The Wilmington morning star., 1947-11-01
Wholesale Price
Peak Predicted
By ROGER BARso>,

READERS recently have been ..s
ing me some rather tough ous.
tons. To answer all Of tbon'
would have to be an oracle
well as a statistician Howevs.
I do the best I can. Riab.
l am deluged with inquiries y,
to when the peak in wbolas.L
commodity prices will be rsoaI
ed and whether there will No
further rise in the coss Of ljviDr
Briefly, and with fingers cro,.
ed, the wholesale nri,.
peak should be seen by the esrlv
second quarter of l948. A.
retail prices and the cost # w.
ing, a further rise is inevit.h,.
To bring you up-to lara
commodity price initiation
shall risk boring you with a tsm
statistics. The latter,
you know, are much maljgns5
but DO serve a purpose. SIM.
August, 1889, to recent date ~.
Bureau of Labor's all co..
modify wholesale price inday J IN.
advanced 1895 per cent, Brd TsS
ing materials have sk;nn.s
ahead to the tune of 1O3 ! ~.
cent, other things have adv.po
ed 1853 per cent. The real o"I
prit, however, is farm produce.
with a gain of 2O7.4 per cont
Hence, the unprecedented nm,
perity in the farm belt. wbio5
seems destined to continue fnr
year or so at least. Merchar,
disers should keep that fart i.
aim dleds are a sellers
bonanza these days. Farmers
should be very careful not to loss
their profits by making question.
able Investments.
To give you a better idea of
what the current commoditr
price initiation means in tora.
of dollars and cents, l shall rits
a few specific instances. Back
in August, 1889, railroads and
manufacturers could buv a ton
OF bituminous coal at the mines
for $3.50 to $2.7O; today thew
must pay $4.95 to $5.25 per ton
Southern pine lumber then was
selling for $22.35 per M; todav
it commands $50. A pound of but.
ter in August, 1899, would have
cost your market man q u
cents; today the price is So -
cents. Whereas cocoa then was
selling for about S cents a pound,
the price now is 40 cents. This
fact BODIES no good for the
cents chocolate bar.
Raw material prices have in.
creased since August, 1899, about
100 per cent and will 60 higher.
Huge public purchasing power,
plus continued high employment
at good wages, points to heavy
demand for finished goods for
some time to come. Steel and
certain other raw materials are
already scarce. Nylon stockings
may soon be scarce again. Rents
will be higher. Production costs
certainly will not move lower in
the months ahead, will be faced
well increase, especially if labor
should strike for still higher
wages to offset advancing living
costs.
1t is possible, however, that
prices of certain imported raw
materials may move lower in
the. not-too-distant future. Prices
of cocoa, burlap, and shellac,
are being artificially maintained
at exorbitant levels by foreign
governments. But it may well
be that these governments Of
producing countries are over
playing their hands.
Farmers, under government
tutelage, now know when to hold
and when to sell. Under the
parity = price program, they
have little to lose by playing
their cards close to their chest.
The well-advertised program Of
foreign aid, with its indicated
strain upon the domestic econo-
my, is the farmers cue fJr hold
ing his wheat, CT other products
for still higher prices.
Under the circumstances, De,
lieve that farm prices will hol1
up during 1948. This years Sho'
corn crop, plus heavy foreign de,
mand for wheat and other 1ooa
products, is the pivotal fae'0l'
While the food conservation pfV'
gram may tend to ease the over.
all strain, il will rot radlcsly
alter the tight supply > deilSN"
situation. t..
While I regret to say it, the
average American housewife ID
the months ahead, will be la'..
with higher prices in ofoel
fill her market basket AlIeau..
she is paying over double as.
August, 1899, food prices. MY Nv Nv
vice is to practice economy
following simple dietetic Fn,ss:
There are many good uost.O"'
for costly meat, eggs, e.--