The Connecticut labor news., 1923-01-26
FURNITURE PROFITS TRIPLED; INDUSTRY
 IS DENOUNCED
By International Labor News Service.

! by 1nCcIndL1Ond1 LdOCI Nc"S ScIV1CG Washington, D. C.. Jan. 26.-Pric'
 fixing activities of household furni
 ture manufacturers and dealers were
 an outrageous feature Of prohteerins
 in 1920, according to a report of the Senate January I7.
 | Profits were doubled by both man ufacturers and retailers by collision l in the trade, and both manufacturers and retailers united in spreading the propaganda that labor was respon- sible
 ] The Federal Trade Commission now reveals in it's report the methods of restricting competition ,inclrding the boycotting of, manufacturers and dealers that were satisfied with decent profits.
 The complaint of the nanufactur- CTS themselves that they suffer ed from ice-fxing in lumber, mi, TOTS, and plate glass reveals a vicious cir cle of combinations, but i'll every in stance the added costs to each person in the circle were passed on down the line to the ultimate consumer. In the case of furniture purchased on the instalment basis, the consumer IS still paying.
 Headed the List.
 The findings as to prices and profits are as follows:
 "C) Wholesale prices of household furniture in 1920 reached higher peak than most commodities and sub sequently declined more gradually and without approaching so near the pre- war level.
 "(2) Furniture manufacturers, how II oh- solute amount than the decline in the prices of raw materials, relatively more than wages and both absolutely and relatively more than they reduced their total cost.
 "(3) Retailers also reduced prices, and by the early part of 1922 prob ably in as great proportion as the manufacturers, but reluctant to cut prices on large stocks of high price furniture their price reductions Jagged about half year behind. "N) Representative data for 2oo furniture manufacturers and 424 spe- cialized retailers gave average rates of profit on investment in 1920 of 28.2 per cent for manufacturers and 22 per cent for retailers; and in 1921, 84 per cent for both manufacturers and retailers.
 "(5) Out of the consumers dollar the net profit for the dealer in 1920 averaged B cents; in 1921, 7 cents; for the manufacturer 1t averaged 8 cents in 1920 and 4 cents in 1921.
 "(6) Most retailing of furniture in 1920 and 1921 was on the 1nstalment plan and instalment prices averaged probably at least I6 per cent above cash prices. Instalment stores gen. orally had higher operating expenses, but made considerably higher profits on the investment than those doing primarily a cash business"
 Competition Politely Choked.
 The findings as to association activ- ities are these;
 "(1) The principal manufacturers associations, whose members produce the bulk of the country's furniture, have restricted competition by means of resolutions tending to concerted price policy, by price comparison meetings, and by the adoption of min mum selling values (prices).
 "(2) Leading furniture manufac- ] .urers' associations have jointly em- oloyed an expert to price articles of l furniture for their members on a theoretical cost basis which tended to | of prices.
 "(3) Various retail organizations lave frequently interfered with the 'ale of furniture by manufacturers to consumers and to so-called "illegiti- nate dealers by means of concerted of members to offending manufacturers and by the publication ,f the Buyers Guide and 'Tattle Tales
 "(4) In the autumn of 1920 the eading manufacturers associations, ollowing conference with the or ,anized retailers who insisted that hey shoudl have time to dispose of heir high-priced stocks. advised their members to defer making reductions n factory prices.
 "(5) Although a movement for Truth in Furniture has recently been tarted, which includes many manu- acturers and dealers, furniture, both s to materials and workmanship, is ften misrepresented in a manner to eceive the public"