The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1864-09-01
The Cost of Living.

III TIC nlust OF the solemn clrcumStan-
ces by which we are surrounded-the ma.
tion graphing for a final struggle with
the enemy that seeks its life-the land
draped IN universal mourning for the gen.
eral bereavement-one third, at least of
the productive industry of the country
diverted from its natural and profitable
employment to the destructive work of
war-our agriculture and manufactures
languishing for want of men-our foreign
commerce all but paralyzed by privateers
on the ocean-the American name dis
credited abroad-dissension and distrust
at home, we have felt it our obligation to
point out the inevitable consequences that
must follow the protracton of this contest
and plainly to testify the duty-the sol
emn duty-imposed by them upon the
people of the United States, and from
which they cannot escape.
In writing as we have done on this SUBJ
ject we have consulted the special inter-
est of no man or of no class of men; we
have written not to uphold favorite the
ory, nor to promote private end, but as
responsible for the right employment of
the influence assigned to us as journalists
we could do nothing else than admonish
the people Of the true facts of their posi-
ton, and warn them of the certain conse-
quences that must follow. In doing so
we did not utter the language either of
poet or a prophet, we spoke neither from
inauguration nor inspiration, but we re-
corded the results which the immutabe
laws of political economy are certain to
produce.
If any who read these columns are un-
convinced by what we have already writ
ten, we would recall to their minds the
facts:
l. That one able bodied man out of
three of the entire population of the Nor
thern States is occupied by the war.
2. That this proportion is certain to
increase as the war continues.
3. That there is no present appearance
of the cessation Of the war.
4. That an immense further expendi-
ture of the public money is inevitable
(We place our estimate as at~least one
thousand millions.)
5. That the supply of the great staple
of cotton is exhausted. and the quantity
of wool is utterly insufficient to meet the
increased demand rendered certain by the
want of cotton.
6. That the harvest of the present year
is very short, and the exporting power Of
the country greatly reduced.
T. That the wages of labor are necessa-
rily advancing, in sympathy with the en-
hanced cost of commodities and the de-
mand of men for the army, and this in
turn reacts, and, increasing the cost of
production, necessitates the constant en-
hancemCnt in the price of alF articles.
These are sober facts in the case, which
we think it our duty to put squarely to
the people. We do SO with the less reluc-
tance, because beneath them all we have
the full assurance of the power and the
resolution Of the American people at all
cost to uphold their government and
maintain the integrity of their nation, be-
cause of the issue of this rebellion we
have no shade Of doubt
If any should object, and say the high
prices of which we speak are unnatural
and extravagant, and the result of a re-
dundant circulation, and may be correct
ed by contraction of the currency, we
answer thatwe do indeed feel that the In
nation is excessive and ought never to
have reached its present point, but that
is because of the faith of the vitality and
permanence of the American nation. If
the capitalists of Europe had taken the
same view, the national securities Of A.
merica would never have gone much be-
low par, and foreign exchange would nev-
er have advanced much beyond 10
But such state of things would have
been an anomaly without precedent in his
tory. We have to deal with facts as they
are, and we find that, with debt of two
thousand millions, gold stands at premium
of l60 per cent. When that debt is aug
mented by six or eight hundred millions
more is it reasonable to expect that pre-
MUM to be lessened {? We have great
faith that the policy Of borrowing from
the people and of severe taxation will have
a salutary effect in preventing the infa
ton Of prices, but it is simply impossible
that any further emission of greenbacks
should be avoided-all that can be done
is to make that emission as small as posi-
BILE.
Butsurely beyond this there are reasons
why prices must advance-the harvest, as
we have seen, is short-the staples of the
of cotton clothing all but
gone-of WOODEN utterly nsufficient-wa-
ges, which must keep pace with the cost
of living, are advancing. What then is
TO be done ? If inordinate prices are to
be avoided, we say it is necessary to les
sen the consumption in every practicable
way. To increase production is, for the
we have given, impracticabie
therefore, all that we can do is to husband
and economist the resources we possess
1t is for each man to inquire, what is his
personal responsibility in this matter
Let us make one or two suggestions;
Invest your money in the Government
securities instead of private speculations