The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-12-09
CHEAP LIVING.
Ii May Involve Something Different
and Less Durable Than Economy.

Speaking on the problem of cheap liv-
ing. j. T. Morse, in the December issue
of Munsey's Magazine, points out that it
is possible to live on Is cents a day. To
quote a few words: "a cup of coffee and
rolls will cost but 5 cents. At noon a s.
cent cup of coffee carries with it suf-
ficient luncheon at man cafes in the large
cities. AT night 5 cents will buy a large
dish of baked beans or something equally
substantial. Who wishes for anything bet
ter than that. except it be a pampered aris-
tocrat?'
There are a great many people, not
"pampered." either. who would object most
seriously to such a diet, and with reason.
In the first place. bakers bread and a cup
of very poor coffee is not sufficient nour-
ishment for any man or woman engaged in
active pursuits; in fact, the nutriment in
such a breakfast is so small that il might
almost as well not be taken at all. 1t is
useless to urge that the French and Ger
mans break their fast on coffee on rolls.
In England and all over the continent they
have good bread, brown and white; they
are not defrauded and half starved on
such stuff as we are here. American
women do not know how to make good
bread; they do not even know enough to
refuse to buy bad bread; otherwise the
American baker would step down and out.
Perhaps some day a law will be framed
under which he can be tackled. At present
he is about as big a curse To the race as
the liquor seller. But to pass on the next
item-''beer and a free lunch" 1t is to be
hoped that there are men left, even in
large cities" who prefer to pay for what
they get. 1t is doubtful economy to break
bread at the bar or buffet.
The frugal supper mentioned Is all right
as far as 1T goes; baked beans are good,
but unless we have been brought up in the
poorhouse or the p%enitentiary We are not
likely TO take kindly to baked beans and
nothing else. The hair-splitting e~at-just-
as-little-as-you-can kind of economy is apt
to make niggards of those who survive il,
but. thank God. they are not many. 1t
might be well to remember that our bodies
are not imperishable: that every hour they
are wasting away. and that waste must
be repaired. 1t is extravagant and wastefIl
TO buy costly food simply to crafty the
taste. but. on the other hand, it is simply
suicide to try to live on husks. Good bread
and good meat are necessary to the we'll
being of the civilized man.. 1t is true that
savages can and do live on next to moth
ing but perhaps that is the reason why
they are savages. Certainly the most fru-
gal races are not always the brightest, DIt
if any man wishes to live on rice or beans
or red peppers. why, there is no law to for
bid IL. The Chinese and the Japanese are
probably the most frugal people in the
world, but because they are able to exist
on a few cents a day is no reason why the
civilized man can or must. On the con-
trary. IL is one of the things which he
should protest against, for If he is COR
tented to live so to-day from choice. sooner
or later he will be compelled to live SO "
hitter necessity. Ii is a good thing for
an individual or a nation TO be active
ard strong, and TO lave wants and
clamorous ones, too. 1t is the whirl
of the spinning-wheel and the blow of the
AK that precede civilization-the savage
arousing from his stup0r TO proclaim: II
will not go naked. and hungry and cold"
Not abstinence, but the keen hunger and
thrift which shapes the pillow and turns
the furrow is the kin of spirit that a man
must have il he would advance. Millions
of people are living on a little black bread
to-day. Why? Because they found out
doned all effort. and when they awoke il
was TO find themselves peasants. not free
owners of the soil. 1t is a bad thing for a
man to discover that he can live on moth
TO eat and enough to wear should be the
demand OF every man In a free country.
but a roof to cover his head and a spot
of Gods green earth 10 call his own. The
struggle to acquire viii strengthen his
sinews and brighten his brain, and that is
a very much better result than would be
slow starvation. The demand for a full
dinner pail means a good deal for it
shows that the American. whether his
hands are stained with toll or not, has not
lost quite all the sense he had to begin
with. He is not ready TO live on a hold
ing on potatoes or black bread. His hands
set the pillow i'm the furrow: when il comes
forth IT will not be TO let the land lie
fallow; IL will be flattened out on the anvil
and used for another purpose. We have
no room in America for the idle rich with
their parks and palaces. neither have we
any room for the idle poor; but they are
not long in any land. the Police Court,
the river and the potter's field show their
| record.
Introspectfon.