Show ENGliSH ABOVE NORMAL Ultimate Consumer Still Pays Piper March 3 How How the poor old consumer In England notWithstanding notwithstanding notwithstanding not not- withstanding the many outward signs of the revival of prosperity Is still paying the the piper piper is vividly portrayed by a statistician who has compiled figureS figureS' figurea figures figures' fig fig- ures' ures showing that whereas as wholesale pride prices es here haVe f fallen t to 55 tiG per r cent higher than th they y were were in 1913 the retail prices are still maintaining a S l level vel 78 per cent e. that of the year before the war While It Is natural that retail prices sho should 1 11 lag b behind hIrd wholesale s le fIg figures Jes inthe In iii Inthe the return to normal conditions the thes s statistician points out that wholesale prices have been declining for fop more than any year while whilo retail prices haver have r remained almost stationary Moreover MoreOver More More- oV over r. r t Retailers have fan failed d to reduce their prices despite the fact that It has been a year of declining wa wages es Several reasons or given gives I Ito to show why there Is this discrepancy First the retailer spoiled by the long S 'S period 0 of 01 0 soArIng prices es es wh when n tl there ere was an even wider margin between buying and s selling sejling ll ng prices Is naturally reluctant now to to- to take take- losses to get rid I of stocks purchased on a a. declining market Other factors cited by bythe the statistician ai are e 1 Bad organization In many distributive dis dis- dis- dis S trades which demands a big bigI gross profit margin to mal maRe male e a small I actual net profi profit t. t 2 Growth of trade trad associations which dictate retail prices to the consumer consumer consumer con con- S sumer and also dictate to wholesalers the gross gros margin allowed to retailers 3 Heavy imperial and local taxation taxa taxa- S tion 4 The he of overhead charges I per unit of trade done which necessarily necessarily necessarily follows upon price restriction of ol S trade |