The Republican journal., 1905-05-04
THE INCREASED COST OF LIVING.

THE INCREASED COST OF LIVING.
With view to ascertainlng exactly
how much the prices of the necessarles
Of life have risen, and how much more
because of this the people are obliged
to spend in order to enjoy the comforts
to which they have been accustomed,
the United States Bureau of Labor re-
Gently sent out expert investigators to
all parts of the country. These men
extended the inquiry into thirty-three
States of the Union, picking out fam
lilies whose incomes did not exceed $1,000
year. In this way %, 44O families,
comprising 124, los persons, located in
the principal industrial centers of the
United States, were covered. The in
formation obtained, which is thought
to represent fairly the wage-earners of
the whole country was derived in part
from housewives, many of whom had
kept accounts for a long period, and
rest dependence was had upon the testi-
kinds of commodities.
1t was learned incidentally that the
average rent paid by each family was
Sis per annum. The average expend-
iture for fuel was s3l, and it appears
that the least amount (S15.S2) is paid
for this item in North Carolina, while
the greatest ($42 6S) is paid in Minnesota
OF course the difference is due mainly
, to climate. The average amount spent
for lighting was S7.53 a year, and
, varied from ssh in the Western States
to $4.97 in the South Central States.
| In no State was it as high as SO. For
clothing the average expenditure
was S95, and it would seem that
the people of New Hampshire spent
! most for this purpose Sl36.37), while
folks in South Carolina invest only
S333SI for garments, representing the
opposite extreme. 1t should be realized
that all of these figures relate to the
family as whole, and not to each
Individual. For food, which is always
the principal item, the average sum
spent i'll a tWelvemonth was 1912 81.
1t was highest S35797) in Rhode Island.
and lowest (S15615l in South Carolina.
j The total average income per family
was about $3.50. The total average
NAPShNleul 1Ol al Pil pOStS NdS SOIH.
"a, varying from S7o664 in the District
of Columbia where people seem to live
highest to S365.l5 in South Carolina.
, Evidently there are a good many
poverty folks in South Caro-
lima. Of the total outgo, the average
spent for food was ~ l-2 per cent, for
rent IL PEI cent, for fuel and lights
5 II per cent, FOR clothing IA per cent,
for religion l per cent, for furniture
and utensils 3 1-2 per cent, and for
sickness and death little over - per
cent, The last item, Of course; includes
doctors bills, For ORR. Intoxicating TO- liquors
about 3 per cent. Annual savings are
about $50 per family, and are largest In
the State of Washington, where they
amount to an average Of $40 year.
All important food articles, except
sugar and coffee, are higher at the pres
ent time than the average for the ten
year period from 1890 to 1900 In look
ing back upon the course Of prices since
1890, it is interesting to discover from
figures compiled by the Government
that in that year one dollar would buy
seven and fonr-ffths pounds of fresh
beef, while today it will purchase only
six and four-ffths pounds. That
amount Of money In 1890 would buy ten
pounds of salt beef; today nine pounds.
OF salt pork in 1890 it would buy nine
and half pounds; today little over
I seven pounds. One dollar in 1890
would purchase seven and a Quarter
pounds of chicken; today less than six
! and quarter pounds. 1t would buy
| ten pounds of fresh Ash in 1890; today
/ n Rife xnd "a Third pounds. In 1890 it
! would Fay for Ave dozen and four eggs;
today for Onlysafour dozen and three.
!, One doll&kSin 1890 would buy nearly
l,seVentgen quarts of milk; today less
than sixteen quarts. 1t would purchase
in 1890 four and quarter pounds OF but
ter; today only three and three-quarter
pounds. One dollar in 1890 was fair
equivalent for six and third pounds of
cheese; today it will purchase half a
pound less.
To-day one dollar will buy less than
eight and half pounds of lard; in 1890
it would pay for nearly eleven pounds.
OF cornmeal today you can purchase
for that sum thirty-eight and half
pounds; in 1890 you could get forty-six
and half pounds Is it surprising that
Mrs. Benedick, whose modest history is
made to illustrate this discussion,
should find herself in discouraged
frame of mind on market day? Surely
not; but it must be owned that the
same disbursement applies to an.
kind of shopping she may have to do.
If she wants to buy a carpet, she has
to pay 25 per cent. more for it than
would have been charged half-a-dOZen
years ago, whether it is ingram or Brus-
sells. All household incidentals, from
a hammer to piece of clothes line,
have taken part in the general climb,
and barb-wire she uses to keeI
intruders out of her small Vegetable
garden has assembled from 81. O2 to 81. 81
per 100 pounds, Observation-Disclosures
Magazine for April.
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