The Aberdeen weekly. [volume] (Aberdeen, Miss.) 1878-1933, 1920-05-14
PRESENTS STUDY
IN PROF|TEER|NG
DECLARES PRoFITEERINc m IN.
DUsTRY Is FUNDAMENTAL
CAUSE OF HIGH PRICES.
PREPARED BY W. J. LAUCk
Former Secretary Of War Labor Board
Makes Some Startling Revelations
Anent Huge Profits Made in
Necessities of Life.

! Washington.-A study of profiteer
Ing in American industry, made uu
der the auspices of the railway broth
erhoods, was presented to the railroad
labor board in support Of the railwa,
| workers demands for higher wage.
and to refute the charge that increased
Labor costs are responsible for the
! high cost of living
PREF AIRED by w. j. Lauck, former
secretary of the war labor board. thu
study seeks to show that profiseerina
In industry is the fundamental cause
for high prices in practically al com.
modities. 1t gives many statistics to
support that contention.
Calling attention to the many war.
made millionaires, the study contends
that a three-fold relationship exists
between high prices, profiteeriny and
the addition to the quota of million
aires" and that the increase in the
wealth OF the wealthy is an ''un-
answerable" refutati6n to all attempts
to charge labor with profiteering and
to all attempts to hold labor RESPONSE
BILE for the high cost OF living.
OF the extraordinary increase in the
price OF sugar now amounting to 500
per cent, the study says the increase
In labor cost paid by the consume.
was less than 5 per cent. The result
Of advanced prices, according to the
quoted reports of twelve companies
producing over half Of the sugar con.
sumed In the United States was pict
ured in the net profits Of these con-
Germs which. 1t was said, rose from an
average OF $11. 0OO, 900 during the years
1912-1914 to $34,O00,000 for the years
1916-191S.
In the meat packing industry where
tween 500 and 400 per cent, the la
Dor item was shown so small that
wage increase OF 100 per cent would
add less than per cent to the total
cost Of the meat The increase in the
price between 1914 and 1918 was
shown as eight times the total labor
cost. and the 1918 price represented
Is times the total labor item
Profits absorb approximately one
half the retail price of certain kinds OF
cloth, the report declared, while the
labor item amounts TO from one-four
teenth to one-twentieth of the price.
Similar relations were pictured in the
of mems garments.
Shoes, according to the study, fur
l'shed splendid opportunity for the
,rofiteer." The profit items in 1914, 1t
vas charged, absorbed nearly one
ialf the price paid by the consumer. |
,r nearly three times the total labor |
,ost. while in 1917 the profit items |
TO approximately three-fifths |
II the total price and over five times |
he total labor cost.
Increases In the retail price of |
luminous coal were shown at four
lines the increase in labor costs, |
While the proportion of the proceeds
4 the industry received by the coal
perators was shown as increased
rom 75 to 400 per cent.
Profiteering did not stop with the
rmistice, the report declared, present
ng figures to show that corporation
rofits in 1919 were 10 per cent over
he pre-war average, which means, the
tudy added. that 1919 profits we're
lore than double the average for the
ears 1912-1914.
An average OF $1,000 per family OF
I've during the years 1916-191S were
eclared to probably be conserva.
we estimate of the actual cost OF cor
crate profiteering to the consumer.