The labor world., 1920-05-15

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sufficient to replace the entire value
of their capital stock within period
of slightly over four years.
49, ,.~5'H Do Not Reveal All.
That. the above disclosures do not
reveal completely the extent OF cor
Observation-Disclosures, since corporations,
have been, and are utilizing various
devices to conceal the full measure
.qf their earnings, such as excessive
deductions for depletion and deprecia-
tion, payment Of astoundingly exces-
sive salaries and grossly fictitious roy
alties and rents.
That instead of labor costs being
the, initial influence in forcing in
Greases in the cost OF living. wage
increases have Jagged behind price
INCREASES: that prices were pushed
tup by factors over which workers
! had no control; that labor as a class
is now worse off than it was before
the war; that in the distribution of
the income of the country labor is
receiving smaller proportion than it
did before the war, while capital, in
the form OF profits, interest and rent.
Is receiving very much larger pro-
portion; that capital is "profiteerine
on such a scale as to menace the fu-
ture Of the country
q Government Failed.
Flat failure of the government de.
partmants charged with protection of
tho public against prof1teering was in
dicated by Mr.. Lauck. He pointed
to the case Of sugar, saying that the
extraordinary increase in price, now
amounting to more than 800 per cent
can find no justification in terms Of
wages paid to labor to produce it. In
crease in labor cast was less than is
per cent Of the increase paid by the
consumer. Unbridled exploitation by
II leading sugar producers. of the
E country was reflected in an increase
OF the net profits Of these concerns
from an average Of 100000 for
the years 1912-13-14 to an average
q Of $34,O00,000 for the years 1916
I 17-1S.
!, This increase in profits was not due
to increased production, for the evil
dence at hand proves beyond a doubt
that the profit per pound of sugar
was, practically three times as large
in the years 1916-77-18 as during the
pre-War years period.
lt'' Shoe Profiteering.
Tn the shoe industry, the profit
items amounted in 1917 to approx
mately three-fifths Of the total price
and over five times the total labor
. costs. The astounding thing about
the shoe industry is this proportion
Of. the price which goes into various
margins, especially when contrasted
with labor's share Of the price. In
1914, all the labor, from the hide to
the finished shoe, absorbed less than
one-sixth of the price paid by the con-
sumer, while in 1917 this share OF
labor had fallen to one-ninth:
The question as to who is respons-
lble for the increased cost Of pair
Il shoes quickly can be answered when
it is realized that OF the $3.50 increase
IN, the price of pair Of standard
shoes, labor received Is cents, while
4 the margin Of various manufacturers
J and merchants absorbed $z:75. Very
obviously, if the various proftteers had
been satisfied with reasonable mar
gins, the price of shoes need not have
advanced very seriously.
The shocking truth about the shoe
industry is that profits increased so
rapidly and 50 extortionately. until in
191S the shoe bought by the consumer
was actually worth little more than
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