Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1907-06-14
Iowa Newspapers
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THE RAINY DAY.

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THE RAINY DAY.
(Sioux City JournaD
The man who is making plenty of
money In these piping times of pros
perity and who isn't laying. by some OF
1t Is making a mistake which he will
regret later. Things have been boom
ing for ten years. They will not go on
booming indefinitely. There are indi-
cations that the crest of the prosperity
wave has passed There may not be
any very hard times in the near fu-
ture but there probably will be more
or less reaction, while prices are get
ting back closer to normal ayera re
Ihis will mean a suspension Of In
crea sed production and let up in the
continuous demand for labor. Men
viii be out Of jobs temporarily. The
buying power Of labor as a whole will
be curtailed., The man who is ont of
job. and who has no reserve fund to
fall back on, Is not in a position "a
wait until he can get as good a lob as
the one he lost. He will have to take
what offers whatever the wages NAV
De. The result will be lower plane
OF wages as well as a reduced scale
OF living expenses. All this is natural
and not unwholesome The man who
has handled his resources wisely dur
ing the prosperous period will he MT
70 no hardship during the period of
fead1ustment. The man who has lived
up TO his income or ahead Of it will
nave to take some hard knocks.
Is a common saying on the part
of the salaried man, especially If he
has family, that 1t is impossible TO
save money-that increased cost of liv-
ing keeps pace with the increased SAL
airy, or gets ahead Of it, and that there
IS no chance to save up for a rainy
Day. Such man will tell you his
income and give in detail his expend.
lures. There is no margin between
them and he will assert there ia no
opening Tor a margin. This seems to
pc true-on the scale OF living he has
adopted.
If the contention is that man with
family of four can save. no money
on S25 a week an answer NAV he
found in the next block There a man
with family of four is living on an
income of SIS a week He is living in
a smaller house. He is spending less
money for clothes and groceries and
meats, but he is living contentedly on
Sl5 week. It is the most he ha
ever earned, and he considers it a fair
income. Yes. he spends it all, and he
couldn't possibly get along on less. His
children have to go to school and be
}decently clothed, and all this can't be
done for less than SIS per. 1t is the
same argument the $25 man made,
but from a practical viewpoint the SIS
man has smashed to smithereens the
contention Of sithe S25 man. The
former has proved that 1t is possible
to maitain decently a family of four
on $40 a week less than the latters
minimum.
+ And by moving a few blocks into
another part Of town the minimum set
by the S15 man is shattered There
you will find living a man whose in
come is only $10sa week and has been
less. He has a family of five. His
children are going to school, The
man is not paying rent. He owns
itlIAS paw VI his oWlls mere is a
small house and large garden This
man has paid for his house and lot out
of earnings Of $40 a week or less His
family is healthy and fairly well clad
Contentment seems. to be even more
prevalent than UP in the neighborhood
of the $25 man and the SIS man. By
this time what has become of the con-
tention that man can't support de-
Gently family of four on an income
of $25 a week?
If the $25 man should lose his place
tomorrow and have to take one at 500
a week he would find he could live
fairly comfortably on the reduced in
come. He would have to- One can
do what one has to do. But under
existing circumstances he can't save
IS a week. Is it really that he can't
or that he merely thinks he can't. If
he had saved IS week for the last
ten years the prospect of a little let
up in business would carry no terrors
for him. The temporary loss of a job
would not be a calamity. He could sit
tight and eat and sleep in peace while
the rainy day was passing.
Men will be thinking over these
things when the rainy day has come.
Why not think them over now and try
to be prepared for the wet season?