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Show 1 A COMPARISON OF THE PRICE OE I m CLOTHING WITH FARM PRODUCTS- U IS THE RATIO AN UNFAIR ONE? flj IB (Communicated) Ism "Most people seem to think Hint clothes prices are high. Iran Pleasured in the number of dollars it takes to purchase a suit lljfl they are. But measured in the prices of thing's which the pro-Hi pro-Hi eluctr has to sell, or in the wages paid for service performed Kl they aro no higher than they wcro hoforo the war. Jn many HR instances, as a matter of fact, they are not so high. HI "Compare clothes prices, for instance, with that of corn, HI the great American money crop. In 19 J 4 the Iowa farmer had H to haul fifty bitshels of corn to market In Order to get the money to pay for n $25 suit of clothcr Now lie am Kot a $00 Milt and a $10 M pair of shoos for his fifty bushels of B i H "It may bo that lio doosn't haul J corn to innrkct but fceiln It to his 8 t Iiokh. On Docpiuhor 30th, 101 1 ho II had to null four hundred pounds of BV line's nt tlio top prlco of the Cliluigo w Jimikct tojet tho iiionoy to pay fur It -I SIT) Hull and a fU lint. On December Hl -'KHli 1911), If ho Hold Tour hundred SV pounds of Iiors ut the top prlco of tho Hili ChlciiKo market ho ciiino within $:i ut receiving tho iiionoy to buy a $00 suit and thcro hnvo boon low? periods Bw in 'ho lust two years when ho would I luivo got $80 to $92 for hlii four liun- .j lied pounds of hogs. ft "If, on December .10th, 1911, hu HU marketed n thousand pound corn-frd HHJ hteer ut tho top prlco of tho Chicago market ho i;ot $91.00 for It. If ho murketed It on Decembor 30th, 1919, BU for tho top price, ho Rot $19G for It BH money enough to buy n pretty nice BH outfit of clothes won nt prosent prl- BBj BHj "Wheal Is rallied In very wide sec- BH lions of tho country. Olllctul govern- HB meat reports tell us tlint tho average BBS farm value of wheat on November 1, pi 1914, waa 77c a bushel. Tho fanner BB who Hold fifty bushels of It got $38.C0, Bp or Just about onougli to buy a $2C unit, !n $S pair of shoes, a $3 lint, two or three good Hhlrto, ami then some ,, haidkerclilof. Tho farm vnluo of Bftv wheat on November lot, 1919, was BBl $2,1.1 u bushel and tho farmer who B Hold fifty biishol at Ills homo station B received $100. CO, or enough to buy BB lit in a fluo $G0 milt and a bit; thick ovoiroat. If n farmer happens to Uvo BbBI In tho Northwont uml to. huvo bold BJ bis wheat until now lie rati got somo- BJ where near $.1 a btiRhol for grain of BBB good BJ "While we aro talking about tho BBB. Nnrihweftt, It may bo woll to mention BF ''10 rnrmur w'"' raises flux seed. Tho BBB govemmont tells us thnt on tho first BBn "r 'N,'ovon,,,cr 10"' 'l0 received an UJ uvorngo of $1,187 per busbel at tho BftU farm stations for his seed. For twoit- ty-flvo bushels ho got Just about on- ough money for bin $25 suit and a hat. BBB If bo murketed bis flax seed on No- BJBE vember 1st. 1919, bo got on an nvor- BJ ago of $3.82 n busbel at tho home BBB station. For twonty-flvo btiBbols lio BJ got $9n.r0 euougli to pay for his BH $C0 suit and leave $3S.G0 for bat, FJBff shoes and furnishings for tho winter. BBfl "You may think tho Northwest is Bttw particularly favored territory but lot'H BH look at tho South whore they ralso BBYJ cotton. Wo nil remcinbor bow, in BHj tho fall or 1914 tho "lluy n balo of BBn rottou" campaign wan on to wivo tho BBBj producor from ruin. BBBJ "Tho prlco of cotton In tlio fall of BBBJ 1914 wus down to G cents n pound for BBBj a time, but that's hardly u fair cam- BBH tiarlson. Let's go back to Nov. 1, 1913, BBBJ when tho average farm prlco was 13c BBB a pound. - Tho farmer then bad to BBh market 193 pounds of cotton to pay Hl for n $25 suit. On Nov. 1, 1919, the BJBa uvorngo farm prlco wna 30.Cc n ivound BJBT and Uio glower could pay for a. $00 BB halt by soiling only 1C5 pounds of BJBJu BBB "Tho uvorngo prlco paid to tho far- HHH mcr nil over tho United States for BBV buttor on Novmbor 1st, 1914, was H 2C.4o n pound, while on tho same day BR In 1919 ho got COo a pound for It. For D his oggs lio got 25.3c n dozen on N'o- Hf vembor 1st. 1014, whilo ho got 51c a flu dozon for thorn In 1919, Bnf "Tho shcop raiser who produces HHf wool for tils money crop naturally BJIjl linn quite a