Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1906-08-20
DEBT and POVERTY
DISASTROUS CONDITION OF MANY
UNDER PRESENT SYSTEM.
Interesting Figures From the rtassa.
chuseffs Labor BuiIe tin for JuIv.
showing UnCOIIeCfed Debts, and
Who owes Them. Cost OF Living
Increased +5 Per Cent Since 1897.

That many people are living beyond
their means seems settled by the eyi.
dence gathered by the state bureau of
labor statistics of Massachusetts and
published in the July Labor Bulletin. It
relates to non-colectible indebtedness
as found from an investigation among
dealers in groceries, clothing. furniture
ard real estate in the city OF Boston.
We can only give the summary figures.
which represent matters as they stood
something over year ago and are exclu.
sive OF debts that had become outlawed.
Number of dealers reporting. 1.lS3
Number oil debtors reported 72,5IO
amount OF debts ,............. 81 ,064 1854
Debt contracted by
wage earning class ..... 7O4. .4333
Trading class ss. 2761I6
Professional class ass..... 40 900
Moneyed class .. az SAX
The trading class comprehends clerks,
salesmen, bookkeepers, ETC., and the
other groupings describe themselves.
There may be much duplication here
that Is, one person may be reported as
indebted to the grocer and furniture
dealer, and so appear as two persons in
the number OF debtors reported; but the
conclusion nevertheless seems to be war.
ranted that no less than 10 per cent. of
the people of Boston are owing for such
necessaries OF living as clothing and food,
which debts are held by the dealers as
hopelessly collectible, for this was
the only kind OF indebtedness considered
in the inquiry.
There is no reason to believe that the
people OF Boston are any more extrava.
CANT than other cities, and doubtless
similar conditions exist every where.
The question is what makes these peo.
pie contract debts they cannot pay? Our
boasted prosperity must be myth, to at
least 10 per cent. of the people, for to be
in debt that one cannot pay, is not pros.
perlty, but disaster. AS much more than
half OF this Indebtedness stands against
the wage earning class, it implies that
conditions of labor compensation are iu.
sufficient to meet the bare necessities of
living.
Dun's Index figures show conclusively
that the cost of living has advanced 4S
per cent. since 1897, when the present
trust fostering tariff law was enacted; it
is therefore fair to assume that wages
have not kept pace with the cost of liv.
ing and that this discrepancy accounts
Tor many not being able to pay their
bills. In fact, wages have only increased
16 per cent. during the same period.
The task of the wage Garner, with
family to support, under this republican
system that plumbers the many for the
benefit OF the few, is hard one. There
is on all hands an era of extravaganza
and he finds himself unable to stem the
current that the demands OF wife and
children heap up. They see others liv-
ing and dressing in comfort and natur.
ally long for similar good cheer and en-
joyment. They want to appear as we'll
dressed as their companions at school
and elsewhere, and the wage Garner
strives to satisfy them.
But that constant daily drag of 48 per
cent. above the normal for everything he
buys, drags him down to either pinching
economy, or debt. Meanwhile the trusts
and combines are greatly prospering
under this As per cent. advance in prices,
Of which they monopolize the lions
share. But the great mass of the people
are only making both ends meet, and
yet republican congress has refused 10
even discuss this plundering tariff law
that is the main cause OF this inequality
OF great prosperity OF few and a fair
living for others and grinding poverty
for thousands.
WORKING THEIR WAY.