Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1920-01-01
DEMANDS
FINE WOODEN CLOTH
President Wood Says Substan-
tial, Durable Clothing Made
of Coarser Woods Is No Lon.
ger a Salable Article
REASON FOR HIGH PRICES
Argument That Good Suit of Cloth es
Can he Manufactured mt 81 Less
Than Prcsnt Prices Is No Longer
an Argument

Boston. Dec. 2s.--The insstence of the
public upon cloth made from fine woods
is large factor in the present high
prices of clothing according to William
M. Wood. president of the American
Wooden company. MIR. Wood. who recent
ly charged that some of the merchants
in Lawrence. Mass. were demanding ex-
cessive prices with every increase In
wages in the company's mills In that
city. gave out a prepared statement to-
night in response to n request for his
views upon the high cost of clothing.
''If our people would consent" was his
conclusion. ito wear good, substantial,
durable clothes, made of the coarser
woods. clothing could be purchased at
considerably lower prices than those
which now prevail
His statement, in part. follows:
ut is generally thought that the cost
of cloth is the controlling factor in the
cos; Of clothing, but the fact is that the
cloth cost is less than half the cost Of
a completed suit. and other factors con-
tribute to the price of clothing quite as
much as the cost of the cloth.
'In the last five years the price Of
clotn in the ordinary suit of clothes has
advanced no more, indeed. has advanced
a little less than the cost of labor and
other materials that go into the making
suit.
THE cost in 1919 of the cloth for a suit
of clothes of a particular grade is 1884
The corresponding cost in 1914 was S4.5S,
showing an increase in the cost of cloth
of 500.
THE 1919 cost of making this suit is
sl4.i7. The corresponding cost in 1914 was
$i.9S, showing an increase in the cost Of
making of S9.49.
These figures show that cloth con-
tributes slightly less than labor and other
to the increased cost of cloth
ing.
why have the costs and prices of
everything and especially of clothing SO
generally increased?
in the first place, war is always fol-
lowed by period of high prices.
This awful war which we have been
through has destroyed clothing and the
of clothing to the value of mill
lions-perhaps billions Of dollars. So ever
since the war started our manufacturing
have devoted their energies to
supplying military needs and consequently
have for years neglected the needs of the
civilian population. These needs now are
insstent.
Another factor of considerable effect
in bringing about high prices is the high
rate OF taxation. both State and federal.
I'VE recently made up sample Of
cloth in which coarse wool was used in
the warp only. The appearance of the
sample was but slightly different from
that made Of finer woods. 1t had in
marked degree the smooth, soft texture
of fine wool. Its cost was considerably
less than the fabric made of the finer
grades. AS a cloth, it was good. strong
and servceab!e. Before the war it would
have sold readily. but we We're abso-
lutely unable to put it on the market.
our selling agencies told us that there
was no demand for it; people would not
buy it; that customers insisted on fine
smooth, soft fabrics, and that. accord
inely, the manufacturers of clothing
would not buy this cloth if we made it
up in quantity. because they could not
sell clothes made from it. To our sug-
gestion that when people were COM
planning so of high prices, this cloth that
would make difference of S. 90 or more
in the cost OF suit ought to sell readily,
the reply was that $500 in the cost of the
cloth for a suit of clothes did not count
at all these days; that the people de.
manded the best and would put up with
no other"