Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1920-12-02
TIMES REPUBIICAN, MARsHAILToWN, IOWA. DECEMBER 1920

Prices of land would advance.
Mr.. Norris said that now. and be-
| fore any Of us were born. the price
OF an article was determined by the
demand for the surplus. He said that.
when Europe was buying our sur
plus, prices went up and whom the
demand for export was reduced prices
fell,
Decline Sure Year Ago.
A year ago. when the export trade
began to fall, the speaker said, a de-
cline IN prices was forecasted. He
told OF a statement he had made in
speech to the merchants depart
ment OF the chamber OF commerce Of
council Bluffs at that time. He had
said that they should prepare for a
break In prices, for he believed one
MAS coming, that Europe was buying
less In n year than it had been buy
ing In month and that In a reason
able length of time the bottom was
going to fall out OF the basic indus
tries and when that happened the
whole house was coming down." The
merchants would not believe it pos
sibl he said.
This same refusal to accept this
theory was present, he stated. when
the Times Republican began to speak
editorially OF coming fall In prices
Merchants came In with letters from
manufacturers saying that prices
would stay up. They were met with
the answer: Tell your friend to for
ger It, He has something to sell. I
am getting my house ready for fall
In prices"
Economic Laws Rule.
The print paper mills. Mr.. Norris
said. tried hard to keep their prices
up. He told how. in July. he was
alone In insisting before the publish
ers OF the state that prices must tall.
rms the men from the mills agreed
would occur some time, but they In
sisted on ten-year contract to pro-
tect themselves. This was refused.
altho 1t is costing the papers more
at present by reason OF the refusal.
Yet prices have already declined from
Ii cents on the open market to 8
cents and prices for next year are
quoted at 65s cents.
he said he was telling these things
because he wanted those present to
realize they were on q falling market,
only that some things had fallen
more rapidly than others and said:
1t is an economic condition In the
world and all the men in Chrlsten-
dom can't stop It."
The Newspapers Duty.
Turning to tha newspapers atti-
tnde. he said, Why do the newspa-
pers publish the news OF declining
prices? When man gets married
we publish 1t and he likes 1t. Doesn't
he? Undressing his question to the
new and newly married secretary of
the Marshalltown Club, j. C. Peart.)
When man gets drunk and tho
newspaper publishes 1t, he doesn't
like 1t. We all want to read about
this news, but the interested parties
have different viewpoints, When
prices were going up the retail rfler-
chant was the first to tell us about
It, He brought us letters proving
this and we printed II and the peo-
pie rushed In to buy. 1t was pro-
lection to the public. But when
prices went down we had no as
sistance from the retailer. Our only
source OF this news has been the
Associated Press"
Mr.. Norris explained that jpubli0A-
ton Of price declines was q protec-
ton to the merchants He declared
that II the newspapers suppressed the
news and the public got the idea that
they were in "cahoots" with the mer-
chants, there wouldn't be anything
but mail order business in town"
Newspapers Hard Hit.
Mr.. Norris explained that the
newspapers had had a harder time
than the merchants. He showed
that, in the last few years the bust
| ness mortality of papers had been ton
times the mortality among other
businesses. This. he explained. was
because the newspaper could not
change the price easily with ascend
Ing costs. Taking the Times Repub-
lican as an example, he said that be-
tween the year before the war and the
present year the cost of paper had
| gone up from S2S.617 annually to
| s54,24s, labor was sal, 400, and il now
s74,S31. Yet, he explained, advertis
inf rates have only been Increased
80 is per cent and subscriptions In
the city 20 per cent. To make a
change In subscription prices. he
showed. required a years time and
change In $4,000 accounts. Advertis-
ing rates could be increased more
| rapidly but still very slowly. ~
He explained that the only way the
| paper got by was by increasing the