The Bossier banner., 1921-01-13
About Prices,

loHthS COMpdhl0h, December 2Sd.
Every one is wondering whether
prices are coming dowll-whether they
have come down. There is much con-
fused and contradictory talk aud writ
ing on the subject. because the facts
available for a conclusion are also con-
Trajectory.
Some prices have declined; some are
higher than ever. If you buy cotton
cloth, You may find that it is not so
high as it was. If You bsry eggs, you
may suspect that the dealer thinks he
is selling gold nuggets.
In the broad sense it still remains
true that not one of the causes that
produced high prices has ceased to be
effective, and so long as that is true
there is no chance of a general decline.
But as to some important classes Of
merchandise there are signs that those
causes are changing, and the results
that may follow must not be over
looked.
SO long as people will buy at current
prices there will be no decline. The
seller charges all he can get, the buyer,
though he may grumble, still buys. 1t
Is when there is surplus of goods or
lack of buyers that the price has
to come down. What is the present
situation?
As for most of the articles in regular,
necessitous. universal demand, there is
either shortage or barely sufficient
supply. Moreover. the supply gives no
indication of increasing and the de-
mand no sign of diminishing. That is
true of flour, meat, milk, eggs, butter,
fruit and great variety of vegetables
and groceries; coal and firewood. lum-
Der. brick and all other building ma
| terials.
1t is not true of sugar, which is a
| most important food, because the sup
textiles, raw material or finished prod
uct. or of steel. Those are the weak
| points in the chain Of prices. and the
| key to what is to come may possibly
| be found in the textile situation. The
| controlling fact there is that, whearas
men must have their daily food and
fuel to keep them warm, they can wear
| old clothes Prices have been so high
that demand has diminished. Whole
salers and retailers of cloth Cancelled
orders: manufacturers closed their
mills or ran on shert time: cotton and
wool, being in less demand, dropped in
| price The next step must he that the
price of goods suitable for making
| clothing will decline. in order to clear
off accumulated stocks. There has also
| been falling off in the demand fol
/ steel products that may easily lead tC
declines in that great industry.
1 Again. it is well known that a great
many traders. large and small. in va
| rious classes of merchandise. who have
| bought goods on credit but who cannot
sell them, may be forced by the banks
| from which they borrowed to DISPOSE
Of their goods at loss-that is, at les.
/ than the present prices. If that slloult
take pace on large scale, the ten
4 dency to lower level would be muct
more widespread than has yet become
evident
As children we have all of us set nj
a line of blocks and amused ourselves
by causing the first block to knocl
over all the others. Sooner or latel
there will be crash in some vitall!
important article of trade that vii
bring down the rest; but as yet ther'
is no sign that it will happen soon. nol
the most pressing needs of human lif'
are still scarce and not increasing il
quantity.