The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1947-05-09

while Moody's Index of raw Industrial
material prices shows an increase OF
81 per cent. Food at retail, which had
increased only per cent in the 81
month period between May, 1943, and
June, 1916, has increased 81 per cent
in 10 months.
How about the prices that our 40
million families are now being asked
to pay for individual items? Since
last June drug and pharmaceutical
products are up 67 per cent.
Fats and oils have doubled. Soap
has increased 62 per cent. Lard II
per cent. Oleomargine 73 per cent.
Milk is up 80 per cent. Coffee 40
per cent Wheat, which last June was
selling at SLIGO a bushel, recently hit
SO, with a resulting 25-per cent in
crease in the prices which Mrs. House
wife now pays for bread.
Meats, Way Up
Meat for the average family is up
60 per cent Pork chops, which cost
you 80 cents a pound last June under
Veal outlets have risen from 45 cents
to rs cents. Sirloin steak from SO cents
to 73 cents Cod steaks, which cost
81 cents last June, under price con-
troll, are now selling for 10 cents :.
We who were responsible for price
control thought that apparel prices
were too high last June. And yet, in
the last 10 months cotton goods have
shot up SO per cent, with other apparel
rising from 10 per cent to so per cent.
prices are up GO per cent.
In the building material field price
rises in the last 10 months have been
startling. Take paint for an.
example. Since last June pig lead has
60 per cent. Cottonseed oil
has more than doubled So has linseed
OIL Copper has gone from IA to Fl
cents a pound.
These increases have inevitably led
to price rises of 60 per cent in house
hold paints. Lumber which was high
priced even under price controls has
shot up an additional so per cent since
then, according to the Department of
Labor.
So much for the dismal inflationary
record of the last 10 months. How
about the socalled explanations which
listed earlier in this article? Let's
AXE them in order and see to what ex-
ent each may be valid
FaIlacy No. I
1. Certainly prices are too high -"
If you are tempted to offer this sug-
gestion to an average American family
you had better smile when you do 1t.
In spite of our widely heralded pros
)erity, more than half of the families
II the country are still living today on
ess than $4,000 year; and, accord
ng to the Bureau of Labor Statistics,
% per cent of their incomes must go !
or food Because of the price increas- |
IS of the last 10 months the standard |
# living of tens of millions of our peO-
lie has been sharply reduced.
But" you may ask, why don't peo-
lie dip into their savings in order to
ide them over temporarily rough
eriod?" For the simple reason that
1ost people do not have any real saw
lgs into which to dip.
Our total savings during the war
eriod were admittedly great. But the
'ederal Reserve Board has establish
d that 65 per cent of these savings are
ED by the third of all our families
nth the highest incomes. The aver
ge savings of the lower-income half
only $500 for each family.
But these figures are already nine
lonths old. By now the savings OF the
lajority of our people have sunk to
till lower levels.
FaIlacy No. 2
How about explanation No. 2? "Of
curse this initiation is dangerous -"
This argument will not stand exam
lation any better than the first. AS
rices have moved up, the purchasing
over of millions of families has been
sduced. AS result, production in
lany fields is actually less than year
90. The actual unit volume (not in
lated dollar value) of food sold now is
oughIy per cent below that Of a