The labor world., 1906-09-01
INCREASED COST OF
:: EWING IS ALARMING
Plant of the Plain People is Heard
From Every Quarter of the
Country.
Higher Prices Of Foods Ana Other
Necessities .May Be- ss1ssuea /
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Eeesteof ,44vins ie~s- havs-.beSn get
ting steadily higher and higher .during
the last stx er eight years aRa have
nov reached tho point ;where. the pinch
is felt by persons in ~ Is stations Of ,1ife.
= The, forthcoming report. of the labor
bureau On retail prices for 1906, will
show that the cost Of meat, hour,
vegetables and other articles OF food
continued its upward flight during
that period:z A further important ad-
mission will be made that there was NO
corresponding increase in, wages. This
is the first time that this report will
show the. absence of that offset. =:
-, The advance in prices is not con-
fined to the products Of the factories
and. mills. The farmer has boosted
prices because everybody has. The
housewife returns from market with
sad story of extortionate demands
by the butter man, the chicken seller
and the dealer in beans, peas and to-
matoes. Without the excuse that the
wicked trusts and the robber tariff are
responsible, the dealers in these home
ly commodities send their prices kit
ing, and the. common people foot the
bill.
Popular-priced restaurants are be-
ing driven out of business by 35-cent
steaks and 30-cent chops. A Wash
ington proprietor of a is and 25-cent
dining-room lost money during May
and June Of this year, although his
patronage was far greater than in the
corresponding months Of year ago.
Men on moderate salaries have stopped
building homes because the cost Of
lumber and other building materials
has gone up away beyond their reach.
What is the explanation of this con-
dition and who benefits from it? Sec
retary Shaw, who worships the Ding
ley tariff and stand-patism, maintains
that the present condition spells pros
per1ty. Persons on small salaries
SIS, $40 and SIS week-say it is a
false prosperity and exhibit depleted
savings-bank| accounts and skinny
methods of living to prove it. The
country will hear more of this uues-
tton later. It Is being talked about at
the breakfast table now, but in the
coming campaign it will be discussed
on the stump. Practical politicians
realize that 1t Is forcing itself to the
front and are wondering how they will
answer it. The increased cost of liv-
ing will be a big factor in the fall cleo
tions.
Government officials whose duty it
Is to collect statistics on the cost of
living admit their inability to supply
satisfactory explanation. Charles P.
Neill, commissioner Of labor, who is
an authority on economic questions
said that it was too big a question for
him to answer offhand.
Mr.. Neill said:
1T Is question to which everv man
Will give an answer according to his
bias. Some will say that the trusts
are responsible; others, will say that
1t is the tariff, while still others may
insist that it Is all due to the increased
wages paid to labor. I would not care
to give an opinion until I had exam
ined more carefully into all Of these
phases 1t might be that every one of
these causes had something to do with
the increased cost Of living, but what
some attribute as the principal cause
might, after careful study, be found
to be only a very insignificant factor
IN producing the final result"
Commissioner Nell Is impressed with
the seriousness Of this question. He
oeuoVes that 1t Is a matter that might