New-York tribune., 1920-09-25
Price, Cutting
W ave to Hit
Clothing 9 Soon
Continued from paas one)

Ao"Si PA'eOo were coming "nen It's
fall catalogue was issued some time
ago, purposely reduced the quotations
on garments and that these prices were
in line with the new ones made by
other mail order houses.
A prominent textile man who sup
plies several houses with goods said
that the mail order business has
slumped badly within the past three
weeks. Until September, it is said,
the mail order houses enjoyed a rela-
lively larger volume of business than
their retail competitors.
Leading fnanciers take the view that
the decline in comm odity prices will
carry much further in time and there
IS general agreement among the bank
ers that getting the level back to a
lower plane will be beneficial in the
long run. The view is taken that the
quicker the decline takes place the
better it will be for business and in
dustry.
Business Fundamentally Sound
A. Barton Hepburn, chairman of the
advisory board of the Chase National
Bank, said yesterday that the business
of the country. though inflated and cx
tended, is fundamentally sound, and
liquidation is in the interest of stabil
ity and conservatism.
price cutting" said Mr.. Hepburn,
"ls the inevitable sequence Of the price
raising that has been going on for five
years. The insstent demand of war
time necessity sought goods regardless
of price and the public very soon
learned to expect advanced prices for
every commodity. Prices were fixed
without care for cost and the public
took them without question. In fact,
we have had no competition in selling
goods here in the last three years and
seemingly no desire on the part Of the
public to obtain goods cheaply. In
fact, many people seem to scorn the
cheaper grade of goods.
"All men of experience know that
prices must seek lower level. The
only question was whether good judg-
ment and conservatism would prevail
sufficiently to bring about this lower
| level without a crash. The action Of
the Federal Reserve Board arrested
attention of the whole country, made
people stop, look and listen and ask
themselves how much they were worth
! and how they would fare if called upon
! to liquidate. This changed the entire
I psychology Of the public. People be-
gan to see things in a true light. The
! liquidation of business and the reduc
| tion in prices are the result.
Will Prove Benefit
"This is by no means calamity. 1t
is in the interest of stability and con-
servatism and will rebound to the bene-
| fit of all. Things are coming down
slowly but surely and there is little
danger of serious failures. In other
words. the conservatism and good sense
| of the American people are reasserting
themselves properly. The business OF
the country, though inflated and eH
tended, is fundamentally sound. With
this imitation eliminated or reduced to
proper proportions and business
great period of prosperity ahead"
w. C. Durant, president of the Gen
eral Motors Corporation, one of the
largest motor car building organiza-
tions in the country. announced yester
day that the company had no inten-
tioP of reducing prices on any of its
products. The General Motors, it was
stated, has never favored or encouraged
profteerng. "On the contrary" said
Mr.. Durant "it has always given to the
motor buying public splendid values,
which is alone responsible for the
enormous business enjoyed by the cor
poration."
Of the general cuts in commodity
prices noted during the current week
r. G. Dun E. Co., in the weekly review
of business, say:
"Widc attention has been attracted
by the weeks price movements, the
| daily press featuring reductions an
! nounced by certain large interests, and
moro people are beginning to realize
! that the process of dehation which be-
development. The buying public has
been slower to sense the change than
those who follow closely the action Of
I the primary markets, because conSum-
ers have thus far not benefited fully by
the declines at wholesale, and some re-
tailers are still insisting that lower
prices are not to be expected in the
| immediate future. Such arguments are
! usually based mainly on the fact that
labor costs remain at high level, yet
leading textiles, among other products,
have been revised downward substan-
TALLY in manufacturing circles without
| any reported cutting of wages. and
many producers seem to recognize more
clearly that narrowing of the margin
of profit is the shortest way to busi-
ness revival
Merchants with accumulations of
! high-priced goods are not unnaturallv
| IeiuChdHI W SaCFluCe LHelT nOlQlnRS, Dut
the general purchasing power has been
lessened through the increasing indus
trial unemployment, and a disposition
to buy regardless Of prices is no longer
the prevailing condition. In these cir
cumstances it is not surprising that re-
ssistance to price yielding is weaken
ing"
| Bradstreet's. Discusses Slump
Bradstreet's in it's weekly business
review also discusses the downward
price tendency. 1t says:
! Regarding this matter Of price
changes, it might be said that cuts in
cololed cottons, which seem to have
registered sharply on public conscious
ness this week, were really made by the
mills and large jobbers last week, and
We're so announced then. Cuts in auto
mobile prices have, however, seemed to
catch the public eye, and the response
/ OF mail order houses to the cuts in
cottons and other textiles have made
marked impressions, tending to dwarf
the known fact that September has seen
a rather rapid and widespread marking
down Of quotations in other lines, which
seems likely to give that month as a
whole especial prominence in the his
tory of price readjustment following
| the war.