The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1919-04-02
ANSWER AS TO WHEN FOOD PRICES
Will DECLINE SECRET OF FUTURE
BY WILLIAM r. sANsoRN.


The great American public wants to
cessitias Of life are to strike a lower
level This is not only true as to the
great mass Of consumers, but also as
both as packers, Wholesale distribut-
ors, and also the vast army OF retail
eis;, the country over
1t is, for the present, an unanswer-
able question, a problem Of which the
solution may stin lie some distance
in the future As to prices of luxu-
ries even the food administration took
no account Imported delicacies had
an open season In this country. short
~ after war was declared, and there
were stocks of these in this country,
bought and paid for In 1894, that
were quickly advanced 100 per cent. In
Chicago, New York and in other large
cities. And because Of this advance
on imported goods, dainties OF Amert-
can production soon began climbing,
and that too at the time we were
neutral" The entire canned fruit
and preserving industry was first az
fected by the advancing cost of sugar.
and then by the limitation OF quantity
obtalnable. But Of this the food ad-
ministration took no note whatever,
except as to the amount Of sugar to
be obtained and to limit the profit that
might be added to cost, both IN
wholesale and retail way.
Getting Back to Normal.
All this Is In the past tense. What
! we are now all interested in is the
getting back to normal" The normal
of the past will never be normal"
again In this country, In the lifetime
at least of any middle-aged man.
What has happened to the world Is
revolutionary. We stand on higher
plane as to wages and as to prices
And with this fact in view the re-
taller hos evidently come to the con-
clusion that his time and his invest
ment Is worth more money, greater
profit, If you please.
The safety valve of competition ap-
plies more directly to food, and the
law Of supply and demand is broader
in action as to the necessities or Ire
than to the Injuries. And while this IS
true as to it's downward pull on prices
It is also true as to their uplift when
the nation or the world Is hungry. or
this truth the war-stricken countries
furnish q concrete example, and be-
CAUSE VI lllCll SohOllAoh w A"'S N~--
correspondingly suffered, as consum-
ers, to the benefit, however, OF those
fortunate enough to be able to pro-
duce.
Comparative Prices.
The Bureau of Statistics at Wash
ington has recently sent out its sta
tistical story Of the cost Of living in
twenty of the principal cities of the
United States. These figures purport
to be the average retail prices in the
cities named, at the beginning OF the
year, and their finding relate. evident
". to prices ruling in December. AS
is usual in departmental discoveries
in Washington, the results have been
given to the public three months late.
They have all the time there Is, and
then some, in Washington, so what s
the hurry?
According to a summary or this doc
ument, and as the tables show. prices
I have increased as follows: On sir
\ loin steak, 81 per cent; pork chops
1O4 per cent; pound of bacon, liz
per cent; pound Of ham 1O1 pei
cent: roast beef, 60 per cent; round
steak, 70 per cent; a pound or laro
116 per cent: lamb, sc per cent.
chicken, IS per cent; fresh eggs, ~
per cent. per dozen, storage eggs, 81
per cent. per dozen; milk, 73 per cent
per quart; a pound loaf of bread Il
per cent; -four, 100 per cent. PEI
pound; meal 106 per cent; potatoes
IS per cent. per pound; and sugar, lOt
Der cent. The general average in
crease Of all articles combined is Z.
per cent.
It is claimed that, everything con
sidered, prices in Minneapolis are tn
lowest and in Providence the highes
of any American city. BY way or com
parison, we print the prices given II
the government tables for these tw'
cities: