Bogalusa enterprise and American. (Bogalusa, La.) 1918-19??, 1921-01-13
PUTDOWN THE PRICES

DOWN HE FN4NES
THE PRINCIPAL MERCHANTS OF NEW ORLEANS
are in most instances taking losses on their stocks
Prices on staple articles have appeared in the advertise
ments that have not been seen New Orleans for many
weary moon.
The movement in this direction on the part of the
merchants was wise The fact that merchant proceeds
along this line rather than in the boarding of his stocks IS
evidence rather that he is good business man THAN thaC
he is poor business man. For the merchants business
is to buy and SELL The business OF carrying goods IS
largely business of speculation. Ready money is no
particular asset in rising market may become an I'M
mense asset in falling market.
When the prce-rse began in New Orleans there were
merchants who sold goods at retail at prices below whole
sale replacement prices In spite Of this great many OF
them made great deal Of money because OF the rise IN
prices which took place between the time of purchase and
the time of sale. The policy OF taking fair profit and OF
giving customer a square deal was a good one.
Today everyone is questioning prices and weighing
values The merchant who fails to take his losses to sat-
isfy his customer values, makes mistake.
For it is part of the nature of merchandising that
business must be done or business will die. blind in
sisence by retailers prices at which the public won't
do business the cOggng of the machinery of trans
pOrtatiOn manufacture, and production 1t was IN part
the nwngness of the consumer to buy cotton goods at
high prices that stopped the demand for the Souths
cotton.
The white sales going on all over America today will
do to start up cotton mills and to buying from
cotton farmers than anything else is true that 30cen
and Accent cotton, and hghprced labor went into the
where and at some time.
The sooner it is over with the better for all con-
cened Pork is quoted at nine and ten cents pound in
Chicago and in New Orleans That ought to twelve
fifteen cents pound for dressed pork Just how any
have the nerve to charge forty cents pound and
over for it RETAIL cannot understand. Somewhere
along the line the public is being robbed.
The retailer who charged outrageous prices for rice
during the war; who is still selling rice at two three
times fair profit is doing great wrong to the rice pro-
ducers of this state For the entire crop should move
easily the consumer purchased his rice at fair retail
price,
We do not believe that New Orleans partook of the
vices of war-boom town. Prohibition has saved the city
an immense revenue which formerly went for liquor. The
closing of two thousand saloons diverted immense vol
ume of money into mercantile channels The people
saved during the and had legitimate reason for
spending after the But neither the the boom
period succeeding it caused great real estate initiation
great building initiation, abnormal expansion of in
dustry.
So, just as the citys modernzation and growth has
been held back abnormaly the past twelve fifteen
years. may reasonably count on tendency for it to
continue to go ahead that it has made a somewhat
belated start
One thing that will help it to go ahead now is the
lower prices at which its foodstuffs its clothing and its
household necessities be purchased.-New Orleans
Item.