The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1910-07-14
1.-The Growth of the Cities
and the Increased Cost
of Living.
BY c. v. GREGORY,
Author of Home Course In Live Stock
Farming. Making Money on the
Farm. Home Course In Mod
ern Agriculture, Etc.
Copyright, 1910, by American Press
Association.

living is but the product of civiliza-
ton, however, and is something to be
encouraged rather than discouraged.
Furthermore, it is responsible in but
small degree for the increase in the
cost of living. The increase in the
standard of living has manifested it.
self most strongly in better houses,
i better clothing and more conveniences
Yet the great increase in cost has been
not in these materials, but in food
Between July l, 1896, and Jan /. 1910,
breadStuffs and live stock increased in
price 1OS per cent. During the same
period the increase in the textiles was
in building materials only 10 per cent
That luxurious living has had much
to do with the increased prices cannot
be denied. That it is wholly RESPONSE
BILE is far from the truth.
If we are to seek the real cause of
this crisis that confronts our country
we must go back to the old cause of
supply and demand, coupled with other
factors that have grown out of this.
The period from 1870 to 1895 was the
period Of development of the middle
west, the bread basket of the world.
Here were lands of unparalleled fer
tility that had merely to be scratched
to give forth their bountiful supplies.
The result was that the markets of the
world were flooded with foodstuffs.
By 1886 the middle west was pretty
we'll settled. The bloom of its virgin
fertility had been removed. Soon the
days of using corn for fuel and wheat
to feed the hogs were past. Prices of
farm products began to rise. If there
had been no other factor entering in
they would soon have reached a nor
NAL level, and the readjustment would
have come with little trouble Unfor-
tunately the tide of population toward
the cities had become too strong to be
turned in day.
From 1880 to 1900 the percentage of
farmers decreased from 44.3 to 1916,
decrease of 81 per cent. During the
same period the percentage of persons
engaged in manufacturing increased
from 21.S to 24.3. This increase Of %
per cent is no more than normal and
may be accounted for by the increase
in the standard Of living and the con-
sequent demand for manufactured ar
ticles. The increase in professional
lines during this time was eight-tenths
of per cent, while the number of per-
sons engaged in domestic and personal
service decreased one-tenth Of l per
cent.
The great increase came in the num-
Der of persons engaged in trade and
transportation, an increase of SIS per
cent. OF the 1853 per cent Of the work
ing people engaged in trade and trans
portation in 1900 only nine-tenths were
engaged in transportation proper. The
others. 15.4 per cent of all the people
of the United States who work, were
simply middlemen. Complete figures
since 1900 are not available, but the
cityward trend has increased rather
than diminished.
Here is the true explanation of the
high cost of living There are more
than one-third as many men engaged
in distributing food as there are in
producing it. The consumers dollar
is worn thin before it gets to the pro-
Queer. The 100000 men who farm
must supply food to the 100000 peo-
pie who are working in the factories.