The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1872-07-13 00:00:00

THE COST OF LIVING.
(From the Saturday

Except in cases where the improvement of mechanism
provides a substitute for mr.nual labour., the cost of
production in all departments may be expected to in-
crease. Though the excessive percentage which has
since the autumn been added to the price of coal and
iron may be excepttondl and temporary, coal will
necessarily become more costly to raise as the upper
seams are exhausted; and iron depends upon coal.
Whatever may be the result of the strike in the build-
ing trade, nails, bolts, girders, and tools will become
dearer ;and the unprecedented actitity of the ship-
builders yards can scarcely fail to receive a check. It
is already stated that, although iron-workers of every
description are now fully employed, new orders are
, slow in coming in, and all the signs Which indicate a
! future collapse or commercial prosperity are offering,
as on many former occasions, an unheeded warning.
It is possible that America and France may at some
f store time learn the first principles of political
economy, to ths gnat detriment of the competitor,'
whom tiValry they gratuitously foster; but if the in- :
dustrial prosperity of England. in spite of periodical
checks and reverses; on the whole continues and in-
creases, the possessors of fixed incomes will, instead of '
sharing in the litnelit, constantly become wizen The
, gold by which their property is measured will purchase
less and less, because bullion will be more abundant,
because labour will be scantier, and because codl will
lie deeper in the ground. Taxation, as far as it is
required fot the payment of interest on debt, will
become lighter, and civil servants, although they
may obtain some advance of nominal pay, will
probably not ti I that their incomes keep pace
with their expo. es. Annuitants, fundhohlers, de-
benture-holders, and mortgagees, or rather the poorer
and more helpless of their number, will suffer, because
they will be less able to transfer their investments.
Tithe owners, under the provisions of the Commuta-
tion Act, occupy an exceptional position, which is
shared in sonic parts of the country by landowners who
have granted leases on corn rents. The tithe charge
is annually teadjusted according to the prices, on an
average of seven ,-ear, of the three kinds of grain in
ordinary use. The tithe-owners are, therefore, un-
affected by the depreciation of gold; but it happens
that corn also has become cheaper in even a Lager
ratio than gold, and that the price is more likely to
diminish than to increase as fresh lauds are brought
into cultivation in America and Eastern Europe.
Customary incomes, as wellas fixed incomes, though
they admit of augmentation, generally log behind the
growth of industrial wealth. It is difficult for pro-
fessional practitioners as a body to increase the rate of
the fees by which they are paid, although a fashionable
doctor or a successful Ade° ate may prepare the way fur
a general advance by jnilicionsly increasing his de-
mands. On the whole a depreciation of the
lacing medium tends to increase the collective wealth of
the community by favouring productive debtors at the
expense of consuming creditors, although it tends to
impoverish still further a class which can ill bear re-
duction of its means. The advance in the value of
land may, perhaps, tend in the opposite direction, as
fat as it accrues to the benefit of the non-productive
owner, but the bulk of the profit will be realized by
the occupier, because rents rise slowly and at distant
intervals. Although it might, perhaps, be inexpedient,
even if it were possible, to resist the impending
e3onomic changes, any casual delay will be not unwel-
conie, as it may give time for society to adjust itself
to altered conditions.
The probable resumption of specie payments by the
United States will create a large demand of gold for
coinage and circulation, which misy perhaps absorb the
produce of the gold fields for two or three years. On
the other hand, improvements in the machinery of
credit are constantly rendering coin lees necessary
for the conduct of trade, as when hundreds of
millions are paid it the Clearing-house, not only
• without the use of coin, but by mere entries in books.
If Sir John Lubbock's plan of crossing bank-notes
I is adopted and found useful, another reason will be