The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-12-03
KANSAS cOMMENT
THE COST OF LIVING

LIZ SOSl OE LII VIM.
Wnen the bills come in on the first
on the month. and man finds. after
paying them, that he barely has
enough to make a decent showing in
me contribution box in chorch on
sunday, he is apt to say a few harsh
things about the trusts and the robber
tSrlH, and then he kicks the cat around
a dock In PASSIONATE way, and re-
sumes his daily toll, feeling that he is
badly used.
over his order books the other day,
Just to lind how much prices have ad-
'anced in thepast twenty-five years,
and he was astonished by the discov-
cry that many of the sta ples-things
We have on our tables ever day-are
much cheaper than they used to be.
me trusts are an abomination, and
me tariff is ubiquitous. and Rockefel-
iers Sunday school class should be
abolished; but if we want to be strict
~ fair, we must lay some of the
tame for the increased cost of living
upon ourselves. We, the people. are
becoming more extravagant all the
Anne. 1t is just as easy to economic
Low as 1t ever was, if a man is deter
mined upon economy, but comparative
ly few have leanings in that direction.
People demand the best there is at
me grocery and the meat market; they
wear better raiment on week days
than their PARENTS wore when they
were married; nobody walks any
more, and the saving Of sole leather
doesn't offset the expense for hacks
and airships. The young man of Is
years ago felt pretty rich if he owned
a saddle pony; the young man of to-
Gay must have his automobile. Moth
ing is too rich for the blood of the
freeborn American citizen He only
pauses in his mad rush to wonder
where all the money goes to, and he
doesn't wait for an answer; the truth
Is that he doesn't care much.
There will be big slump one of
these days; succession of bad crop
years, or well engineered panic, will
bring the plain people back to brass
lacks, and they will begin to realize,
BIS their fathers realized, that a quar-
Ter is worth more than a penny, and a
dollar is worth more than q quarter.
The lesson is bound 40 come, and it
Will do good, if 1t does cost a lot of
distress. The extravaganza in this
country has not been parallc1ed since
the decadent Romans lolled luxurious
ly to their final fall.-Emporia Gazette.
CAPITAL IS A BLESSING.
Atchison undoubtedly has q val
liable coal deposit; one of the most
valuable in the west. Yet Atchison
coal does no one any good, because
of lack of capital with which to de-
should be formed to develop it. the
money being supplied by sub
scriptions to the capital stock; the
people generally taking the stock in
small amounts. Suppose that the
coal mine, being properly financed,
should prove a great success, and give
employment to hundreds of men, in
addition to reducing the price of coal
in a wide district Would not capital,
in such a case, prove a good thing !?
Capital is an equally good thing in
every other case, although people
abuse 1t so generously. In certain
districts of the west, water that for
merly went to waste has been de-
veloped by capital, and used in sup
plying power and irrigation. Yet, in
almost every case, you hear that the
capitalists developing the water
power are public robbers. AS a mat
ter of fact. capital in all these cases
is blessing. Let a thousand people
raise a million dollars. and engage
in a useful enterprise paying per
cent interest on savings, and I'M
mediately there is a cry of monopoly
and robbery. Certain newspapers and
political leaders make a speciality of
folly and unfairness OF this kind. And
folly of this kind is, not only unfair
and foolish. but it is harmful, and has
a tendency to discourage legitimate
business enterprise.--Atchison Globe.