The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1910-12-23
HIGH PRICES IN
EUROPE ARE FELT
United States Is Not the Worst
Sufferer in This Respect
Higher Wages.
By william E. Curtis.

sVHpldAu bAbNbIly VI bho AhSA SeSo ~ ehS
cost of living. 1t is quite as marked,
and even more embarrassing, to people
Of moderate means, than in the United
states. Food and drink, clothing and
household goods, rents for living and
business purposes, and everything else
chat is needed by the human family has
advanced in value from twenty-five to
one hundred per cent during the last
Twelve or fifteen years. When L first
began to go to Europe the most com
Portable and luxurious hotel apartments
n the principal cities could be had for
Fifteen francs a day. That was the
maximum, and at the smaller places one
could live zen pension that is, on
the American plan-with room and
board, for the same price.
In London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna,
Rome and the larger cities a single
room cost five francs, or dollar, day,
and you could drive anywhere in cab
for franc or a shilling at the most,
Today the cost of the humblest ac-
commodations is equal to the cost of
she most luxurious quarters ten or
Twelve years ago, and there is no econ
omy for an American to buy clothing
Dr. anything else except jewels in Eu.
rope. You can get as good suit OF
clothes and a better fit from your home
sailor than from the fashionable estab-
ishments in London and Paris; and the
lrcssmakers and milliners of Paris and
Vienna charge just as much as those OF
corresponding reputation in America,
although they have the advantage of
anticipating the styles.
Hotel Rates High.
The ordinary hotels of Europe today
charge the American traveller as much
rs he would pay at the Waldorf Astoria
IN New York, and he d6esn Il get any
where near as much for his money. The
prices on the bills of fare at the first
,lass hotels in the smaller, as well as
The larger cities, all the way from
Queenstown to Constantinople, are as
nigh as those at the Waldorf or Sher-
fry's. and the portions served are not
laf as large.
The highest prices have paid for
lotel accommodations during the past
summer were in Odessa, in the Crimea,
1T Tiflis and at Baku, and away off in
Tashkend and Bokhara my hotel bills
we're as heavy as those at Vienna or
Berlin. A beefsteak, a plate of bacon
and eggs, or any other simple dish costs
the same in Turkestan, or in the eau
,asus, or Hungary, or Germany, as one
would have to pay in Chicago or New
York.
The same may be said of the railroad
fares. While agitators in the United
States are trying to pass laws cutting
hem down to two cents a mile, the rail
ways of Europe are advancing their
charges almost every year because of
the advanced cost of fuel for their loco
motives and the increased wages for
their employees. AS the European rail
ways are generally owned and operated
oy the government, this advance cannot
De charged to overcapitalization, but is
made absolutely necessary by the in
creased expense of operation and main
tenance. There is no alternative. Gov
ernment-owned railways are compelled
to pay maximum wages, and their coal,
lubricating oil, lumber, rails and other
supplies for construction and mainte-
nance cost Just as much as is paid by a
private purchaser. The government
railways are not managed for profit,
but public policy requires them to pay
Expenses and accumulate assinking fund
TO redeem the bonds that were issued to
build them. In order to do this Euro.
pean railways very generally have been
compelled to advanc" rates of fare and
freight, and there has been no inter.
state commerce commission to hear the
complaints and protests of the public.
Exceed American Charges.
Second-class railway fares throughout
Europe on the principal railways will
now average per mile more than first
class fares in the United States. First
class fares in Europe are about 80 per
cent higher than frst-class fares in the
United States; third-class fares in Eu.
rope are about 40 per cent lower than
lfrst-class fares in the Unites States,
but no one except newly arrived i'm
migrants would ride third class in this
country. Sleeping ear fares are from
20 to 80 per cent higher, and on 'trains
de luxe" so per cent higher than in the
United States, and there will always ibe
"a controversy as to the comparative
comfort of the wagon.lit compartment
cars of Europe and the Pullmans in the
United States. 1t is purely matter of
taste
1t costs about one-third more for an
American to travel the same distance
in Europe than in the United States, let
him go the cheapest way he can, be-
cause he has got to pay extra for his
baggage, and the fees and tips that are
demanded by the porters at the railway
stations, servants at the hotels and
other persons who help him along in his
Tourney must be counted in.
Carriage hire has advanced every.
where and is generally double what It
used to be. The advent of the taxieab
and the motor car has increased rather
than diminished the expense of loco
motion. You can 60 farther in the
same time by electricity than by horses,
but you have to pay more for it. And
the cost Of pleasure drying in the
cities OF Europe is now practically as
great as in the United States.
Taking everything into consideration,
III now costs the ordinary American
more money 10 travel IN Europe than
IN the United States, although II would
cost a European more 10 travel IN the
limited States than at home. The differ
enee Is the tax on ignorance. Nearly
all The principal hotels ia Europe have
wo rates. one for local patrons, and the
otheF for tourists. The thrifty German
Rnd Austrian will not pay the rates that
lFe charged American tourists NJ the
hrst'elass hotels, and the landlords OK
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