The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-01-19
STORAGE OF RAW |. MATERIAL CAUSE
 OF HIGH PRICES, STATE SALESMEN
Great Quantities of Wool, Cotton and Other Mate rial Being Held Pending
 Foreign Demand, Say
 Travelling Salesmen

and finished goods, stored. They are holding them pend ing foreign demand. Mean while they are letting out some, a little at time. That is one of the main reasons why we have high prices"
 That is the consensus of opinion of number of travelling salesmen, job bers and other mercantile men who are in a position to speak with some au- thority. These men are in Birming- ham today. They are registered at the several hotels of the city, They havd come here to sell goods.
 It is the first foam on the edge of the rising tide of the first big migra- tion of the travelling salesmen for the summer and fall orders of the coming business of 1920.
 l. Cohen of New York said:
 There are great quantities of raw wool stored around the Boston vicinity. Prepared for manufactury it is bring ing around $1.3O pound. But the owners are not selling it. That is one reason why goods from which men $ clothing is made is high. The situation is exactly similar to what you have here. I would say that in a 60o-mile radius of Birmingham there are one or two million bales of cotton stored. Why? The owners of the cotton be- lieve they can get a better price by waiting It is precisely the same situa- tion with the man who owns the wool
 baf fs RnnRrPnt n
 with many lines of raw materials. Those who own it can think of
 nothing but the advanced price just over the hill. In the meantime consumption of manufactured
 goods on, the European demand i'm creases. the American market cIamors, labor demands more wages, and the public must pay,
 does pay, and they add to the con dition by demanding fine goods, buying fine goods. and so they pay higher prices."
 Perhaps twenty men were seen yes terday and asked for their opinion on existing prices from the standpoint of the man at the distributing end ot the line.
 A. Radlaner registered at the Tut wiler an eastern manufacturer o1 wooden goods, said:
 '"The prices you are paying today will be spoken of as bargain prices next fall. The holdup of materials is due to the tight grip on raw supplies by the producer controlled by larger 1 interests We men who make the ma 1 terials. perforce must be governed by l what wages we are forced to pay ant | what the raw material costs us. Com | pared with wages and the price of raw materials of days gone by, you will see if you take the trouble to analyze, tha what we charge is at the same propor' tion of profit as heretofore" H. Harvitt of the Commodore Ores! 1 Goods Company. says it is his opinion that prices quoted today are entirely based on wages. and until the cost ot | labor descends there will be no reduc. tion in prices.
 LACK OF PRODUCTION | "Lack of production. tOo.'' he said, Sis prime factor in wages and production. If n man can make as much money in four days as formerly he made in six. and pay expenses herewith. he is not apt to work the other two days. He is satisfied with his income and gets by, but production from that man | is cut 30 per cent. When we lose creation of merchandise in such percentage, and on top of that have ever increasing demand from abroad. to say nothing of extrava- sant buying among our own re- tail store patrons, you can see the finish"
 1 w. F.. Hamilton, representing F. A. Pat rick &, Co, of Duluth, Minn., is at ths Hotel Morris He says:
 Prices will be higher next fall. an | Showing samples for the fall trade now | The prices I quote the retail store today will govern wha- they must ask next Oc tobAr- There is no question about price | being higher. to make any profit at al the retailer must charge more than h did last fall. We can't help it. Our la bo costs more than it ever has. We are pay ing more for wool than we ever did Tn | advance in price is inevitable"
 | "A. S. Jacobs, of the National Hat art Glove Company. Nashville. is out wit goods for this spring and fall.
 PRICES GOING UP
 "Prices are going up,' he said "Th factories are hol ling down our orders con stantly Oh, yes they have the merchan
 dist in New York, but they won't let go The scarcity is more or less artificia
 The eastern manufacturer is keeping tight yrip on his wares. awaiting order he expects from foreign markets, whic
 before he has ret entered. So he is onl letting US have enough to keep our trad
 going it is a. great pity that condition hetween the United States and other ma tions are not settled. then the manufa' turar would know where he stands. wha he could get for what he has and so W
 would have a truer adjustment of braces
 As I see it. the advance of price expecte
 next fall is a certainty. The real reaso
 for it is that inc New York people nav the g5oos tied up
 Herbert Eskind. of J. Eskind x som
 Nashville, is here on his first trip Of tn
 year He is selling clothing, hosiery an
 underwear.
 "Prices are going up," he said. ''mainl
 because of the demand The marKe- very active an. as long as such cond
 tion obtains. l.rices will naturally
 higher and higher It is the law of trade There has been a decided effort b
 the manufacturers to create plain' styles, to get away from the belts an |, slant pockets and buttons. all of whie i add just so much to the price of gal ' ment. But the trade won't hear of Such goods are demanded of them: the , demand such goods from the manura turer. As it is. the retailer cannot q = enough of such goods to sell. Wh \ can he done about it? The public do the buyines. asks for what it want can pay and is willing to pay Wh can any one do in such circumstances NJ. c. Lesser represents the big soutl ' ern firm of Weiner Bros. & Grief. "Europe's demand on concerns Til ' ours is becoming steadily more insis ent They have the money to pa
 When the manufacturing houses e
 get better prices abroad than they c;