The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1910-02-10
THE COST OF LIVING.
A Subject which Deeply Interests
People of Small Means.

Observation-Disclosures of the total |
population. that they do. not like to |
wait for the tardy conclusions of in |
vestigating committees. They would |
like TO know now why prices are so |
high and who are the beneficiaries, so |
that they may apply the remedy if the |
situation shall admit of one. The Trib- |
une, aware of their Impotence, has
been making an elaborate investiga- |
ton. whose results have been published |
day by day.
Food and clothing are the two items
which touch the wage Garner most |
nearly. That they have become dearer
during late years is undisputed. 1t is
not necessary to quote figures here.
Every housewife knows what the ad-
vance in food prices has been. Every
body who could possibly be concerned
in the advance swears that he has de-
rived no undue benefit from it and is
not responsible for it. The farmer,
the cattle raiser, the railroad manager,
the packer, the retailer, each of them
says in turn that he is not the man.
There is no question that the farm
ers are much better off than they were
in 1896. They complain of the high
price of labor, agricultural implements,
etc. but they would not exchange pres
ent conditions for those of fifteen years
ago Their wheat sells now for twice
what it did then. but it is the demand
that regulates the price. The farmer
is in no pool or trust He is robbing
nobody
Nor does it appear that the retailers
of foodstuffs are doing so. They ask
more for goods, but they have to pay
more. Their operating expenses are
heavy, largely because consumers make
them So II everybody took home his
own groceries the grocer would not be
put to so much expense for wagons,
horses and drivers They are a con-
venience to the consumer for which he
pays.
The tariff cannot be blamed for the
advance in the cost OF living. The
rates have Est been changed materially
during the last dozen years. Those on
a few foodstuffs were lowered a trifie
last year. Nor can the railroads be
blamed Their rates have varied little.
| Wages have gone up. and the wage
bill is an essential element of the cost
of production and of services. But the
wage workers say that the advance in
their pay has not kept pace with the
advance in the cost of living. Further
more, there are some classes of work
ers-clerks, for instance-where there
has been little or no advance. Who
ever may benefit by the higher cost Of
living, they are the chief sufferers.
The Tribune may be asked, Then
is nobody responsible for the higher
cost of living?" It's answer would be,
''To a certain extent, everybody" A
higher and more expensive standard of
| living is everywhere the inevitable re-
suit of increasing prosperity, but IN
this country there has been general
tendency to raise the standard unduly.
We have scoffed at the petty economies
of the household President Harrison
said "a cheap coat makes a cheap
man." That has been taken as gos-
pei truth. Housekeepers have refused
to buy cheap and nutritious foodstuffs
They have insisted on the dearest and
the daintiest.
There has been frightful household
waste due to Ignorance of the arts of
cooking and of marketing. The wages
which many man says are INSULT
cient for the support of family would
be ample if the woman of the house
| knew how to make the best use of
them. 1t may be that she is not to
blame. She may have spent in mill or
factory years that otherwise would
have been employed in learning how
to make digestible and palatable meals
for little money
A meat boycott is spasmodic pro-
test. not a remedy. The remedy is to
bear in mind the fact that the cost of
living depends to a great extent upon
the individual. He is not compelled to
| buy the best cuts or the whitest -four
The wastage of the American kitchen
would feed a frugal nation. Not long
ago the Agricultural Department pub
lished statistics showing that the per
capita production of most staple farm
products was as large or larger to-day
than in 1875. Presumably the per
capita waste of those products is much
greater now than then.
But they complain of the higher cost
of living in France Germany and Eng
land, where American extravaganza is
not initiated So some general cause
of the advance must be sought for A
majority of the political economists
find it in the increased production of
gold. They point to the rise in prices
which followed the discovery of Amer
lea and the flood of precious metals
from Mexico and Peru, and say that
history is repeating itself. so long
as the gold supply increases faster
than population, production and the
consequent volume of things bought
and sold" says Prof. Taussig, so long
the rise in prices will continue"
If the political economists were of
one mind there would apparently be no
remedy for an advance in prices. with
wages tagging in the rear, unless the
output of gold could be limited until
population and production caught up
1t is to be hoped that the Congression-
al and other investigators will not fail
to deal thoroughly with this phase of
the question. That there has been an
enormous increase in the output of
gold since 1890 all know. Has it been
so great as to reduce perceptibly the
purchasing power of the, gold dollar?
If so, we shall have an explanation,
good as far as it goes, of the higher
cost of living.-Chicago Tribune.
| He Did Not Hesitate
You must rest said the specialist
1 L