New Britain herald., 1928-02-01
Too Many Undertakers and Manufacturers of Burial Goods, Survey Commit. tee Reports.

tee Reports.
 New York, Feb. 1-The situation of an ever-increasing number of un- dertakers and burial goods manufac- turers. all fighting for commercial existence in the face of . limited volume of business, has been large ly responsible for rise in funeral costs to a level that often depletcs the estates of low-income groups, | according to the advisory committee on burial survey. which has con- cluded a two-year study on the en- tire burial industry. But culpable though the industry may be. the committee holds that a part of the responsibility must be laid at the door of the public-including these same low-income groups-which, by reason of its growing demand for elaborate funerals. has helped to run up the average cost of burial.
 The advisory committee is an im- partial board composed of forty prominent clergymen. physicians, lawyers. social workers. journalists and funeral directors, headed by Lawson Purdy, secretary and gen. eral director of the Charity Organi- zation society of New York city. The study was directed by John C. Geb- hart. former director of the Depart ment of Social Welfare of the Asso- ciation for Improving the Condition of the Poor.
 Must Eliminate Weak
 There can be no relief from the present situation and no appreciable lowering of funeral costs, the com mittee believes, until the business of burial Is concentrated in fewer hands through a wedding out of weak and inefficient units among both under takers and manufacturers of burial goods.
 However, an indication that this development already may be under way within the industry itself was found in the recent organization by key men of the profession of the Funeral Service Bureau of America which proposes to set up "a business plan making for economy of opera ton, general standardization of methods, and providing the public with the opportunity to exercise free choice in the light of accurate and adequate information"
 'The educational work of the bu- reau. if wisely directed, will clear up many abuses in the funeral busi- ness" the committee comments "at the present time the public has no means of discriminating between good and bad funeral directors, be- lishments.
 Evidence of disorganization and waste in many branches of the burial industry is claimed by the commit tee, but it holds the chief uneco- homie factor to be the overcrowding of the field.
 ''The burial industry" the com mittee reports. ''is one industry in which the demand is fixed by natur- al causes. It is obvious that no amount of advertising or sales ef- forts can increase the demand for funerals. During the last twenty five years while the population has steadily increased, the annual death rate has dropped sharply. The net result is that the annual number of deaths. with a few minor fluctua- tons, has remained practically sta tionary. Yet it is during this period. with a practically stationary demand, that the burial industry has had it's greatest expansion, both as regards the number of persons and firms engaged and the total money volume of business trans acted.
 Elaborate Funerals "Sold''
 When an industry is confronted with a fixed or diminishing volume Of business, it must choose between two alternatives: either more high er-priced goods must be sold to the same number of customers or the volume of business must be concen- trated in fewer hands through the elimination of uneconomic units. From our study of the industry. it is apparent that both manufacturers of burial goods and undertakers have chosen the first alternative to the exclusion of the second. by 'mer- chandising upward regardless of costs. Not only have more expensive burial goods and more elaborate types of funerals been sold to the public. but the number engaged in the business has increased all out of proportion to the demand. The pub lie has. therefore. not only been persuaded 10 purchase each year more expensive merchandise and more elaborate funerals, but forced to absorb the overhead and profits Of a multiplicity of manufacturing plants and funeral establishments.
 The process of merchandising upward is by no means confined to the burial industry. but nowhere else is 1t found in so aggravated a form.
 We ordinarily associate competi- ton with lower prices to the public and the gradual elimination of in- efficient units. But the sentimentally emotionalism and social conventions surrounding death modify the ordinary trading motives. In pur- chasing 8 funeral. the bereaved fam fly has no fixed standard; they do not shop and compare prices. and they are in no mood to drive close business bargain"
 Giving further emphasis 10 the growth In the number of under takers and it's effect on funeral costs. the committee points out that while the annual number of deaths