Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1909-10-20
Outside Point of View.

VIC SiiSlt speeches, SAID mat the in
creased cost of living does not como
from the advanced price of tariff pro-
tected goods. This is true in so far as
directly protected articles are concern
ea but in the matter of house rent il
is easy to see that the protection given
iron and lumber adds to the cost of cur
dwelling houses. and if so. the owner
must necessarily charge more rent if
he gets fair interest on his investment.
And this article is not tariff discus
sion. In another word. and more on,
the present cost of living, a very seri-
Gus question to wagearlers, and one
for which a remedy must be found.
4 = =
The New York Sun recently said:
THE cost of living, which has been
creasing so rapidly for most of the last
thirteen years is again advancing from
the slightly lower levels brought by the
depression of 1908. All through the past
summer the pdices of the necessaries
OF life have been slowly advancing,
| raching on August the highest figure
reported for that date save one in 1907
'"The average cost of the supplies
practically every household must buy
has increased over 40 per cent since
1896, but the Review of Reviews re-
marks that it is "rather interesting" to
note in the BradStreet statistics that
he commodities controlled by the trusts
have generally shown a smaller in
crease in price than the average
Thus refined petroleum sold in 1895
for 7.8 cents a gallon and the whole
sale price now is 81 cents. Sugar cost
in 1872 AZ cents pound and costs
now 4.s5 cents. Anthracite coal in 1896
cost 1925 a ton and is now $3.50.
The Bradstreet agency has selected
106 articles of domestic consumption
and has kept a careful record of their
prices month by month for seventeen
years. The highest point ever reached
was in March, 1907, after which came
the moderate slump caused by the f.
nancial disturbances OF that year. We
are marching steadily back toward this
high record and the ADJUST figures are
only 6.8 per cent below it.
Some Of the individual cases OF In
creased costs are much more inpres-
sive than the average. Rubber has ad-
vanced from 81 cents pound in 1896
to s1.9s pound now: pork from 1925
a barrel to s21.75 eggs from 1919 cents
cents pound to II cents; corn from "a
cents a bushel to 80 cents; wheat from
GA cents a bushel to $780, and so forth.
The figures given are wholesale prices
and as rule the advance to the ulti-
mate consumer has been decidedly
greater.
So here we leave 1t on two autiori-
Sot; ~.
nor the trusts have particularly in
crea sed the cost of living. In other
words neither of these much con-
demned institutions Of 1909 make the
labor of the worker have less pur-
chasing power than twenty years ago
What then is the cause, and the an
swer is simply the demand is greater
than the supply. And the remedy is to
lessen the demand Of the articles which
have advanced all out of proportion to
other necessities. AS an illustration OF
this argument, we are likely to have
an object lesson right here in Iowa
Everything promised big supply o,
potatoes. The wage Garner sf1ord
time ago expected to put in winter
supply Of potatoes at reasonable prices
Then came the big freeze Of Oct IL
The supply in all Of the potato raising
districts will undoubtedly be lessenet
from Is to so per cent. Now here's thu
point. II the consumer does not les.
sen the demand the price OF potatoe.
will go skyward. And here some one
says. why we have got to have potatoe.
no matter what the price is Is tina
SO? Surprising just for the sake Of
argument potatoes go to SIS a bushel
have we "got" to have them at tha
price?
: Here's case in point. A month o.
six weeks ago, the demand for hog!
made them worth So hundred, INV,
weight, in Iowa. They have fallen Of
considerably in price since that time
Why? Market men found the demand
lessening. and prices went down. An,
this is what the writer IL trying I,
bring out. We as consumers. can re
dnce the cost of living by substituting
lower priced foods for the temporar.
high-priced articles. Not only that