St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1908-01-11
THE COST Of LIVING.
19 BILLIONS OF DOLLARS SPENT
ANNUALLY IN UNITED STATES.
THE CITY VS.. THE COUNTRY
Unequal Distribution of Business
Works a Hardship Upon Many
and Retards Growth of Aqri-
cultural Towns.

Statistics as to the cost Of living
are ever interesting to the economist.
It is estimated that only 20 per cent,
of the people of the United States re-
side in large cities 1t is claimed about
9,000,000,000 are spent each year by
the 86,000,000 people in the union for
clothing, food and luxuries. If II
per cent reside in rural towns and
farming sections, it stands to reason
that the percentage of money paid for
necessaries of life is II per cent. of
the vast sum of nearly $4,000
annually expended. These figures open
up wide field for study of economic
conditions.
For sake of illustration, let it be
estimated that in the large cities the
cost of living is so per cent. more
than in the country towns and farming
districts, which would still leave ap-
proximately go per cent. of all spent
for food and clothes credited to the
people living outside the larger cities.
Then it is found that the amount rural
residents spend annually is $11 $780,
000,0 But do the profits on this
vast amount of business remain in the
rural districts? Do the merchants in
those $4,000 country towns receive the
patronage of the people who are resi-
dents Of the districts? A conservative
estimate is that one-third of all this
vast trade goes to the Ais large cities,
wherein reside only 20 per cent of the
population. Were the profits on the
trade that belongs properly to the
| country towns kept within them and
| within their districts, in the course of
dozen years their wealth would be
increased nearly 100 per cent. But
the drifting of the business to the
| large cities not alone makes the
country towns poorer and retards
their advancement, but necessitates
alike drifting of the population of the
country toward the thickly populated
cities on account of the lack of indus
tries to afford employment Herein
! is found the cause of the complaints
of students in economic conditions of
| the tendency of the country-bred
youths to drift toward the large
cities, and explains the cause. The
country residents are the ones to be
blamed for such conditions. 1t is a
lack of appreciation of home enter
prise, and the desire to trade in the
large towns that is the cause.
The sending away of dollars assists
the great combinations to control
manufacturing, financial affairs, and
all lines of industry, and even the
trusts are tightening their grips on
the farms, controlling the prices Of
commodities that the farmers mus
have, and debating the prices at which
he shall sell all his products, as with
the destruction of the business of the
rural towns, the home market is made
poorer, and in fact even before the
small town merchant can supply the
people living within the town witt
products that are produced in the iJu
mediate neighborhood, the trusts mus
have their profit" out Of the trans
action. Reader, do you know a remed!
that can be applied that will give
more equitable distribution of bust
ness and of the earnings of the PEG
pie? Do you not think that the homt
trade and the building up of home in
dustries plan might bring about tn,
desired results?