The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1919-03-31

mated against and could not under
stand the reason, while some even
thought that there was an attempt
on the part of the importer to hold
out for higher prices. However,
such supposition is absurd be-
cause an investigation of condi-
tons in the trade shows that all
the larger houses have been taking
especial pains to discriminate in
favor of no one of their regular
customers over another but have
been using every effort to be fair
by apportioning the goods as they
came in among customers, in as
equitable a manner as possible.
What is more, none of the reputa-
BILE houses have used the occasion
for "profteering" despite the fact
that here and there offers of extra
prices and bonuses have constantly
been made by people who wished
to get certain goods within a GER
tain time.
Such a condition could not help
but cause a jump in prices in few
instances among small dealers who
were willing to take advantage of
the opportunities offered, but TAX
ing the trade as a whole the ques-
ton of price of goods has been no
factor either with importer or with
customer. The trouble of the for
mer has been purely in the allot-
ment of such gems as he received
to the customers who needed them
most.
AS a representative of one large
cutting house put the situation to
Jenkins & Company last week.
Never in my entire career in the
diamond trade have l seen condi-
tions such as they are today. 1t is
due wholly to the fact that prob
ably for the first time in history
the demand for diamonds is so far
ahead of the supply in sight that
it will be a long time before we
catch up to normal conditions
again. There are practically no
diamonds in stock in the country.
The stocks have been absorbed and
there is no chance to recoup be-
cause as fast as gems come in they
are taken up.
CAS- far as we are concerned, we
thought we had prepared for the
conditions and had one of the larg-
est shipments of rough we ever
brought in some months ago, but
this has been snapped up as fast as
it has been cut, and today we have
not in stock 40 per cent of the
amount of goods that we usually
feel is necessary to carry at this
season of the year."
When asked about the report
published in one of the New York
papers that S1O,OO0,O0O worth of
gems could be quickly absorbed,
he said, There is no doubt about
it; it would not take any more than
the large houses to take up these
gems to fill up their stocks Even
then if we refused to make any
further sales, the orders that we
have on hand would keep us busy
for long time"
NO." he answered, "the import
ers are not attempting to take adj
vantage of the situation, they are
trying to conserve the jewelry
trade as whole. Why, we have
not had a single shipment of goods
land we have had severaD that we
could not have sold at a profit with
out going out to our customers at
all by simply allowing them to be
sold to other dealers in this build
ing-but that is not business.
What we are trying to do, and
what others are trying to do, is to
see that such goods are equitably
distributed to all parts Of the coun-
try and that the customers who
have stood by us in the past when
the market was not active will get
proper consideration in their needs
today"