The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1920-12-08

afe informed On I'll naud1 tuAA
prices are topping, but the topple
is certainly Z long time in reaching
the ultimate consumer. A few dol
lars sated on an overcoat. gasoline
. cent . gallon cheaper, and . few
staple foods products perceptibit
lower is about the extent sof the
benefits which have come 70 one
typical member Of that Married
elAs1.
And a large crop Of dinereAces Of
opinion can be gathered as to how
far and how fast prices are coming
down in the immediate future. Some
tell us that forces are at work
which must inevitably bring all
prices down q great deal in q fela-
lively short time. But others assure
US that as soon as the currency is
stabilized and congress has amend
ed the tariff law so ~ to keep out
imports, as it undoubtedly intends
to do, prices will tend to stick at. Z
high figure for a long time.
The situation at present seems to
be that, before a substantial price
reduction can reach the ultimate
consumer, each of the factors in the
production and distribution Of thu
necessaries Of life has got to take
a loss. And each Of them, not un-
naturally, is unwilling to do so
Each Of them prefers that the ulti-
mate consumer should go on TAX
ing the loss, as he has been doing
for the past several years.
1t cannot be denied that the
strong point in the position Of the
ultimate consumer is that he does
not buy much. He has at last re-
volted against high prices. II he
will only continue to buy scantfly
and to hunt for the bargains which
crop up here and there in increas-
ing numbers, prices will undoubted
ly continue to come down for .
while, at least. Tariff changes ant
the end of deflataon may check tn.
tendency, but prices will alread,
have come down a good ways, and i
will be hard to force them vi
again. This process will be hare
on the retailer for a while, but per
haps better for all concerned in thu
long run than q continued cam
paign of extravagant buying.
The Process.
This seems to be the present pro
| ces sof price reduction: The retail
er has hard time selling the good
on his shelf, but he naturally hate
to take . loss on them, or even ;
reduced profit, so he holds out TO
the old price as long as he possibl.
can, and advertises a reduction sal
| only when forced to do so by tn
need for money.
Meantime he refuses to buy hey
orders of goods from the wholesale
and the manufacturer, even a
somewhat lower prices. The result
is that the manufacturer rattle
than produce goods which he can
! not sell at a good price or canno
sell at all, closes his factory for
while and throws half of his fore
out of work. These men out @
work cannot buy, and as their mum
Der grows, the demand for good
which comes to the retailer steadil
decreases. But he must sell some
thing in order to pay his rent an
his interest charges and other over
head expenses. So he is forced t
reduce prices, and that forces tn
manufacturer to reduce the pric
to him.
/. There seems to be no doubt bu
that this process will bring price
down. just as sure as a ston
!. thrown into the ;,.r will fall. UI
employment is steadily increasin
and prices will come down ju.
about in proportion to that increas
| Means Suffering.
/ 1t is q cruel process. 1t means
hard struggle and some failure
among retailers and manufacturer
of the smaller and weaker sort.
means already hundreds of tho,
sands of men out of work. AMI me
cut Of work mean hungry men, ar
what is worse, hungry children an
hungry mothers. The gist Of Il
matter is that man, in his industri
system, has created a machil