The Washington times., 1920-05-07

me eonsamss. Uass,alsa skSlsltasAf. !
BY twelve Leading sugar producers oi
the country was reflected In an ~
crease OF the net profits of these egn, /
Germs from an average OF xllIooo'ooo
fer the years 1eiz-l3-i4. 70 sn aver
age OF $4,000 900 for the years 1910
lTis. This Increase In profts
not due TO increased production, TOT ,
the evidence at hand proves oeyohp
a doubt that the profit per pouno
OF sugar Was practically three umes
as large In the years 1sio-lI-le as
during the pre-wAr years period.
"In the case OF copper. the rprice
OF which was fixed during the war
by the Government. an analysis OF tho
price shows that In 1915, over % per
cent OF the total price was aosorpea
either by royalties or by protu;
Capital received more than Two anu
one-hslf times per pound as ADoi
received. The amount received oy
capital was larger than tne enu
cost OF producing copper includihs
production, transportation, market
ing and charges for depletion ana de-
Prsntseriss In shoes.
"In the shoe Industry. the profit
items amounted In 1917 to spproxi-
mately three fifths OF the total price
and over five times the total lsoor
costs. The astounding thing about
the shoe industry is this proportion
OF the price which goes into various
profit margins, especially when CON
trasted with labor's share OF INC
price. In 1914. all the labor. from
the hide TO the finished shoe, ae'
sorbed less than one sixth OF the
price paid by the consumer. while IN
1917 this share OF labor had fallen
to one-ninth.
"The question as to who Is response
BILE for the increased cost OF pair OF
shoes quickly can be answered when
II Is realized that Of the $3.50 In
crease In the price OF \ pair sf stsAs-
ard shoes. labor received 10 eeass'
while the. asrGiss Of various nans-
faetsrers aad merchants abssrsed
s1.7S. Very obviously, IL the various
pronteers had been satisfied with
reasonable margins. the price Of shoes
need not have advanced very seri-
ously. The shocking truth about the
shoe industry Is that pronts Increased
SO rapidly and SO extortionateiy
until. In Isls. the shse kesGht ~ the
eOnsuner wss aetuslly worth hteSe
more than twe-afths u the price
which he wss forced - pay. During
the war years the shoe manufacturers
earned approximately rs per cent per
year on their invested capital as
shown by \ study of 237 shoe manu-
facturers. t.
MADE Binisas In Csal.
with respect to coal, increases In
the retail price of the bituminous
product have been four times as great
as the increases in labor cost. The
proportion Of the proceeds of the in
dustry received by the coal operator
has increased from 7b to 400 per cent.
Out of 382 bituminous coal companies
whose income tax statements were
computed by Treasury Department
officials for the Senate. 1884 showed
net profits. after every possible deduc-
ton. Of over IS per cent per year;
21S showed earnings Of over 80 per
cent on capital stock, while 11S, or
nearly one-third, showed net pronts
Of over 100 per cent. According to
the statements Of these corporations
in the financial manuals, . clear Drent
sf mere than enc bilnsn dollars was
made durlnx the fsar years, l016-17- !
1919. the profit margin to the operator |
showing a larger proportional in
crease than any other item in the |
price Of coal paid by the consumer" |
Selecting q representative group OF |
Dos corporations engaged in widely |
United States, Mr.. Lauck showed that !
the average percentage Of net in |
come on the capital stock of these |
concerns increased from 81 in 1912
1914 to 239 per cent in 1S16-17-1e. |
In copper mining. according to tables |
presented by Mr.. Lauck, the increase !
was from 1877 to q; In miscellaneous |
mineral mining from TT to 1875: in |
iron and steel manufact ur1nE from |
81 to 26o; IN railroad equipment from !
7.3 to 1T: in general metal products |
from 11.s to 311; in textile manufac- |
turing from 50 to 22.6: in clothing |
and dry goods production from 81 to
1913: in meat packing from IA to [
$40; in sugar producing and REIN |
ing from 6.5 to 191; in miscellaneous |
food products from 60 to 1875; in coal |
and coke production from 10 to 16.2: |
in petroleum products from 1877 to
1913; in building materials from 81 |
to 1876: in mercantile establishments |
from 1873 to 21-3.
At Merry u CsrpsF.t3sns-
FOR = corporation hero and there
to md itself In . strategic position |
enabling 1t to make huge pronta |
there was a precedent before the |
war" said Mr. Lauck, "but for prac-
ticalfy the entire business organiza- |
tion Of tho country. the sum total OF
the corporations. to be in such q |
strategic position that 1t could hold
up the public for enormous prof1ts |
upon everything. no precedent can be
found
"Official federal tabulation for tho |
years 1912-13-14 show the avernge OF
net corporate income was over $10,-
soc, 900 ,0O0," continued Mr.. Lauck, III. |
from the figures given for the net
corporate income from 1917. we de-
duct the approximate value Of the
excess profits taxes, and further de-
duct ten per cent on all additional
capital to expand industry to meet
war demands. the profits Of corpora
tions arc still found to be over
SO 800 100000 above the pre-war
average
such enormous profits, made at
the expense OF the consumer. were
too large to be divided all at once, !
especially when a large proportion of