Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1920-01-24
THE cLoTAreR's vtrwporNr.
Prless High In Number o. Dollars, Bu'
Not by Comparlaon.

Prlcss High In Number % Dollars, But
Not by Comparison.
Most people seem to think that
clothes prices are high" said q chi
cago wholesaler of mems clothing, In
discussing tho much talked.of subject
Of high prices, Measured IN the num-
Dor OF dollars II takes 10 purchase a
suit they are, but measured in tho
prices OF things which the producer has
to sell. or In wages paid for services
performed, they are no higher than
they were before the war. In many
instances, as q matter Of fact, they arc
not so high.
Compare clothes prices, for instance.
with those Of corn, the great American
money crop. In 1914 the Iowa farmer
had to haul flfty bushels of corn to
pay for q s25 suit OF clothes. Now he
can get n SEQ suit and $40 pair Of
shoes for his fifty bushels of corn.
ut may be that he doesn't haul his
corn to market. but feeds II to his
hogs, On Dec. 80 1914. he had to sell
400 pounds Of hogs at the top price OF
the Chicago market to get the money
to pay for a $25 suit and SO hat.
On Dec. 80. 1919. II ne sold 400 pounds
of hogs at the top price of the Chicago
market he came within 50 Of receiving
the money to buy q $50 suit, and there
have been long periods in the last
two years when he would have re-
ceived from $50 to $92 for his 400
pounds Of hogs
eff, on Dec. 30, 1914" the wholesaler
continued, "he marketed q / 900 pound,
corn-fed steer at the top price of the
Chicago market, he got s91.50 for 1t.
If he marketed II on Dec. 30. 1919, for
tho top price, he got s195 for it-money
enough to buy pretty nice outfit OF
clothes even at present prices.
"The average price paid to the farm
ers all over the United States for but
ter on Nov. /, 1914. was 264 cents per
pound, while on the same day in 1919
he received Sc cents a pound for It.
dozen, Nov. /, 1914. while the price
paid for them in 1919 was "a cents a
dozen.
THE sheep raiser who produces
wool for his money crop naturally has
quite keen interest in the price of
clothes. The government tells ue that
the average sheep raiser all over the
United States received 155 cents a
pound for his wool at the country sta
tons on Nov. 1, 1914. He had to sell
161 pounds to get money to pay for q
S25 suit OF clothes. On Nov. l, 1919, the
average price paid to the producers for
wool was sos cents a pound. He only
had to sell 11s1a pounds Of wool to get
enough money to buy a $50 suit of
clothes.
"On Nov. l, 1914. while all Europe
was at war and we were not, the farm
er received an average Of 52.s cents q
bushel for his potatoes. Fifty bushels
left him a very narrow margin over the
price of s25 suit. On Nov. 1, 1919, he
was getting s1.53 a bushel for his po
tatoes. The price OF fifty bushels
bought him a $50 suit of clothes.
~Sut how about the working man?
The government tells us that the av~
erage pay for farm laborers hired by
the month in 1914 was s2I.05 and board.
In 1919, the wages went UP to mini
mum Of $40, and ran even to $50 or SOS
In many instances. The prosperity Of
the worker is no longer adequately
measured by his wage rate per hour.
Five years ago work was scarce; q
large percentage OF workers expected
to be Idle many days IN the year. Now
there is demand for the service Of ev-
cry available man in practically every
trade, not only for forty-four or forty
eight hours a week at regular pay, but
for many hours OF overtime at double
pay.
rs It any wonder that tho demand
for clothes " enormous7 Producer and
worker alike have more money, in pro-
portion. to spend for clothes than they
ever had before, They want good
clothes, too, and are creating an I'M
usual demand for thsm.'