Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1911-11-16

tween the adherents of the two grea
political parties from agricultural
states, who believe in a fair deal TO
the agriculturalist in respect to tn,
maintenance of a proper duty on agri
cultural products. Because, while tn,
faithful Democrat may not believe IL
any protection to any industry, HI
does believe in tariff for revenue
and he knows that such tariff will b.
levied, and that such tariff is Away!
protection to some degree, the greater
the duty the greater the protection
And as this duty will always be leviet
on those things which the agricultur.
alist must buy, it ought in justice tt
be levied with the same degree Of
protection on what he must sell.
/ say without fear of any contradic-
ton that the poorest paid labor in the
United States always has been and
still is the labor bestowed in bringing
into existence a food product; that
the cheapest articles purchased IN the
markets of the country today, when
measured by the amount of intelligent
human energy necessary to produce
them, are the raw food products as
they leave the farmers hands. It is
palpable injustice therefore to enact
any legislation that will decrease the
earnings Of this poorest paid labor
while maintaining the standard of 9TH
err labor go step farther and de-
clare that so far as legislation can
produce it. it is our duty to enact and
maintain laws that will increase the
farm earnings until the tiller of the
soil reaps as great a reward for an
equa! number of hours labor as the
equally intelligent skilled laborer or
business man o. the cities.
Causes Of Higher Cost Of Living.
There are several causes for the
higher cost of living. they may be
summarized as follows:
1. The great increase in our circu-
lating medium, due for the most part,
to the ever increasing gold output. In
1895 our per capita circulation was
$23.l4; in 1911 it has grown to $34.20.
The increase in the length of a meas
uring stick must necessarily increase
the measured cost of the thing pur
chased. ALI products rise or fall in
value as the volume of our circulat-
ing medium increases or diminishes.
2. AS it relates to food products,
the great increase in the price of farm
lands and the labor employed in farm
ing. If the amount of capital which
must be invested in farm lands and
the labor costs of operation have
doubled since 1895, We ought not only
to expect, but to make no objection
to an advance in the cost of the pro-
duct to correspond to such increased
investment -
3. The excessive cost of handling
after the product leaves the farmers
hands whereby from 100 to 5000 per
cent in price is added to the product
after it leaves the farmers hands and
before it reaches the consumer.
The excessive and abnormal cost of
city property made possible because of
the greater earnings of the city popu-
lation. Every condition necessitates
another abnormal condition to meet it,
These abnormal earnings of city oc
equations as compared with farming,
an abnormal proportion
of our wealth in the cities and enor-
increases the value of city
If business property, stores
etc. in our cities cost five
times as much as they should, rents
must be five times higher than they
should be, and those rents must be
paid by the consumer of the products
housed in or sold from such business
places.
If the laborer or other person must
pay an exorbitant and excessive rent
for a place to lay his head, he must
have his earnings correspond with
the demands upon him. And thus is
a standard of high prices
which must always ultimately be paid
by the consuming public.
5. Advertising Few people seem
to appreciate the fact that there is
spent annually for advertising alone
about $1,000, 100000 for which the con-
sumers of the things advertised must
pay. That means $4,000 per year for
the average family.
6. The growing extravagances in
city life made possible only because Of
the increasing profits of city voca-
tons. Here are the costs of few
of those extravagances for the last
year.
Jewelrv ......... $500, OO0, 900
. 365,O0OOOO
-. $4,000, 900
Theaters and other sports 5OO,O00,OOO
Tobacco ....... ...... 45O,0OO,00O
Alcoholic drinks. 1,745, 900 900
Total ....... 1886, 900 900
You can easily double this total for
other like luxuries demanded by the
present city gait. 1t is safe to say
that more than 80 per cent OF these