Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1906-11-26
Does Vanity Raise Cost of Living?

A Washington special correspondent
claims that vanity lifts the cost of
living He says:
Pride and vanity on the part of the
average individual rather than an in
crease in the cost of raw products or
manufacture are the causes for the
present high price of foodstuffs, &C
cording TO DR.. lie Grand Powers, agri-
cultural statistician of the census bU-
beau.
People nowadays mean average
people, common people if you will
insist upon having the best of every
thing" said DR.. Powers. THE work
ingman insists upon the finest cuts of
meats and he buys better meat. per-
haps, than the salaried or professional
man. He doesn't subscribe to the
shinbone doctrine of Edward Atkinson
He has a feeling that he is as good
as anybody else. and this feeling as
serts itself in his purchases. That is
vanity
You remember the time perhaps,
when a man who wanted to buy a
steak threw his basket over his arm
and went to the grocery after it, But
he won't carry a bundle now. His
meat must be sent to him. That IS
pride.
" 1t is safe to estimate that it costs
cents steak for every cut that is
delivered to the house The same is
true with other commodities of every
day necessity. The man whose food is
delivered to him by the grocer or
butcher pays the freight.
You may take any article you
please continued DR.. Powers, and
you will find that the margin between
the manufacturer and consumer is
constantly increasing. The middle
man, or dealer, is the gamer to con-
siderable degree, although he is not re-
sponsible altogether for the high
prices of foods. He must meet the
consumers fancies. he must make his
goods look attractive, and he must lay
them at the door of the household. All
of this costs money and of course the
consumer pays the freight.
People want prepared breakfast
foods now, where they used to be salts
fed with oatmeal and mush. or possib-
ly dishes or cakes made of flour. Flour
costs anywhere from 81 to Sc for a
barrel of 19G pounds. according to the
price of wheat. But people don't buy
barrels of flour as of yore They de-
mand it in fancy packages. and some
times get it in the form of prepared
foods
The flour that goes into one
pound package costs about a quarter
of cent. The consumer pays much
more, of course. The price for this
one-pound package is higher than I'll
ought to be. 1t probably costs or 10
cents. where it should not cost more
than 5 or 6. The higher price to the
consumer is the result of the fancy
package, demanded by the widely
spreading national vanity, and further
of the fact that the article must be de-
livered. service that is demanded by
the pride of the purchaser.
People are spending money now
adays and they are spending it fast |
Our prosperity depends upon spending. |
If everybody boarded what he earned,
would cease. We would
fry in our own fat"
There is no doubt but that much |
hat the correspondent says is true, but |
he effect of the tariff in fostering and |
the trusts has considerable to |
10 not only in raising the prices of the
necessities of life. but in bringing
about the spirit that creates false |
pride in the hearts of the people 1t is
he republican party that is doing
more than anything else to shelve
md to kill the good old democraticl
ways and tendencies.