New-York tribune., 1908-03-08
LIVING IN PARIS.
Workingmen Fear Income Tar WiN
Increase Cost.
Paris. February 25.

One Of the arguments most in favor with the
supporters Of the income tax bill which is now
under discussion in the Chamber is that 1t VIII
relieve the burden of direct taxation calculated
according to rent, which falls upon the work
Ing classes, and make living cheaper work
ingnan, however. has written to the Echo de
PARIS to question this. He declared that he
and his wife and one child live in tenement
composed Of one room and a kitchen. for which
he pays a rental of $50 year. His landlord
has Just informed him that. In view Of the
contingencies which the pending income tax
legislation seems to foreshadow, his rent will
henceforward be raised by 10 per cent-namely.
to S55. All the other tenants have received SINH
lar notices, and they will have to comply or
quit.
. This workingman complains that every effort
to make living cheaper to the poorer classes Is
met by counter exactions the part Of those
at whom the liberal legislation IS supposed to
be aimed, so that instead Of the wOrkingmans
lot being improved he IS IN reality worse of
than before. He quotes instance the
consequences of the Sunday Rest act whereby,
the working expenses of the provision shops
having been increased by one-seventh the prices
of provisions have also been raised in proper
ton. AS in the mean while indirect taxation
tends to increase. the cost OF living IN Paris
becomes dearer all round.
vicomte d'Avenel statistical expert. has Just
published some interesting figures which show
the extraordinary increase In the price OF pro-
visions which has taken place IN Paris in
cent years. From 1902 to 1907 veal has risen
in price ii per cent; beef. %; mutton 25;
pork. q. and fish. 80. The price of ordinary
groceries has risen 66 per cent. This increase,
burdensome 1T is. is nothing compared with
what happened during the Revolution. when the
price of pair of shoes rose from 81 to $50
and of So hat to 500. But this was the
time when the only currency consisted of assig-
mats. state drafts upon the confiscated prop
erty of the MOBILES. and money tight that
a louis In gold worth s., 500. An assignat
of $50 ordinary porter's fee and one of
500 offered in payment of short cab trip
would have made the coachnlan sniff
Some idea of how the prices in Paris of ordi-
nary necessaries have constantly risen may be
judged from the fact that in 1880 dozen eggs
cost 81 centimes. fraction over cents. while
to-day they cost from so to so cents. and a
pound of butter. which costs 40 cents
sold In 1771 for cents. On the other hand
sugar. tea and spices much less expensive
in modern days than they couple of
centuries ago.
Rents. however, have been on the rise
In 1888 a second-foor fiat in the fashionable
Rue de Seine, composed of an chamber
a parlor and three bedrooms. could be hired for
S55 year. and though this is longer a part
of Paris frequented by smart people the rent
to-day would total. including rent tax. $500 at
least. while far s modern comfort is con-
cerned the conditions would be precisely the
same they were 120 years ago. Marie de
Medicis purchased in 1913 the ground which
now forms the garden of the Luxembourg Pal
ace for centimes. just under cents the metre
square yard.
But the chief jump in house rents has taken
place during the last twenty years. In fact.
there is no quarter of Paris. not excepting such
outlying and semi-rustic districts as Passy and
Auteuil. where the increase has not attained at
least 80 per cent. There is a chance therefore
that the proposed abolition of the rent tax NAV
furnish disagreeable surprises to the
French Treasury. Salaries and the earnings
of professional! men have not risen in propor-
ton with the increase of house rents so that
once the rent tax goes II may be found that
the tax upon income. even assuming that the,
taxpayer gives accurate return may not
supply the expected compensation. GLIB