The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1909-12-22

course brings those Improvements
and conveniences a comfort and lux
ury in living. unknown to the earlier
period; but they have now become
as necessaries Of life; they have TO
be had as much as a well painted and
shingled house had TO be had, as
against a barkroofed shack, by the
average person S5 years ago. And
with wages no higher now than then,
how stands the relative economy of
the workingman from the standpoint
of rent?
Next to be considered are the rela-
tive prices OF food and miscellaneous
items of household expenditure. The
owner of the account book emphas-
Uses the item Of kerosene oil, when
was then 30 cents a gallon, while now
it is we believe, only about a third
of that figure. But this is of small
weight in the total expenditure of
that household of 1875. Even though
all the lighting was of oil, it appears
that a gallon was made to last a
month or so. and it was cheaper than
gas is now at the minimum of house
lighting. Flour was then $40 a bar
rel against Sc to So now But we no
tice that full loaves of bread were
sold at 10 cents and other bakers
products substantially at the same
price as now. Meats, however, were
much lower The best of beefsteak
entering into the consumption of that
family cost 20 cents a pound; veal
ranged from ~ to % cents, now II
to 30: pork ~ to 16 now IS TO 22
sliced ham then 20 cents and less
now 80 cents; turkey then 20 cents,
now 2S and 30, corned beef nine
cents, now nearly double that figure
potatoes 60 to So, now so cents to 81.
Butter was then around 80 cents, as
now; cheese, Is cents now Is to %
cents and more; oysters were 30
cents a quart, now 40 to so; tea and
coffee were generally higher then
than now apples $1S5 a barrel then,
$3.50 or more now; eggs at this sea
son % cents then. so to so cents now
1t may be said in a word that
meats and the products of the farm
and dairy were lower in price then
than now. But groceries were gen
orally higher, sugar costing 10 cents
a pound, or nearly double the present
price and so were manufactured ar
ticles. such as dry goods crockery,
and glassware, plated ware and so on.
In the years since then invention and
the more extended application of
power machinery have done a vast
deal to reduce the cost of manufac-
ture in practically all lines, and so
far the buying power of the gold dol
lar of today has been greatly extend
ed over that of the paper dollar of
30 years ago. But this is not suffic-
lent to offset the reduced power of
the present dollar over staple food
articles and rents
In other ways the present dollar
has lost power over the requirements
of the average household. For ex-
ample, an increase came to this fam
lily. and while the birth-notice charge
of 20 cents was the same as now and
the physicians charge S25, about the
same as now a nurse was had for
three weeks at a total cost of $50 or
a little more than what now has to
be paid per week It was not a train
ed nurse then, or as good a one, prob
ably, as would be employed today;
but it is true now as then that the
best must be had and the best then
cost $40 a week, and now costs S25
or Whereabouts
Facing finally the direct question:
Can you save as much out of your
wages today as you could 80 years
ago ?-the owner of this account book
says that he cannot, but asserts that
he could save perhaps more If the
absolute necessaries of life alone
are taken into consideration What
troubles him is not so much the bare
necessities as the many little luxur-
les and distractions and amusements
that have developed in every social
circle of today which were largely
unknown 30 years ago. There is the
telephone; everybody else has one,
so must we. There is the street car
which now appeals to people even
within easy walking distance between
home and place of employment. There
are the theatres. at all prices. While
in the family account of 80 years ago
there are but two or three entries in
two years. so cents each And so il
goes all along the line of daily living;
former luxuries now being neces-
saries and new luxuries and diver
sions crowding forward. The aver
age house now has and must have
many more conveniences, but il costs
more; il is better lighted, but at in
creased expense it is better warmed
than it was in those older days with
stoves and wood, or coal is needed to
warm it better. Everybody else"
has these things, so must we.
The truth of the matter seems to
be, then, that while wages as rule
may be higher even than they were
in the paper money era, and while
the dollar then might not go much
further than now in providing the
actual necessaries for living; the
dollar of today will not go nearly as
far in the command OF that whole
range of family expenditure which
the social surroundings of each one
fairly imposes upon him And the
average wage, therefore, while it has
risen materially. as compared at
least with dozen or Is years ago,
has not kept pace with the growth of
these more or less unnecessary de-
mands which are being imposed on
al Of h,,