The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1921-04-18
MUST FIND PLAN
TO REDUCE COST
OF NECESSITIES
This Must Be Done Before Other
Commodities Can Come
Back to Normal.
COST TO CONSUMER NOT
REDUCED IN PROPORTION
Recommendation of eral
Trade Condition Made at
Request of President.
(Ry The Associated aress>

WASHINGTON, April I7.-Ierisla-
: tion TO eliminate unnecessary broker
age transactions. to facilitate a ,xlde
distribution of information regarding
market conditions and to strengthen
/ the powers OF the federal government
in its price Investigations is recon-
mended by the federal trade commits
sion in a report on the general in
dustrial situation drawn up at the re-
quest of President Harding and made
public tonight at the white house.
open price associations, which op-
crate within the law to keep their re
spectiVe members advised confidential
; Iy of one anOther's price schedules. are
accused by the commission of con-
trlbuting TO the maintenance of In-
duly high retail prices It is suggest
ed that means must he found to re-
duce costs Of necessities, such as fuel
and housing, before other commodi-
ties can come back TO normal
1t should be said" the report con-
cIudes, that following the dfsordarel
condition of the worlds affairs. =
shrinkage in values is inevitable and
that normal conditions will he the
more quickly restored if the producer
the laborer, the manufacturer. the
Jobber and the retailer will each share
at once in the unavoidable loss. and
further that any effort by anv ele-
ment to place its share of the common
loss on the shoulders of Others and
particularly of the consumer. can i,t,t
result in a continuation of the condi-
.tlons under which the country is now
suffering"
Declaring that the cost of comu1odi
ties to the consumer has not. byoadl,.
speaking, been reduced i'm proper pro-
portion to the decline in Agricultural
and other raw materials. the commits
sion sets forth it's belief that in gen
eral 1t would appear that the move
ment toward the reduction of prfces
to the consumer is retarded chiefly gt
the retailing stage and that relief AT
this point would be reflected back i'm
increased production which would re-
duce the production cost and relieve
to some extent at least the check upon
the manufacturer and by increasing
the demand for raw materials would
react upon the producer"
The report also takes note Of the
influence of foreign combinations Of
capital in determining the price of
such commodities as phosphate. tobac-
co ana grain, and adds that among do
mestic combinations, one of the new
est and most widespread agencies for
affecting markets is the open price
association"
"One Of the purposes of these asso-
Citations" the report continues. nom
inally is to determine uniform cost
accounting methods and to study the
market by furnishing the supply while
it can readily be absorbed. These as
sociations collect and publish for the
benefit of their members figures of
production, production costs, sales. and
sales prices and orders and stocks, in
pursuance of plan whereby the mem
bers of such associations are to com
pete among themselves and with 9TH
ers with knowledge of their own and
their competitors production costs
and prices, the available supply and
the demand. The collection and pub
Continued on Page Three.)