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Show Pickle Prices Perplex Packers; 'Kraut Crisis Causing Concern Br BODNIT DVTTMEB NBA larTkaa WriUr WASHINGTON, Fa Trx United Unit-ed 8laUa la aaw eonaumlnf mora aauvrkraut than Carmanr itaalf, but that doaan't maan that kU is rosy In lha kraut tnduatry. Thara'i a rami kraut trial which corral ponda to crlaca In Tartoua othar Induatrai. Vary eoon thara ntuat ba a lot laaa kraut or thara will ba law laaa kraut packer. The National Cannera aaaoclatlon reveala thla unfortunate situation In retailing certain well choeen worda of B. K. Bibcock, an Important New York pickle man. at tta national convention con-vention In Chicago. Mr. Babcock waa (or yeara prealdent of the National Kraut Peckers aaaoclatlon - and hia words carry great weight among kraut magna tee. "I told a man soma time ago that I thought the kraut packers were the blggeat set of fools In the country," said Mr. Babcock. "Thar will fill their tanks with kraut In the fall with no surety whatever that they can sell It at even cost. a e a "It looks to ma as If fully SO per cent of the packers, not only kraut cannera but all ceonera, will either be compelled to go out of business this year or cut their output tremendously. tremendous-ly. Too much kraut waa produced last fall an increaae of M per cent over 1M1, as nearly aa wa can find. There should have been a decrease of U 1-1 per cent becauee. to my way of thinking, we will never get a profit or even the coat of canned kraut or anything els until the demand Is greater than the supply." A while ago, eaid Mr. Babcock. he looked up the ratings of soma of his chief competitors who were amazing him with their low kraut prices. He found that one had quick aaaets of 1240.000, current liabilities of 332,0OO and a net loai for the year of 1125,000. ' If you want a business man to throw you out of his office these days, Mr. Babcock said. Just quota bins price on your commodity that would yield a fair profit. a a a The can and the wrapper on kraut, ha revealed, now coat more then 60 per cent of the price obtained for the article. The price of cans must coma down or kraut packers will have to put their kraut In something else. Furthermore, the laboring man, who buys most of the kraut, u going to be spending a billion dollara a rear for beer, and you can't get away from that fact, according to Mr. Babcock. The bright apots, be added, were the fact that Duaineas men are becoming mora butineeelike and that low prices are putting out of business "men who never should have gone into the canning can-ning bualneas, who had not brains enough to pack kraut or , anything else. a a e Or maybe you'd rather hear about congress. Congress has been turning out more or less en meaae to see the mora or less muaical comedy called "Of Thee I Sing," a play which tends to make the government and Its officials look mora or laaa ridiculous. The vice preaident-elect, Jeclc Garner, Gar-ner, arranged a box party In order to aee Victor Moore, an actor, make the vice presidency utterly ridiculous. And the vice president, Charles Curtis, Cur-tis, received Mr. Moore in hia chsm-bers. chsm-bers. Whether the people who operate oper-ate this government feel that "Of The I Sing" is so ridiculous as to ba true or too ridiculous to be true is a matter for deep speculation. The show goes on but government seems to remain at the same old standstill. |