Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 5, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 February 1891 — HAVE PRICES ADVANCED? [ARTICLE]

HAVE PRICES ADVANCED?

The Effect the McKinley Tariff Has Had Upon Them, [Dry Goods Economist,] The|discussion*over McKinley prices has again broken cut in the daily press with some degree of the old bitterness, andon the pait of the Republicans with a new confidence in the strength of their position. The claim is put forward with agressiveness by the friends of the new tariff, that speaking broadly, it has not inore .sod prices and will not do so, and the Democratic press are summoned to ad nit their mistakes and deceptions. Looking at this matter from a calm and practical standpoint, within trade lines, the situation is a very interesting one - The first effect of the tariff, according tp its loudly proclaimed design, was to rais > prices ana to check imports. The attempt was successful, at least with re gara to prices. There was throughout the country a general advance, corresponding roughly to the advance in the tariff rales. But at this point the progiam broke down. The people declined to pay the higher prices. They rejected the whole scheme, and rising* in their wrath, they svept from power the politicians who bad fastened the obnoxious law ou the statute books. They then turned to the merchants, with equal determination warned them that they would not pay higher prices. Admonished by the disaster which had engulfed the politicians, the meroh ants considered the situation very soberly. The universal complaint came up that customers would not pay the new prices. If buyers could not get the goods at ose place at the old rates, they would seek other channels, and the wholesale trade found that to insist upon the new scale meant the taking of big risks with their customers. At this point three conservative elements came into play. Rather than turn away a good customer, the merchant consented, first, to waive his usual profit; second, to put his wits to work to devise a substitute for goods heretofore sold at certain rates that would satißjy the consumer without

being of quite equal value; third, he practiced economies of various sorts in the production and cost of the merchandise to him. To take such an example as embroidery: The effect of the new tariff has been to bring into the market several novelties that give the effect of value without an actual expenditure of cost in the manufacture. So in imported hosiery, we still have what is known in the trade as the “twenty-five cent stocking,” but in quality and workmanship it is inferior. It has been adroitly cheapened. The customer gets the article at the old price, but it is not as good, and no advertising lies can make it as good. Of course, in many articles there is no pretence that prices are the same for the same quality, as before the new tariff went into effect With regard to other articles, there is no pretence that the new goods which will come into the market later on in the year, will be held at the same prices as before. With regard to articles that have not been materially affected bf the tariff, as, for instance, silks and cottons, the keen competition of trade had made it impossible for avarieious merchants longer to fool the public, so that prices, after an artificial increase, have fallen to their normal and proper level again. All these features nave been carefully analyzed, and many of them have been predicted by this paper, Some months ago we laid speccial stress on the risk a merchant ran by marking up goods which were bought before the new tariff, or which were not affected by it. Our advice in this matter has been amply verified by the facts. We also indicated how manufactures would skillfully cheapen their goods so as seemingly not to increase prices.— This has been done in very many cases. We also have maintained that on very many articles the prices would necessarily be increased by the tariff. This also has occurred, and it is utter nonsense for the partisan press to deny it.