The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-04-09

The Grind Behind the Counter.

Of the ultimate consumers. NJ.
QUESTIONABLE sheds some ran. ~
light on the retailer's side a ~
problem. % We mention SOM !,
the conclusions drawn from ths
1850 answers.
The obstacle to lower prices ana
stability most frequently mentionss
In the Questionnaires was railrosd
rates. Transportation was nm
nounced % high a. to discoufns.
shipment Of goods. AID 1t Was H..
Their claimed that present railroaa
fares make the expense Of travelinr
salesmen extremely heavy. Bothe
Of these items help To account a.
the price Of q piece Of goods BY To
time 1t reaches . shop counter. TAs
merchant who complained abon,
transportation costs urged that thi
railroads should lose no time IN
cutting wages and rates, % thai IN
turn merchandise could be cut mose
rapidly.
The QUESTIONABLE answers ALA
bswailed the hotel rates which heIn
to make the travelling salesman n
expensive an item of overhead
Some felt that the hotels should
fall into line and begin to lover
prices In proportion to the gradual
decrease in the cost Of living.
The Merchant's viewpoint
Regarding the extent Of their own
retrenchments, the merchants a.
pressed various sentiments. Mapv
explained that wages Of salesKirls
could not be lowered to a great a.
tent because their wages were not
raised in comparison with those in
industry. The majority Of store
owners complied with requests for
more pay, in part at least, by grant.
ing a bonus. with the definite un-
derstanding that this bonus was 70
be given only through the emer.
gency period Of war prices. Many
Of these bonuses are now stopped
Some merchants reported partial
reductions in wages. A number e.
planned In their questionnaires that
they called their employees together
and told them that it wasn't a
question Of profits any longer but
Of being able to stay In business at
all. Others again have not made
wage reductions because they felt
that their employees could not man
age on less until living costs
dropped further. Longer hours,
and insistence on greater efficiency
were being tried by some instead OF
wage reductions.
One line where new tactics are
being developed is in credit deals
between the wholesaler and the re-
taller. Long credit on shipments
of goods is a satisfactory policy
when prices are on the rise. Then,
no matter how long the merchant
takes to sell the goods there is no
danger Of his getting less for them
than when at the time he bought
them, and so the wholesaler waits
on him. But when prices decline,
the stock bought today from a
wholesaler for $12 may be Offered
at SO next month. So the retailer
buys less at a time, and keeps his
stock moving.
From now on, Mr.. Dodd prophe-
sizes, merchants must get used TO
doing business on a declining price
basis instead Of on the ascending
, basis of the past few years. I've
are experiencing" he says, similar
conditions to those that followed
the Civil war. For 80 years prices
slowly fell and a whole generation
of dealers conducted business on
that basis Of slowly declining
pieces.
This recurring situation has
practically stopped buying during
the past few months. People
stopped buying in defiance when
prices became ridiculously high.
But, the buyers strike, so called,
now is largely a subconscious re-
volt. People are frightened into
economy by unemployment scarss
and by wage reductions, and then
too they are still using the things
they bought during the rising
price scramble. Now they are be-
ginning to wear out the extra shoes
and suits they bought so anxiously,
and they are expected to begin to
buy, cautiously. but at a more nor
NAL rate"