The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1920-11-11
WHY CLOTHING COSTS
STILL REMAIN HIGH


An explanation Of The clothing ailHa
tion and why the public should not els
pect too severe reductions. despite
press comment, appears in Cufren
issue Of The Dynamo. issued hy the j
G. Penney Go. The Article. which fol
lows, is an Official statement from I'll
Str0usei president If the National As
sociation of 0iathgrs3
The public is now huyfrg cIothiuer al
price far lower than the cost Of MANN
featuring it warrants. The presert
fall good We're made during the naeI
six months when material. and laho,
were HIGHER than ever Rut h orde,
to help bring down Eigb nrfca Ievels
more quickly most cIotbiers are fore.
going profits and selling clofhea 81
prices which would not really be insti.
fed until next spring. They feel that
national conditions demand that bpv-
ing he kent q0ipg and I8bor he keNf
employed. The public is getting real
bargains now.
Stagnation of business at this time
would be disastrous to labor as we'll as
to merchants and manufacturers The
industry is helping all it can to PASS
through the present very irving period
The cost of producing clothjrg de
pends on the cost of materials. access
cries and labor. During the war the
price of wool went up from three to
four times the pre- war levels. and
trimmings and accessory materials
went up still higher. Spool silk rose
300 per cent, silk sleeve lining 400 per
cent and canvas nearly 600 per cent
Labor's wage is now three times as
high as it wa2 before the war. From
May, 1918, to January, 1920. alone. the
United States government Department
of Labor Statistics official figures show
! the clothing workers received far
greater increase than those in any
other basic industry.
All manufacturing costs were there
fore at their peak when we were max
ing clothes for this fail. Retailers or
dered conservatively and production
was made only to orders. The result
was that one-third less clothing was
manufactured for this fall than for
last. The manufacturers and retailers
marked their goods very closely az
contribution to the cause of lower
prices. Fall clothes are all in the
stores of the retailers and on denend-
able goods the prices are stabilized
But there are also on the markets some
low grade and not the most desirable
goods which must naturally be sold nj |
reductions.
There is no doubt that the turnine
point of high clothing prices has been I
reached. But the costs which enter /
into clothing prices are responding very
slowly to this tendency. The woollen
mills have announced a cut of 20 to %
per cent for spring goods-a cut from
the peak prices of this fall. not from
those of last spring. AS compared
with last spring. next spring's cloth
prices are only S to is per cent less
But the cost of cloth is oulv one ele-
ment in the cost of PRODUCING clothes
so that a reduction in retail prices
could not amount to Is per cent based
on the lower price of cloth alone.
As for labor lower WAGES are not in
until living costs go down
very materially. But the puhlic shouIa
remember that waue levels certainIv
cannot 90 back to the 1914 level nor
will there ever be a return to the old
horrible sweatshop system. In those
DAYS the public was profiteering at the
expense of labor. The public does moi
want a return to the sweatshop. Rur
the people must realize that fact when 4
they come into the stores to hnv clothes
We hope. with the cooperation of labor
to increase its efficiency. We are doino
our utmost to decrease waste and raise
nroduction in fba foofoy;aa o,,ri = =, IJ,,,,,,.