind that are so 1 intricate and accurate that they put 1 you to sleep.
 | Retail grocers. of Birmingham feel tthat they haven't had a square deal. The 1 suspicion of 'profiteering' has been di- rected at them because prices have l been high. when, as a matter of fact, 1 the groeer's margin of profit is higher when prices are low.
 How much credit for. patriotism did the grocers of Birmingham get during l the war? How many people know that ! they sold articles of food at prices l fixed by the government, and realized
 from them practically no profit? How
 many people know that sugar was sold frequently at loss? A profit of one 1 cent pound on sugar was allowed by l the food administration. The grocer
 was required by the government to buy I printed certificate blanks for use in | Keeping a record of sugar sales. and | these blanks cost 40 cents a hundred,
 more than half a cent apiece. Figure | the cost of paper sacks, twine. clerk 1 hire. delivery, wastage. and estimate
 what the profit was on sugar. The
 prices. on breakfast bacon, lard. eggs,
 bulk meat, and other items were also fixed by the government, and the mar
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