Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-01-21


recently said:
Most people seem to think that
clothes prices are high. Measured in
tlS, number of dollars it takes to pur-
chase a suit, they are. But measured
In the prices of things WHICH the pro-
Queer has to sell, or in the wages
| paid for service performed they are
| no higher than they were before the
war. In many instances, as matter
/ of fact. they are not so high.
! Compare clothing prices. for in
stance. with that of corn, the great
American money crop. In 1914 the
! Iowa farmer had to haul fifty bushels
of corn to market in order to get the
money TO pay for s25 suit of
! clothes. Now he can get $50 suit
! and $40 pair of shoes for his fifty
bushels of corn.
! 1T may be that he doesn't haul corn
to market. but feeds it to his hogs.
On December so. 1914. he had to sell
four hundred pounds of hogs at the
top price of the Chicago market to get
the money to pay for SIS suit and a
SO hat. On December 80. 1919. if he
sold four hundred pounds of hogs at
the top price of the Chicago market
2 he came within 50 of receiving the
money to buy $50 suit and there
have been long periods in the last two
years when he would have got from
$50 to ss2 for his four hundred
pounds of hogs.
IF. December so, 1914. he market
| ed a thousand-pound corn-fed steer
at the top price of the Chicago mar
ket he got $3.50 for it. If he mar
! keted ii December so, 1919. for the
| top price. he got s195 for it-money
enough to buy pretty nice outfit of
clothes even at present prices.
Wheat Used for Comparison.
"OfFicial government reports tell us
that the average farm value of wheat
November I. 1914. was ~ cents
bushel. The farmer who sold fifty
| bushels got $3.50. or just about
enough to buy SIS suit a s. pair of
shoes. a So hat. two or three good
shirts. and then some handkerchiefs.
: The farm value of wheat on NoveT-
! Der l. 1919. was s2.13 a bushel. and
the farmer who sold fifty bushels at
his home station received s106.5o or
enough to buy him fine $50 suit and
a big. thick overcoat If farmer
happens to live in the northwest and
to have held his wheat until now he
can get somewhere near SO a bushel
for grain of good quality.
while we are talking about the
northwest. il may be we'll to mention
the farmer who raises f1axseed. The
government tells US that on the 1st
average of s1.1S7 per bushel at the
farm stations for his seed. For TWEEN
ty-five bushels he got just about
enough money for his $2o suit and
hat If he marketed his flaXseed on
November 1. 1919, he got an aver
age of $3.50 a bushel at the home sta
ton For twenty-five bushels he got
Se5.5O-enough to pay for his sou
suit and leave $3.50 for hat. shoes
and furnishings for the winter.
You may think the northwe est is
particularly favored territory. but
let's look at the south: where they
raise cotton We all remember how, in
the fall of 1914. the buy bale OF
cotton" campaign was on TO save the
producer from ruin.
1914 Price of Cotton.
1.-The price of cotton in the fall or
1914 was down to cents a pound TOT
a time. but that's hardly fair com
harrison. Let's go back to November
/. 1918. when the average farm price
was Is cents pound The farmer
then had to market 1913 pounds of cot
ton to pay for a $25 suit. On NoVem-
was 365 cents a pound and the grow
er could pay for $50 suit by selling
only 165 pounds of cotton
.aThe average price paid to the farm
err all over the United states 1or out
ter on November /, 1914. was 26-4 cents
mound. while on the same day IN
| 1918 he got Sc cents pound TOT ~
| For his eggs he got 25.3 cents a dozen
| on November 1, 1914. while he got %
cents a dozen for them in 1919
The sheep raiser who produces VIZ,
for his money crop naturally mas quite
| a keen interest in the price OF CLONES.
| The government tells us that the
average sheep raiser all over tIie
! T-nited states got 15.o cents pound
; for his wool at the country stations
nn Eoyember /. 1913 He had to sell
/ 1911 pounds to get money to pay for a
| so5 suit of clothes. On November l.
! 1919. the average price paid 10 the
! producers for wool was DUB cents d
pound He only had to sen lls y
! pounds of wool to get enough money
70 buy $50 suit of clothes.
| "On November 1, 1914, while all Eu-
rome was at war and we were not, the
| farmer received on an average OF
Il 2s cents a bushel for his POTATOES.
Fifty bushels left him very narrow
| margin over the price of va SUIT.
on November 1. 1919. he was getting
an average of S1.53 per bushel for his
potatoes The price of fifty Dushels
bought him $50 suit of clothes ana
| a fine pair of shoes. and left him
! few dollars for sundrles.
Effect ON Working Man.
But how about the working man?
| Let's start with the man who husks
| corn for the Iowa farmer. In 1914 ne
t got cents bushel for the work and
/ the crop was of such a character that
/ he did well if he husked 100 bushels
! DAY He had to work twelve and one
half days to pay for so suit OF
clothes Last fall he demanded and.
! in most instances. got cents bushei
= for husking corn. The ears were so
big and plentiful that it was no trick
at all for him to husk 125 bushels.
Z earning SO day. 1t took him just
six days to earn enough to pay for
a $50 suit.
/. The government tells us that the
average pay for farm laborers hired
by the month in 1914 was s21.05 and
board. In 1919 wages went up to
minimum of $40, and ran to even $50
| or S65 in many instances. the gong
day wage for harvest hands in 1914
was s1.55. In 1919 they were hard
Workers in the cities do almost
as well. The Baltimore bricklayer
who in 1913 got As cents an hour had
to work fifty-five and one-half hours
to earn money for s25 suit of
and works sixty hours for $50 suit
of clothes. However. he gets in a
lot more overtime and is not idle
nearly 80 many days. SO he is rela-
lively better off than he was in 1918.
The New Orleans blacksmith in
1918 received So cents for an hours
work when he could get work 1t
took him seventy hours to earn his
s25 suit Now he earns his $50 suit
by working seventy-fve hours at so
cents an hour. and has all the work
he wants regular and overtime.
THE Buffalo boilermaker got 36.l
cents an hour in 1913; he gets 1925
cents now. The unskilled laborer in
the building trades at st. Louis got 2o
cents an hour six years ago; he now
gets 625 cents. In Jacksonville. Fla.
the carpenter who earned 81 cents
then gets 65 cents now. In Chicago