The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1921-03-03

luttu ny THAN inc AAASAS aAN@~
twill not beg the question. 1t is pos
isible that where one merchant is sell
ling shoes for $14 and another the same
grade for 50, the 50 is a second or
factory reject"
When the war broke out, 1t shut our
supply of leather from foreign coun-
tries. We raise but 90 per cent of our
own demands, therefore the other 4S
per cent must be imported from other
countries, principally from Russia and
the northern part of France. These
count les supply the best grades ow-
| ing to the cold weather which tough
ems the hides so that it stands more
wear than leather from South Amer
| lea. Demand and supply govern all
things and as the demand exceeds
the supply, naturally the price of
! leather advanced and reached as high
as 407 per cent. Upper leather was
selling at $1.90 per foot and it takes
| three feet to a pair of shoes; add to
this the cost, sole. heel, lining cotton
at 40c per lb.) and the labor, which
was a big item; that same shoe cost
the manufacturer $1,000 and his profit
added-and when you figure it out
! $14 was not an excessive price. Shoes
: at less had to have a fibre counter,
compressed inner sole and many lit
! tie items left out that are put into
a high grade all-leather shoe. Seconds
or damaged shoes bring what the
manufacturer can get for them.
The same thing regarding the cost
of clothing will practically Apply
wool is imported from Australia, but
| the men taken out of the clothing
trades and sent over on the other side
| never returned to their former trade,
as they could get more money in the
shipyards-this decreased the supply.
Four million sailors, soldiers and ma
rines had to be clothed and it was an
auction market-everyone wanting
| clothing and the manufacturers, not
all, but many of them took advantage
Of the situation and sold to the high
est price they could get-others
bought, but never received the goods
those manufacturers are now getting
their just dues. But that is not the
reason why clothing is now cheaper.
Last spring when we should have had
spring weather, you remember it was
cold and the merchants did not sell
all they bought, therefore cancelled
the undelivered portions of their or
ders the manufacturers in turn can
| celled the cloth from the mills and
had the mills forced the clothing fac
| tories to accept all the goods they had
on order, there would have been one of
! the worst calamities that could have
! happened-it would have sent to the
wall. not less than fifteen hundred
clothing factories and thrown out of
work thousands of men and women.
| This is one of the reasons the Amer
lean Woolen Mills shut down their
mills; they had no orders, but thou
sands of cancellations.
The merchants that did not foresee
the drop coming and had loaded up
on winter merchandise had to unload
and raise money to pay their debts
it wasn't a question of what the mer-
chandise was worth it was a case of
get out from under. Retail prices to-
day in many instances are lower than
merchandise can be produced.
Any fair merchant will not try to
stick the customer, but will give him
the best value possible, but he is en-
titled to a profit on his investment
he has got to do this to stay in bus
mess. Price does not always tell quail
ity-no more than two houses of same
identical design and specifications
built by two different contractors. One
| OuAAb W 4O4O Col pCIlI0E5 anu Ddlu ~
cents per hour and the other built bv
journeymen carpenters at a price that
they are worth. They would be paint
ed the same and the ordinary eve
could not tell the difference from
across the street-but what a differ
ence when you step inside and exam
inc them, and the trained eye will
show you thousands of defects in the
cheaper house. Same with clothing
the life of the garment is in the tailor
ing that the customer never sees. or
If he could, he wouldn't know the diff
ference, as he was never trained in the
construction of clothing-but the diff
ference is in the hang of the garment
and the wear-The same cloth can be
made into two different suits at IS to
$25 difference in the tailoring. Judge
not by looks but ask the merchant
why he gets more than the other fell
low and nine times out of ten he can
convince you. You cannot buy in Phil
adelphia any cheaper than you can in
Pensacola, unless it is cheaper mer-
Chandise than the merchant handles
Oleomargine looks like butter, but it
isn't.
The worl1ingman can help to build a
! town but he must elect intelligent
heads to his organizations. Give the
employer as much as he gives YOU.
Production is what the manufacturer
wants. Buy at home and give the
merchant his output and he will give
you better prices