keen Intorcst in tho price HEj of clothes. The government tolls us BJkJ thnt tho nverago Bhepp raiser all over !tho United States got 15.5c n pound" for bis wool at tho country stations bit November 1st, 1913. Ho had to H sell 1R1 pounds to got money to pay H fur n $25 suit of clothes. On Novom- HMI her 1st, 1919, tlio nvcrugo prlco paid BBw ; to tho producors for wool was 60.6c BMi1 a pound. Ho only bad to sell 118 1-2 BJf minds of wool to get enough money HII j to buy a $00 suit or clothes. Hl I "On November 1st, 1914, while all Bm Europo was at war and wo wero not, BBS tho fanner received on an nvorngo of BM if 52.8c a bushel for bis potatoes. Fifty m bushels left him n voiy narrow mar- Bw I glu over tho prlco of a $25 suit. On Bj I Novembor 1st, 1919, bo was getting I an nvorngo or $1.53 per bushel for bis HR notatoofl. Tho prlco of fifty bushels Hfi bought lilm a $00 suit or clothes and a BM I BM 1 n Bm-jjtoi'?w"r it --.t t . -.-- - fine pair of shoes, and left lilm a few dollurs for sundries. "Hut how about tho working man? Ict'H start with tho mini who husks corn for thu Iown farmer. In 1911 bo got 2c u bushel for tho work and thu. crop was of such a character that ho did well If ho husked one hundred hun-dred bushels u day. lio had to work twelve and n half days to pay for a $25 suit of clothes. 1-ast full bo demanded de-manded nnd, in most Instances, got Sc a Imsliol for husking com. Thu earn were so big nnd plentiful thnt it was no trick at nil for lilm to husk olio hundred mid twenty-five bushels, earning $10 a day. It took him Just six days to earn enough to pay for u $f0 suit. "Tho government tells us that tho average pay for farm laborers hired by Uio month In 1914 was $21.05 and board, la 1919 wages went up to a minimum of $40 and ran oven to $00 or $05 in many Instances. Tho going day wogo for harvest hands in 1914 wus $1.55. In 1919 they weio bard to get at $5 n day. "Workers In tho cities do almost as well. Tho Unltinioro bricklayer, who In 1913 got 45 coals an hour, hud to work flfty-flvo and ono lia'f hours to cam enough money for a $25 suit of clothes. Now he gets $1.00 an hour ami workH sixty hours for a $00 suit of clothes. However, hu gota in a lot more overtime and is not idle nearly so many days, so ho Is relatively bettor bet-tor off tlnui hu was in 1913. "The New Orleans blacksmith In 1913 received 30c for an hour's work when ho could get work. It took him 70 hours to cam his $25 suit. Now hu earns his $00 suit by working seventy-five hours nt 80c an hour and hns all tho work ho wants, regular and overtime. "The Huffulo bollcrmnkcr got 33.1c uit hour in 1913; ho gots 72.5c now. Tho unskilled luboicr in thu building trades at St. IjouIs got 25u an hour, nix year ago; he now guts 02. Ce. In Jacksonville. Florida, tho carpenter who earned 31 then, gets C5c now. In Chicago, Ban Francisco ami poinu other ot-her cities lie gets $1.00 an hour, with $2 an hour for overtime; 'and bo gieat Is tho demand for workora that ho . won't work unless thu cntrnctor permits per-mits lilm to get lu n good many hours ovortlmo n week. "Tho l'hllldelphla hod-carrier wns content to work for 35c an hour six years ago, but 70c Is his wage now, Thu Ootrolt machinists' scnlo wns 39c but It Is now S5c. "It's this wny all over the country. Tho Dallas plasterer ami tho lllrm-Ingham lllrm-Ingham plumber gets $1.12 1-2 an hour with plenty of overtime at double pay; tho Hostou Bheep metal worker earns his 90u mi hour regularly; thu aver-ago aver-ago hourly pay of the rollers of tho sheet steel mills of the whole country coun-try Is $2.57 1-2, and they work ten hours u day. "Tho prospetlty of Uio worker Is no longer ndeipjutely measured by his wage rate per hour. Flvo years ago work was scarce; u largo perceutugo of workora expected to be idlo many days in tho year. Now thoro Is do-mnnd do-mnnd for the servlco of overy nvnll-ablo nvnll-ablo man lu practically overy trade, not only for 44 or 48 hours a week at regular pay, but for many hours of ovortlmo ut double pay. "Is It any wonder that tho demand dem-and for clothes is enormous? Producer Pro-ducer nnd worker nllko have more money, In proportion, to spend fui clothes than they ever had before. They want Rood cloUies, too, and aro creating an unusual demand for them." O-.i |
