JANUARY 26, 1912] 
The price rose from 80 cents in the former 
year to $1.994 in 1910. On the other hand, 
raisins and prunes, upon which there is a 
considerable duty, have shown a material 
fall, and sugar has not greatly increased 
in price except very recently, due it is 
claimed, to crop conditions. Instances 
might be indefinitely multiplied of the rise 
and fall of prices here and elsewhere irre- 
spective of the duties levied. These illus- 
trations show that the tariff is only one of 
the numerous causes affecting relative 
prices. It may often happen, as in the 
cases cited, that other causes so far out- 
weigh the influence of the tariff that its 
effect can not be discerned. 
As regards the cost of labor, while a high 
standard of wages is maintained in the 
United States and there have been notable 
increases in the wages of many classes of 
employees, it can not be said that there has 
been a disproportionate increase; the facts 
are quite the contrary because, generally 
speaking, the cost of living has more than 
kept pace with the increase in compensa- 
tion. 
As a rule, wages as well as retail prices 
do not immediately respond to changes as 
readily as wholesale prices or as rent and 
other items which make up the ordinary 
expenses of living. The basic fact which 
should be considered is the relative pro- 
portions of personal service and of im- 
provements accomplished by inventions or 
labor-saving devices, in the production or 
distribution of any commodity. In cases 
in which machinery renders a more effi- 
cient service than formerly, the tendency 
is toward downward prices, but in case 
labor or personal service has been only par- 
tially aided by these improvements, or as 
in some cases not at all, the prices have in- 
creased. 
Under modern systems of distribution 
the amount of personal service required is 
SCIENCE 
139 
relatively much greater than formerly and 
in this fact may be found a very important 
cause of high prices. Much more care is 
exercised in the preparation and handling 
of packages. Delivery is made to the con- 
sumer at his residenee. There is no suffi- 
cient organization in distribution. As a 
result there is a vast amount of duplica- 
tion. This service involves an exceptional 
cost as compared with the work of distri- 
buting large quantities. For example, the 
carrying of a ton of coal 150 miles to a 
city costs less than the transfer of that 
coal fora half or even a quarter of a mile 
to the home in which it is consumed. The 
cost of delivery of mail matter by carriers 
in cities and on rural free delivery routes 
is much in excess of the carriage in bulk 
by railway or steamship, even for very 
long distances. 
Innumerable examples may be given of 
the very considerable difference between 
the original cost to the manufacturer and 
the final charge to the consumer. Some 
weeks since figures were carefully pre- 
pared in regard to the manufacture and 
sale of an article of clothing now in very 
general use. The manufacturer charged 
$24.90 per dozen. Each dozen included 
different sizes. The retailer charged from 
$4 to $10 per garment. The total sales 
averaged about $6.50 for each, or a total 
of $78 to the consumer as against $24.90 
to the manufacturer. The retailer is not 
to be blamed. The pressure of population 
in eities, the greater demands of modern 
life resulting in higher rents and higher 
cost for services rendered to him, make it 
essential that he should charge more for 
the goods he sells. 
An entire revolution in methods of dis- 
tribution is imminent. The consumer will 
be brought nearer to the producer. Great 
warehouses will be substituted for small 
and scattered shops, especially in case of 
