Connecticut western news., 1922-06-01


 population as it had 20 years ago, and there are more butcher shops. It is probably true that people are eating more meat per capita now than in those days, but am very sure that the output of this shop is>no greater than it was 20 years ago. Today, however, when one of the neighbors wants steak she no longer sends her boy to get it Che is prob ably busy playing football or prac- j ticing for a high school Minstrel Show Or perhaps he is at the movies) |. Today the mother telephones to the butcher shop, the bookkeeper enters the order on an elaborate filing sys- tenn, this in turn is given to one of the clerks who cuts the meat. The meat is then wrapped in two or three I pieces of paper, put in special bas- ket and delivered by an auto truck, costing two to three thousand dollars. Moreover, the meat is charged to be billed at the end of the month and paid for when, and if money is available.
 "As a. result, people today, under these conditions must pay double or triple for their meat compared with what they paid 20 years ago., The truth is that today everyone from the boy of the home to the proprietor himself, is, lazy. ii
 No one wants to do anything him. self which he can possibly avoid. Everyone is trying to spend as much of his time as he can on amusements, automobiling and movies. Tele- phones, high schools, and credit sys- tems are wonderful inventions; but they all tend to increase the cost of distribution. The retailer is up against fashions and customs which have bound him with ropes that are almost too strong to break. What the future will bring forth I do not know. It, however, is evident that the retailer is not to blame for pres ent conditions. You and I, as fathers and mothers, are to blame. Our high schools, are to blame. Retail prices can be reduced only as the spirit of work, thrift and usefulness again prevades the community.
 gro meet this abnormal condition and the resulting high cost of living" concluded MT. Babson, "the chain store and the mail order house with, their centralized buying and cash and carry system is rapidly invading every shopping center in the coun- try, together with some department stores who are now following a scien- tifc merchandising policy. The soundness of this principle and the need for such service is reflected in the fact that Woolworth, Kresge, Kress, United Retail Stores, Butler Brothers, and Sears Roebuck are among the str6ng issues in the stock market.
 Personally I am sorry to see this change brought about. Our communi- ties will ultimately be better off with ] individual stores owned by local people thanfby chain stores and mail order houses controlled by outside corporations; but I predict that for the present, local merchants to win must reverse their merchandising systems.
 South Better in 1922 Says Babson
 Continuing his personal survey of l business conditions of various parts of the country Roger W. Babson, economist, in this third exclusive article to the News outlines condi- tions in the south as fololws:
 t'EH&ve travelled these last two weeks from Maryland to Florida and then westward Ihru Georgia, Alaba- ma and Mississippi. left Washing ton in two feet of snow and arrived in Florida to find the roses blooming and the trees laden with oranges. Truly this is a wonderful country. Altho ' haYe been to Europe many times l fail to see why any American has to go to Italy, France or any other country to get fine climate. However, the purpose of this review is not to talk climate.
 Conditions are surely better in ] the South Atlantic States than they were year ago. At that time it was tr11IU nitif11 to 600 tho dia+roSS opoopo