The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1910-02-22
LIVING COST
IS ANALYZED
Kansas Professor Says Increase Not Due to High Prices
Alone, But Because We Have More Things to En-
joy and Pay For Them

I F. w. Blackmar, professor of soci.
ology and economies at the University
OF Kansas, says in regard to the IN.
creased cost of living:
Invention, discovery, science and
business organization have added
greatly to the delight OF living. Edu.
cation and intelligence have multi.
piled the desires of the people. Every
desire partly satisfied gives birtn to
half dozen new ones. The standard
OF living is perpetually rising. The
Injuries of yesterday become the
necessities of tor orrow. The Amer.
lean life of today is far different from
the life of twenty-five years ago. The
more We have, the more we want The
higher the standard Of life, the more
it takes to satisfy the normal de
msnds of the Individual.
More Things to Enjoy.
The cost of living is not the re-
suit of high prices alone, tut IS also
because We have more things to en- 10y
and must pay for them. We are going
faster and must pay the cost of extra
speed.
Twenty-Five ',ears ago the farmer
brought his apples to market and sold
them at the door of the consumer or
sold them to the grocer who delivered
them to the consumer. There was lit.
t's cost attached to this and apples
were not expensive. Today the agent
OF cold storage plant goes to the
orchard and buys the crop. The ap-
pies are barreled Increased expense).
shipped to some central point
(freight) placed in cold storage lex
pense of what the market will bear),
shipped back to the town whence they
came (freight), bought by the local
dealers (margin of profit) and deliv-
cred to the consumer The consumer
pays the bill for this form of business
organization Is it any wonder that
apples are dear? And it may be re-
marked that it makes little difference
whether there are 100000 or 100000
barrels of apples in tire state. or
whether they come from Colorado,
Michigan or New York; they cost
about the same.
Consumer Pays for conveniences.
But the consumer is payin. for
something besides apples. He is pay
ing for the privilege of havi- fresh
apples nearly every day in the year.
This is a convenience and he pays the
men who make it possible. This is
true of all other fruits and of vege-
tables in slightly different way. 1t
is true of eggs. They travel long
way, go through many hands and fire.
quently are somewhat travel worn. No
doubt the storage people take the
highest profit the market will bear
when they dole out the commodities
to the retailer. At least 1t Is sug
gestive of their power when it is
known that there are 100000 more
eggs in storage in January, 1910, than
in January, 1909, vet the price of eggs
in 1910 is nearly double the price of
1909. Waste and inconvenience to the
individual are turned over to shippers,
commission men, ETC., and the con-
sumer pays a good price for the con-
venience.
Take as anoth-~ instance, the ques.
ton of breakfast foods. Corn meal is
one of the most healthful and nour-
ishing breakfast foods as well as one
of the cheapest. Many people spurn it
and buy roasted corn fakes or some
other patent breakfast food at from
three to ten times the cost of corn
meal, because they are put u in
appetizing form In pasteboard box
supposed to be insect proof. Several
dealers, several railways and large
over-capitalized concern must be paid
for the convenience.
Increased Delight Adds Expense.
AS one more example of different
kind, take automobiles. 1t is esti-
mated that 100000 cars will be con-
structed in 1910, involving an outlay
of nearly s175,00O,OO0 and working
army of many thousand men. To