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Show , Economic f Highlights Industrial News Review -Happenings that Affect the Dinner Pails, Dividend Checks and Tax Rills of Every Individual. National Nation-al and International Problems Inseparable In-separable from Local Welfare. 0O0 Whenever the pol ticians attempt to analyze the voting outlook,' the American housewife usually rates bigh as' a topic of conversation. It much easier to accurately guess the -tenor of the voting public's feel-jn(r feel-jn(r in the days' before female suff-rage. suff-rage. Sir. Smith's views' are easily obtained he' spends hours in talking vith Mr- Jncs and Mr- Brovvn about political issues ranging in importance all the .way from oyster conservation to a new constitutional amendment. If he doesn't belong to a club, the camT 'grocery store or beer parlor -provides his soap-box. Mrs. Smith presents a much more difficult problem. prob-lem. Her name is legion she holds the balance of power in any election. And the political experts often grow grey in futile efforts to discover how she feels about the issues that make or break administrations. That is why the cost of food may be 'a potent factor in the next election. Mrs. Smith's" principal interests generally lie in her home. She thinks less about the national debt than she does about Mw shoes for. Junior. And the thing that is' likely t cause the seeds of resentment 'to-swell and mature in-. i si(je' :ier -is a sharp rise in the cost of the most basic of necessities, food. The high cost of food has- become a center of controversy throughout the ration as have the causes of the increase; in-crease; At , the height -of depression, which-occurred in the late summer of 1932, foods, were almost unbelievably ! cheap. Thereafter, a slow and natural rise set in, until, in the late summer of 1933,. foods were higher than in the -preceding year, but were still very cheap.. In the year, following the rise continued slowTly and then went into a zoom. At the present time, while foods are still a little cheaper than in the years immediately preceding pre-ceding 1929, their prices are so much above the "normal" depression level that the American housewife is beginning be-ginning to complain in no uncertain terms. Here, for example, is a comparison of some basic food- prices over a two- year period, as compiled by the U. S. News: Aug., 1933 Aug., 1935 Sirloin Steak 29.8c lb. 40.8c lb. Pork Chops 21.2c lb. 39.5c lb. Bread 7.6c lb. 8.2c lb. Lard 9.8c lb. 21.8c lb. Eggs 25.6c doz. 37.3c doz. Milk 10.9c qt. 11.7c qt. What this amounts to, to quote the U. S. News again, is that the American Ameri-can housewife must pay $1.59 today for what she could have bought for $1.1)5 two years ago. i Many forecasters think that this ; situation must inevitably cost the (Oontin'ied on last page) Economic Highlights (Continued from page 1) Roosevelt administration a great many votes. And that leads to this question: What has been responsible for the increase in food costs, Answers Ans-wers are var'ed but, taking them by small and large, they resolve into this: First, the AAA's crop restricting restrict-ing program has been an important factor; second, middleman costs ! cause an unnecessarily wide gap be-Itween be-Itween what the farmer receives and I what the consumer pays. - It is a fact that grocers, in spite of high prices, are not prospering accordingly. ac-cordingly. Their wholesale costs have zoomed along with retail costs. Some large chain systems, which strive to keep prices down as much as possible, possi-ble, are actually earning less net profit than they did a year or so ago. The question of middleman profits will be aired in-an inquiry soon to be started by the federal trade commission. commis-sion. However, Mrs. Smith is likely to take her ire out on the government officials she believes responsible for her strained budget, whether or not there were contributing circumstances circum-stances beyond their control. Attitude of the farmer is also of great importance. In a late speech, Mr. Roosevelt stood squarely for his administration's AAA work, wh'ch he said had brought producers benefits of more than $5,000,000. And' Republican Repub-lican central committee head, Fletcher, Fletch-er, recently said that the GOP would combat all major New Deal activities with but one exception the exception excep-tion being the AAA. Reasbn: Inquiries Inquir-ies have revealed strong support of! the AAA in the great farming states, J which must be carried by a presidential presiden-tial candidate if he is to win. So the cost-of-food issue is confused confus-ed and is growing more so. It will play a leading role in the next eam-j paign -whether the candidates want ; it to or not. oOo ! August business reports, coupled; with some for the first half of Sep-' te.mber, are encouraging. Industrial operations, on the average, have made more than usual seasonal gains. Substantial advances have been made in the number of replacement and improvement programs inaugurated by large industries. Biggest item in this field is the $50,000,000 General Motors is to spend during the next eighteen months. , |