The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1890-07-05
WHY LIVING Is EXPENSIVE.
The Real Pinch is In the Wasteful System
of Delivery.


The Real Pinch is in the Wasteful System
of Delivery.
This problem never pressed SO hard on
two classes of people as to-day, says the
Philadelphia Press. For the farmers, the
past ten or twelve years have seen perma-
nent reduction of one-third or more in all
he gets for grain; of from one-half to one
third in the price of the meat he raises; of
an equal reduction in his milk, and in this
state, Delaware and Pennsylvania an almost
complete loss of the market for the first
early vegetables, and with it the best profits
of the year.
The farmers loss has not been the house.
holders gain. Bread, meat and milk are as
high as they ever were. Cheap transporta.
flour to from $500 to $3.50 barrel-quot-
ing this weeks prices. But the 800 pounds
of bread which barrel will make sells for
SIG to $40, if the bread be bought by the
loaf. If steers can BIO bought from Sc to &c
a pound, the housekeeper goes on paying
1sc to 300 pound for al he buys. q ne
enough to make round steak at 12c a
pound OF chuck ribs at 1Oc a pound as
palatable as better cuts. he ia still paying
twice the cost of the original article for the
poorest cuts. The farmer can only get
Sc to SIC for his milk. but the customer
DaVS &C d QUAR- tOI Guc Uc6t AA4AAAs w uAA ~
for fair article and SC for a poor one.
We doubt if there is single article which
is currently used for food, exclusive of su-
gar, which is not doubled in value before it
reaches the consumer: One-halt OF the
average income up to $1,000 or even ~ GOO
year is spent on food and it's preparation,
aud fully one-ffth on food direct. As
nearly ali of the food doubles in value after
it leaves the farm, for the great mass of the
community 81 in SO of the total wages goes
to the middleman who handles food.
"The railroads, the great corporations ~
shout a great chorus of objectors in expla-
nation, Oh, no, not at all. The railroad
| from Minneapolis on the barrel of -four. The
meat has cost about 10. pound to bring il
| from places where it costs alive, from &c. to
4c. a pound. The milk is delivered to the
dealer in most cities at from l4c. to 1ac. q
quart for all charges of transportation. II
cal as the railroads food would cost only a
trife over what it does now, say two-thirds
the present charge.
The real pinch is in our wasteful system
CT retail delivery. Watch II milkman deliv-
ering milk along route-here few quarts
and there lew. crossing his track. skip,
ping houses, and travelling miles by de
vious route to serve few families. II hif
houses were punched together it would not
take half the time or half the cost. A
Brooklyn butcher has just published his
sales for January and February. He sold
$745.l4, at gross profit of $1261, out OF
which the expenses of the store took $49. 76
and delivery $l4.9. This brought the
profit to $685. or per cent on the over
turn for interest on capital and risk. 10 Dc
this he had to sell q steer which cost 6l9c. 6
pound at an average Of lie. and it costs al
much to deliver the meat in Brooklyn as tc
bring the steer from Chicago. II is inst 81
with bread. After the railroad has brought
a barrel here for 40c. it costs ia to SIS Il
make it and deliver it. The result is that
flour is cheaper hero than in London, anG
bread nearly twice as dear per loaf.
1t will never cost any less to live until thu
same vast organization is applied to retail
delivery which has revolutionized whole
sale transportation. Three great road
bring everything to Philadelphia, six o
seven do the same for New York, four o
five do it for Boston. They do IL cheapl,
and do it we'll. When retailing Is done o'
the same vast scale, living viii be cheap
1t will not be until then.
} We have changed all else in transports
ton and manufacture. but We buy on
household supplies Just as our fathers did
in small quantities and with no system. M
it costs us half our outlay on food.