Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1919-1980, 1922-07-12
Retailers Exonerated

Despite the wild and extravagant talk to the contrary
little profiteerng the part OF retailers
according the report of the joint senate and house Com
mission Agriculture which has completed exhaustive
investigation into the of the present condition OF
agriculture and marketing, distribution banking and I'm
ance which included probe of the wholesale and retail
business The commission found that there was no single
the wide spread of prices between production and
consumption but believes that economic methods of
production distribution be effected well as re-
forms made in purchasing
The report brings fact that it costs today more to
transport sell and deliver commodities produced in the
States than does manufacture and produce them
Anderson says that out of the dollar spent by the
consumer the producer of material got % CENTS the
manufacturer the did not than from
10 to II article passes through anyones
hands, the handling of transportation of operation
and of profit added along with taxes Mr. Anderson says
The complexities Of modern civilization recurring sales
n % g u @ h @ tb % IN are also
IN e cooked se aeaay m o @ @ "a t III aas Costs @ must
be regarded apparently permanent addition to the high cost
The report shows that the percentage of margin for
operating expenses profit which the retailer took from
the dollar paid by the in 1913 to 1921 did not in
and in reduced AS rule while the
of the materials cheaper in 1921 than in
1913 the of manufacturing had increased 35 CENTS the
of operation 23 the manufacturers profit de
creased 35 cents the retailers operating had in
creased TO cents and his profit decreased 83 cents peri
dollar of sales
dollar in 1913 and the margin Of profit steadily
declined from 1916 to 1921 when the industry showed re
aiers profit of 3 cents per dollar of sales. The
average profit clothing retailers during the entire period
from 1918 to 1921 610 cents dollar of SALE During
this period the manufacturers profit ranged from TAO cents
per retailers dollar in 1918 $50 in 1920 and 220 1921
The manufacturers cost of material 26 so cents in
1913 3060 in 1920 2670 1921 Cost of manufacture
increased from 2930 cents in 1913 to 1920 in 1921 and
manufacturers overhead from 10 cents in 1913 to 220 in
1921 per retailers dollar.
The chart of the Commissions report concerning thel
shoe industry, shows that of every dollar re-
ceved the cost of merchandise to the dealer in 1918 was
677 operating expense "a IA and the profit 469 The year.
greatest profit with 936 of every dol
lar which dropped to 317 in 1920 and to 152 in 1921.
The dry goods chart shows that in 1918 the consumers
dollar divided oows cost of merchandise $780, opera
ting expense $500; profit 720 The year 1916 the
greatest for profits the dry goods business of the country
with 730 cents of the dollar profits which
dropped steadily to 400 in 1919 and to $40 in 1920
The New York Journal of Commerce little doubt
upon these statistics Very careful studies of distributing
and marketing costs have been made in other lines, and
nowhere the belief of the New York paper has any such
enormous marketing cost been found to exist. And the
editorial ends with the remark Scientific study of cond
tions ought to bring much better results than this"