COST OF LIVING

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LIV, 12 January 1921, Page 5

COST OF LIVING

PRICES AND GO-SLOW Wherever or whenever it originated, and by whom, gc-slow is- noticeable in Canada. Mr A. J. Brenton, a member of the Winnipeg Board of Trade, was speaking about furs, in which ho is directly interested, his firm buying direct from trappers, Indians and others, making up the furs, and selling what are not so dealt with. Speaking first of furs —and they had a wonderful run during the war years, when munition millions were circulating in North America as well as ip Great Britain—Mr Brenton. said a black fox pelt according to grade used to be worth from 1200 to 2400 dollars, say, £250 to £SOO. Now they were down to from 400 dollars to 1200 dollars, or £§4 to £260; But prices for commodities generally had a long way to go before they would reach a prewar basis. They would not be helped j in that direction by go-slow methods, i That would retard* the cheapening of any article with which labour directly or indirectly entered. It. w&s, he thought, impossible for prices to drop. There were temporary declines, here and there, due to special circumstances. “But,” he added, “you can't; cut down labour, for labour won’t stand it. The only tiling to do when a non-paying point is reached is to lay off hands and. close up plants. That would mean the stoppage of production and the corresponding enhancement of prices for what was already produced or being produced in quantities or bulk miles below the demand. Labour in Canada and the United States and elsewhere requires to be educated to this fact that you can’t, have lower prices and diminished production. Papers may, and they are, preaching economy, and that may j cause temporary trade dullness, but lif there is not the output then price® must go up, not down. Prices will no doubt come down; but they cannot be forced down. They must fall gradually, and it may take years. Certainly as many years as the war took to get them up. But going slow will not do it. It will push them up and keep them up. The fur trade may be called a luxury trade, and Mr Brenton has an interesting story to tell about it. The pure Red Indian, who brings in much of the furs—they are taken in winter—Mr Brenton found to be a brave, straight, and honourable man, and his word could be relied upon. It may not be known that foxes are bred in Canada for their furs, black and silver, and that animals bred in Prince Edward Island for “stud” nurjposes have realised from 10,000 dollars Ito 30,000 dollars a pair.