Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-11-26
LIVING IN ENGLAND.
It is Really No Cheaper Than in This
Country.


The accuracy OF official statement
made by United States Consul Halstead at
Birmingham that living was no cheaper In
England than In the United States. having
been questioned by certain authorities IN this
country, he has made a supplementary re-
port on the subject to the State Depart
ment. From this 1t appears that the orig
inal statement was based on the expert
ence of certain American tube welders
working in the Birmingham district. The
statement caused much surprise, as 1t was
contrary to the general understanding. One
newspaper urged that If living in Great
Britain was not appreciably cheaper than
In the United States there was no reason
for protecting the highly paid American
workman. Consul Halstead says that that
is not matter for him to decide. He adds
that that pagers proposition to lower the
scale Of living of the American working
man had better be addressed to the Amert-
can workingman direct.
81 only state very plain fact" says
Mr.. Halstead, that IL the English work.
ingman lived as well as his American
brother workingman his living expenses
would be as great or greater than the liv-
ing expenses of the American. Surely there
is nothing Objectionable in stating a fact
so plain and 80 easily verified Everybody
knows that the American workman is, by
comparison, highly paid. I can only state
the fact that the English workman cannot
and does not live as well as the American.
It is within my knowledge that the major
fty Of people in the United States believe
that living is much cheaper abroad than at
home. and 1t seems to me therefore that
might well supplement the statement OF
those American workmen, who. II must be
understood, have lived here number of
years, and knew the condition of the United
States before they came here, and are
therefore better qualified to express an
opinion than tourists. whether they be
Americans in England or Englishmen In
ny1n fhaU nj mil
siohers investigating living conditions.
In the American factories also and in
the factories where orders for American
world contractors have been executed.
when our manufacturers had more work
a number of Americans employed Those
in the better paid positions. find their stu
tons, on the whole, comfortable and agree
able; yet practically all these, and nearly
all other working Americans living here
whom have met, have claimed that they
did not find the cost Of living, as they had
expected It, low
Many of the working Americans In Eng
land, including those Americanizng fac
tories and those selling our manufactures
here. accepted their foreign positions at the
same Qn some cases lower) salaries than
they had been receiving at home; persuaded
and believing that they were obtaining an
increase because they would be able to live
more cheaply than at home. In the lower
wage grades the stay of the imported
American workman is seldom one of great
duration. In one factory where there were
nearly fifty American and Angio-American
workmen a few years ago there Is only one
foreman, remaining. A few are stilrfn
Great Britain. Most of them returned Ito
the United States. They were. some of
cost Of living higher than they antici-
pated."