The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1911-03-12
The COST or LIVING.

AZ Il EeIiec 10 EIe clinton HETn5Gs
~ which he vas al one time editor,
Frank W. Nahin, American consul
~ Amsterdam, Holland. writes inter
estingiy and iGformingly concerning
the cost 81 living at home ana abroad
Much aaa been said In the newspapers
and In public addfesge2 about the
greater expense Of living In the Unit
ed states than in European countries,
but Mr. MabiD, after having lived in
several places abroad, gives ii AZ his
personal experience that the cost Of
living, viewed from the only fair test
that oi actual housekeeping Ia just
az high in the European countries ~
It 10 in the United states. in this
connection Sir. Mahin says:
There are people Who have lived
in some large American city fSen
York, FOR instancc) On q TOO expenr
Europe and lived FIJI quiet pension
81 much iegs cost They instantly
conclude that living here in much
cheaper than at home, and uoise the
conclusion: whereas. they could have
gone 10 some smaller place in the
United States fperhaps even remained
in New York. and lived In the simple
manner Of the European pension At
no greater cost and often with more
Of the comforts 10 which they we're
accustomed. Foreign tourists to the
United States encounter extortionate
cabnen and mwittingly get into the
( highest priced rooms % expensive no.
teIs and for these and other super
/ fetal reasons At once conclude that
living is enormously expensive In our
country.
I Actual housekeeping IL the only
fair test Every American consul Who
comes to Europe with a family and
I With the preconceiYed notion about
I cheaper living is coon disiIIusionnd
/ and goices his surprise in a report on
THE cost Of living. II has risen IN
America in recent years: 20 II has in
T Europe. In former letter some food
I prices here were given, and the quo.
tations In Iowa papers show much the
same general average there There
/ Is no material difference in the cost
Of living between the principal conn.
tries on this side Of the Atlantic. AS
4 between the yarioug countries, some
things are cheaper and some fhings
4 dearer, but the same general measure
would answer FOR all Of them"
From the viewpoint Of wages, how.
ever, the cost Of living is much less
In the United states than in Europe.
I In The countries With which Mr.. Ma.
hin Is familiar ordinary labor receives
about ten cents an hour II used To
and presumably doeg now receive
1 twice as much IN the United states.
Z Labor like plumbing, masonry, etc,
I IL paid Is 10 zoe an hour in the9e
countries, whereas In the United
7 states ouch labor Ii Ttaid 80 10 30
cents an hour The American work
man. in these occupations. can buy
FOR half his wages what would cost
/ The European workman all his wages.
Thus, u requires no calculation 10
perceive that the man in the United
/ States who recelYes ~ day gets his
living for essentially half the price
which The 81 day man pays In Flu
rope. 40 doubt the American spends
more, bnt he lives corrospoDdIDgIy
better Whether or not he saver more
from his wages Is another queatIon.
The impression that living II very
costly In the United states IL aided
by the fact that Americans abroad
buy various European products cheap.
or than they can at bone But gen.
orally these are in the nature Of il,1.