The Washington times., 1920-06-07
LIKELY
TO STAY HIGH
Merchants Believe Period Of
Price Cutting Will Be
Brief.
ny DAN u. O'CONNELL.
prices coming down?

ny DAN u. O'CONNELL.
Are prices coming down?
Most Washington merchants think
they are not. The present period OF
price-cutting Will be short-liyed, in
their estimation. IL will last only
until the present stock on the shelves
Is disposed OF OF.
Then. when the merchant goes into
the open market 10 replenlsh his
stock. he will fnd that in many cases
the prices he viii have 10 pay are
more than he sold the same article for
In the last few weeks
Manufacturers are cheering accept
ing cancellations. one member OF the
Merchants and Manufacturers Asso-
citation said today, which. in his opin-
ion, meant that the manufacturers
were able to sell everything they
could make and at prices that were
not likely to fall this summer.
"If the manufacturers were over
stocked with goods, or there was a
likelihood OF lower prices than they
could now command for their wares
the manufacturer would put up Il stiff
argument when cancellations come
in" he said.
Verify board Prediction.
i lie Ol w asnluB TON
business men are but a reiteration OF
the announcement made by the Fed
eral Reserve Board early this month,
when a statement was issued by the
board saying there is no justification
for the hope that the relapse from
high prices will be permanent. I'm
derlying conditions. responsible for
the high cost of living, have not been
reached, and until production Is in
creased conditions cannot be ade-
quatcly remedied.'
An officer of the Merchants and
Manufacturers Association, discuss
ing high prices today, said:
ITO cut the price OF goods. no mat
ter Of what description. il is ncces-
sary to go TO the foundation. All the
talk Of proiteering, the denunciation
of price grafters. by the heads of the
Executive departments. and the leg
islation aimed at profiteering by Con-
gress and state legislatures. Will
avail nothing. " something is not
done at the fountain head OF prices.
The only commodity that is due
for drop in silk" This decrease is
due to the fact that Japan bought
up the greater part of the raw silk
materials some time ago and held II
for higher prices. People refused to
pay the higher prices and went with
out wearing silk garments. Tho re-
suit was that this, with other circum-
stances, created a panic in Japan. and
was the cause Of several big bank
failures.
Increased Consumption.
The real cause OF high prices is
a greater consumption than produc-
cases brought TO light by the Gov
ernment of actual profiteerinG, and I
believe that there can be found cases
which have not been brought to light
by the Government. but to say that
all. or even a ma jority. of merchants
are profiteerinE is wrong.
Several years ago the industries
engaged in supply ing clothes and
cloth were going fun blast. The men
and women engaged in this industry
were working longer hours than they
are now. Their hours have been
shortened from four Il ten hours n
week.
Observation-Disclosures the shortening Of
hours. the wages paid them have in
creased. The shorter hours alone
would make prices on those com
moditics higher. but when there is
also an increase in wages. the cost OF
production is materially advanced, and
this advance must be met by the con-
sumer. The manufacturer is not in a
financial position to stand the differ
ence. and so he passes il along.
All Must Bear share.
al believe in n reasonable number
Of hours day for the working man
or woman. and 7 believe also in their
getting a living wage. | am not sure
but that for tho most part they de-
serve all the advances they have re-
ceived. But the added cost OF produc-
ton. which adds to the cost OF the
finished material. should not be borne
alone by either the manufacturer or
the merchant. They are bearing their
share, and we merchants think the
consumer should bear his share also.
ar ] could get straight in the
minds OF the people of Washington
the difference between 'profiteeriny
and high prices ] am sure that much
of the discomfort over the high prices
OF things would be done away with
There is not a merchant in Washing
ton but who would gladly explain
to any customer just why this or that
article is high and would show bills
proving what he paid for the article. !"
Another merchant said the present
wave OF price-cutting is not war.