The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1885-01-22
thE COST OF LIVING.
Present Prices Compared with Those
Eighty or N:asty Years Ago.

THE COST OF LIVING.
Present Prices Compared with Those Of |
Eighty or N;asty Years Ago.
In view of some curious efforts to In
crease the emoluments of Government
officers, OIL the ground that it costs two
or three times as much to live now as it
did when these offices were created, it
may be well to recall sundry statistics
given by Senator George, of Msssissip-
pi, in a recent speech. Having re-
peatedly found his objections to the
modern increase of official salaries met
by the broad assertion that it costs three
times as much to live now as il aid
when the Government was founded, he
determined to be no longer PIT down by
this statement, without finding out ex-
actly how far it was true. He delved
among the books of the Congressional
library, and the conclusion ne reached
was that Sin all the ~substantials of fife. all
the necessaries and the comforts of life,
the prices were higher during Washing
toms and the elder Adams administra-
ton than they are now l allude es-
pecially to provisions, things consumed
by men. Of course, we all know as to
clothing that the improvement in labor
saving machinery, the invention of the
sewing machine, have greatly reduced
the prices of those necessary articles.
| As to fuel, I have looked into that, and
the price of coal is now less than it was
| during the administration of Washing
| tom"
Rents, of course are enormously
greater now in the large cities than
they were in the beginning of the cent
ury; but, while this fact must be kept
| in mind for those places, Mr.. George
insists that wen rents sin the rural dis
tricts in the mountaineering and
non-commercial States are as low now
as they ever were before in the South"
Here are some of the statistical compar-
isons of Senator George:
"Beef per barrel was worth in 1895
$13, in 1897 it was worth $14, in 1884 it
was worth $3.50, and the average price
of beef for the forty years COM
mencing in 1895 and ending in 1884
was $40. 95 per barrel. In the last ten
years the price of beef has not been less
than S1O.2 5 per barrel.
Take the article of corn, a very nee
essary article. In 1895, 1896 and 1897
it was worth 81 per bushel and over.
That was the lowest price. The aver
age price for forty years from 1874 to
1884 was 863 cents per bushel. In the
last ten years it has never been as high
as this average, except in 1882, when
there was a drouth and corn was excep-
tionally high.
take the article of coffee. In 1895,
1896 and 1897 it was worth, respective
~, 81, rs and 26 cents per pound, and
the average price for the forty years up
to 1884 was % cents. For the last ten
years it has not been up to that average.
Take the article of sugar. In 1895
it was worth IA cents per pound. II
went as high as II cents in 1916, and
never got as low as 10 cents till 1920.
Now the price is from 6 to 8 cents. Sc
there has been a fall in the price OF
sugar"
Mr.. George at that point noted thai
it was shown a year ago in Congress
that sugar was a leading item of ex
pense in a boarding house for factory
operatives. He then added these fig
ures:
Take pork, sir. In 1875 it was S1S
per barrel; in 1901 it was 1926. In 1905
it fell to $15, and was never as low a!
$15 again until 1920, and then it wa!
S14.50. The average price for the fort.
years from 1895 to 1884 was $16.99 PEI
barrel. 1t is less thar that now.
''Take flour, a very essential article
of support. The average price of
barrel of flour from 1895 to 1884 wa
1851. In 1895 it was $12, in 1896 i
was SIG, in 1901 it was $13, in 1917 i
was S14.7 Is, the average being, a. Ihay
stated, 1881. 1t is now, and has beel
for a long time, much lower than that
Take wheat. My statistics of whea
do not 60 beyond the year 1906. Ical
not find them beyond that time. L
, that year the average price of whea
was $1.35; in 1907, 1903 and 1909 it WA
S1.25 per bushel; in 1910 it was $1.5
per bushel; in 1911 it was S1.75 pc
bushel, whereas the price to-day i
, Chicago is about SO cents. Since tina
times wheat has fallen lower, but tn
I fluctuations through speculation do nc
affect the general comparison.
) Take rice, another article of cor
sumption. In 1895 it was worth Z cent
; per pound; in 1896 it was worth 8 cent
per pound, and the average for tn
7 forty years from 1895 to 1884 was Sax
+ per hundred, 4.61 cents per pound, an
this was caused by the low price froI
: 1920 down. Before that time it wa
higher. The average for the last tie
years would be but very little more"
+ These figures may in some particular
|. be attacked, and there are other col
! siderations hat should be taken int
=. account. 1t is no doubt true that til
number of things classed as necessari'
!, and comforts, or, in other words, tt
|, number of things deemed ordinal
requisites for a given condition or cal
ing in life, has been multiplied of la
years. Doubtless food is not relative
8 so great an item of the total expense
many families as it was in former gel
6 erations. Nevertheless, Mr.. George
+ Investigations are interesting, and pc
haps may lead to some caution her
after in accepting assertions hitherto
little challenged as to have almost b
come axioms.-Philadelphta Record.