The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1924-10-17
EVERY KITCHEN
Continued from page one)

| in 1887. The members of this pool
and it's licensees produce large pro-
portion Of the washing machines made
in this country.
Considerable space in the report is
devoted to ANDY" Melons pet, the
Aluminium Company of America,
more popularity known as the Alumi-
mum trust. In addition to the charge,
already quoted, that the Aluminium
Company controls production and
prices, the report says of the COM
pany and its subsidiaries:
"The Aluminium Goods Manufac-
turing Company is the largest manu-
facturer of cooking utensils in the
United States and is affiliated with
the Aluminium Company of America.
The competitive methods of this COM
pany include various kinds of price
discrimination between customers.
Genus Bureau Studies Trade
The trade commission is not the
only government agency studying the
aluminium industry. From data col
lected by the United States census
bureau, it has been determined that
the aluminium industry is operating
at margin of 1877 per cent Of the
manufacturers price for his product.
The bureau reports that in 1923,
the value of all products of the en-
tire industry was, in round numbers,
S107,000,000. Wages totaled $780,
100000 while materials, including
| fuel, cost $67,000,000 The differ
ence between the sum of wages and
materials and the value of products
is $20,O00,000. This represents the
manufacturers margin from which he
must pay only selling costs and sal
| aries of the executive force, the bal
ance going into interest on the in
vestment or profit.
After presenting it's conclusions on
the aluminium industry, the trade
commission takes up conditions in the
sewing machine, refrigerator, broom
and brush trades. The report says:
Manufacturers Fix Prices
"The National Refrigerator Manu-
facturers' Association, whose mem.
bers produce more than half of the
total output of refrigerators, has been
engaged for several years in price
making activities. Just after the ar
mistice it was formally agreed to ad.
wise non-members that the associa.
ton deems that costs make it imper.
atively necessary to stand firm or
present prices and about a year later
it was voted to increase price 20 pei
cent. Early in 1920 the association
employed w. H. Coye, cost and price
expert, to compile cost and price bul.
letins for refrigerator manufactur.
. ers. The purpose of these compila.
tions, as shown by the records of the
association, was to bring about uni.
formity and stability of selling
prices
Refrigerator Prices ssKnifed"
I'm the refrigerator industry
where persistent efforts were made te
prevent price reductions and to main.
tain and increase prices, manufactur.
ers' prices advanced more than die
those of any other commodity con-
sidered in this report, except alumni.
mum ware, during the three years
1920-l922, and they declined, general
| ly speaking, less
"The vacuum cleaner manufactur-
ers, with their control over new licen-
sees, were able to maintain prices at
an even higher level in 1921 than in
1920, and recorded only insignificant
declines in 1922. Eleven vacuum
cleaner manufacturers, who earned
1862 per cent in 1920, We're thus able
to earn 2O.6 per cent in 1921, de-
spite the great decline in demand
In the aluminium cooking utensil in
dustry the rate of return obtained by
eleven manufacturers amounted to
1877 per cent in 1920 and to 1916
per cent in 1921. With one excep-
tion in each year, the Aluminium
Goods Manufacturing Company earn
ed the highest rate of return of any
Of these manufacturers. The meager
published figures would indicate that
the Aluminium Company of America
has earned the equivalent of "a per
cent year on it's investment during