The herald., 1897-12-20

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the full force Of the new conditions. but
wholesalers estimate that In the spring
prices will appreciate fully rs per cent.
with possibility of reaching 40 per
cent by fall. Business suits now costing
$40 will then command SIS; overcoats
that now cost SIS will be advanced to
S22.50. Children's suits that now cost
$3.50 and IS will be advanced to IS. Lin
ings, trimmings and buttons have gone
up relatively with wooden fabrics. In
neckwear. prices have advanced already
from 25 to so per cent. Hats, under the
revised tariff, have gone up from Is
to 25 per cent; s5-cent hats cost
s1.50. Every grade of carpet manufac-
tured in this country has advanced in
price-tapestry Brussels and velvet car
pets cents yard, all-wool ingrains 5
tons 10 cents. Blankets that cost 40
cents pound before the new tariff went
into effect now cost GO cents. Flannels
have gone up from to cents an ounce.
factor have advanced from 80 to so per
cent, and In some instances, where fine
woolen yarn is used. the advance has
reached 100 per cent. All knit goods
show an appreciation Of 80 to 80 per cent.
Wooen dress goods that go to the masses
cost IL cents a square yard more than
they did before the new tariff went into
effect. Goods of anything like fair
weight will cost IS cents a yard
more than formerly. Serge or CASH
mere that sold for rs cents a
yard now commands SIN cents The
increase in china and crockery will range
from Is to 25 per cent; IS cents Is asked
for wash basin formerly costing 60;
dozen plates formerly costing 81 will
now command $1.17, and dozen cups
and saucers will cost 25 cents more than
before. Crude rubber has advanced so
per cent within the last thirty days, and
rubber betting will, Of course, be in
creased proportionately to meet the ad-
vance. In millinery the advance in
prices is striking. Imported hats that
last year sold for $35 and $40 will this
year cost s45 and $50. Ostrich feathers
have advanced from So so to $3.50 and 81.
The increase in velvet goods is from o5
to 80 per cent. Velvet that last year sold
for 81 a yard will this year cost 1928 to
s235.
Thpra has haan oA1 tn hoi
luxuries of life--such as velvets, laces
and imported millinery, cigars and the
like, articles which may not be abso-
lutely essential to the working man or
woman-but the new schedules bear
most heavily upon the prime necessities
of the poor and of the great middle class,
which depend upon the usufruct Of daily
toll to supply their requirements.
Were wages to advance in proportion
to the enhanced cost of living, the bur-
dens imposed by the new tariff would be
but, as everyone knows,
there has been no such proportionate
advance. and no advance at all except In
a few selected industries, whereas there
have been material and grievous reduc-
tons In other branches of industry af-
fecting hundreds of thousands Of labor
ers. Nor would the situation and
be nearly so discouraging and
to the poorer classes If the
in prices related only to
foreign commodities, and were confined
,toh h. III ,,.;ca
But, unfortunately for all
the sympathetic influence of
the upward movement is felt in other di-
rections. The retail price of meat in
this market, our readers need not be told.
has been twice advanced within the past
few months, and If the price of bread has
not gone up, the weight Of the loaf has
shrunk, so that the net result is the same. !
Each community has it's peculiar bur-
dens to bear. and none are exempt. The
poor will eat less meat, wheaton -four
will in time become to them a luxury.
cotton will usurp the place of wool in the
domestic economy, and shoddy will
everywhere have an inning
The prospect is certainly not very in
spring for the bread winners of the
United States. Between the Scylla of
L trust made protective tariff and gold
standard, and the Charybdis of indus
rial stagnation and lower wages their
as a whole, gives little prom
Sc of Improvement. Their only hope
les in a correction at the ballot box of
he evils which only vicious legislation
,ould bring upon a country rich and re-
beyond compare. May we not
hope that the object lesson compre
hended in every parcel purchased for the
arder or the wardrobe will bear abund
ant fruit in the congressional elections
Of next year and the presidential cam
paign to follow?
IS GAGE QUALIFIED?