The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-12-16
WHAT A MAN COSTS.

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 Grave fS Expensive.
 New Bedford Standard.
 Has 1t ever. occurred to you to try to calculate the cost of 8 mans mes sage from the cradle to the grave? ises Sne 0s s,yised M sssen5aSl tat it's members are mutually dependent upon, one .another- for the means of extstence Even the agriculturist who spfns and weaves the materials of cloth ing--even he cannot live upon his own labor unless. he has surplus. The mercial life is forever taking money from one set of men and giving some or all of 1t to another set. Forum in m a little faster than they % go out; for they are hardly got and too easily hSnsS the Soctor sS sOd sSae 6rse haHs s as much right as the baby to A liv- eat to live; civilization ordains that climate demand that we shall have roofs oyer .our heads. and clothes upon our bodies; neither can, be had without From infancy to old age one Is sur rounded with other peoples hands outPtretched for dollars; and even purse Is opened to pay for his inter ment.
 Strike an average of the annual cost of your life till now; multiply # by by human caicufations to suppose that lie may last. and you wtlisbe sur stonal man earning S2.000 year You are only 3t years of age, and you ari- ttcipate. of course. that your income however. only the bare cost Of your own personal matptenanee; the money spent in your education. in, nursing cost ofl board, lodging. clothing and other essentials to your health and success. Suppose we take 1t at an av- company teiis you that from It's point of view you have another thirty one years to live. If that. is' so. when you SSspST you fTI VIII ssss sas Std pa ,ss6sC cE S S right to live so long.
 The pauper who begins his days in the workhoyse. and ends them there efforts of others for their support gen he costs at least Sis.oOO to clothe and
 The' man Who spends his life in prison costs more because he has to be more securely housed. and because the must De added 10 the cost of Keeping
 Even the nomadic hobo costs not less %sstes sRaR eE fs sQr aigsry ysSr lie s veS s true. but if all the goods that he gets by begging. bullying and thieying be added up, together with the expense ting more and in moving him on from place to place, 1t will be found that his lie from first to last entails the pended at his birth. would have pro- cured him an annuity large enough to have maintained him decently. aeakf ae.Nw in view Of these facts, 1t would be worth while for the community to ad- vance to every individual, either at 5ts birth or $ on Sss,Sh,,ng the age of @ si estimated cost of the particular life It may be suggested that the pauper's &150. a year. the estimated cost of his whole life would be about $6.000-ra sum which would purchase life an- one.
 simdlarly. if you could have bor- rowed in babyh pod the s62,o00 which existence, you and those dependent on you would be. much better oft than you are. In short, We could all wish that we had come into the world with a few thousand dollars in our pockets at the expense of other people, and tn @ idea of the Government acting as fairy god-mother to every American baby, of us. whose fathers omitted to pile dollars for our beneht.
 Unfortunately, the idea is as impPac- ticable as 1t is fascinating. It is re- ferred to here only because 1t was sol- emhly put forward during the brief reign of the Commune in Paris A mo- ment's reflection should convince the least intelligent person that, alike on 1 political and financial grounds, the ar gument for State endowment of the 1 individual is unworthy of furth CT con sideration, unless as a possible basis | for the plot of comic opera.