Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1904-10-27
WAGES AND THE COST OF LIVING.
President Roosevelt Deliberately Seeks
10 Deceive the Public.

OF the many statements denperaueAy
made by Mr.. Roosevelt, in his letter u
acceptance, which have aroused un-
favorable comment because Oh thelr III
accuracy, none is destined to cause hin
more trouble and to result In greater
harm to his canvass than that IN
which he alleges that wages have Deen
increased during the last few years
in greater proportion than the COST
of living has increased. This staIe-
ment has called forth a storm Oh pfo-
test, not only from the press Du'
among well-informed labor leaders ana
political economists.
Nearly every independent journal
has taken Mr.. Roosevelt to task. one
of these. the Philadelphia Pubic
Ledger, published in the metropolis Oh
the strongest protectionist State In the
Union. deYotes q column and half OF
its space In refuting the Presidents
statement. Mr.. Roosevelt, to quote
him precisely sdyo.
"As conclusively shown by the bull
letin of the Bureau Of Labor, the pur'
chasing power Of the average wage re-
ceived by the wageworker has grown
faster than the cost Of living"
The Philadelphia Ledger regrets that
It cannot confirm this statement IL
says:
More reliable, because more dlsin-
terested, and more unprejudicsd W.T.
nesses than Mr.. Roosevelt's Commits
sioner of Labor, have time and again
declared 1t conspicuously inexact.
Among the disinterested witnesses are
both Bradstreet's and Duns carefully
compiled reports, and among the I'M
preiudiced ones are several prominent
labor leaders, who have testified to the
truth respecting the wage scale OF the
one part and the regular quotation OF
the prices of the necessities Of life OF
the other part. And the precise test-
mony given by these trustworthy VIII
nes=es, is directly contrary to the Pres!-
dents statement.
THE prices Of domestic commodities
have had an average increase from the
lowest standard reached in 1896 Of 81
par cent. No sensible and well-in-
formed man will seriously assert that
since 1896 the average wage rate has IN
creased to that eXtent-more than one
third. There is no workman IN the
land who can testify to the accuracy
of this. The Presidents contention Is
that the alleged greater proportlonate
increase of the average wage to the
increased cost Of living has been due
TO the benetcent protection afforded TO
labor by the tariff. Here again the
Presidents position Is contested by
labor itself. 1t Is true that the wages
OF artisans and their unskilled helpers
have been materially increased since
1896. but while there have been slight
increases at various times OF the wages
of the so-called protected workmen,
the aggregate differences have not kept
step with the increase Of the cost OF
living.
"At present the tendency all over
the country is to reduce the wages Oh
those employed in protected industries
At Fall River, Mass, $4,000 textile
operators are out Of work and de-
prived of wages because they would
not consent to a fiat wage reduction
of IL per cent. In Chicago the Meat
Trust has crushed to death one OF the
most powerful labor organizations be-
cause it demanded a reasonable In
crease of wages for the under-pald
laborers. The Steel, Iron and Tin
Trusts, interests protected by the tarin,
have been largely reducing their wage
schedules as has also the Glass Trust.
The artisans, mechanics and all sorts
of their unskilled helpers, to whom the
tariff does not even pretend to give
protection, receive high wages ana
will continue to receive them SO long
as their unions remain intact. But
what single tariff-protected industry
pays It's workmen the same generous
reward for their labor that the I'M
protected activities pay their en-
ployees for their labor"
It might be added that Commissioner
Wright's remarkable statement and
tabulation upon which President
Roosevelt bases his remarks already
quoted. was discredited long before the
candidates letter of acceptance was
made public, for Secretary Shaw In
stump speech delivered several weeks
ago stated that tho Commissioner OF
Labor has prepared a bomb which
would blow the Democratic party sky
high. or words to that effect. He said,
in so many words, that this bomb"
was In the nature of a carefully pre-
pared article showing that the Dem
ocratic contention that the cost OF
living had been increased out Of pro-
portion to the increase in wages was
untrue.
Commissioner Wrights bomb" has
deceived no person of average intelli-
gence. 1t bears on its face the i'm
print Of untruthfulness born of the
desperate necessities Of a losing cam
paign.