Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1912-01-18
unv LIVING IS HIGHER.

grsss Of March :. 1873.
wnv LIVING is HIGHER.
The New York Times pupllshes q
communication from reader VINO op,
iects to some of the explanations siven
for the increased cost OF hvlng. lne
reason for the higher cost, ne says, ls
not the increased supply OF goia. uue
the Increased cost Of labor. ne draws
on his early experiences as boy Oh q
farm and later as an empower ~
labor to illustrate his point his 'e''
ter follows: ~ ~ I'D
living on q farm in Central New YORK
AZ that time men received ~ monsn
for one year and $12 month 1or e'sn'
Carnenters received $3.50 a day, and
worked from 6 q. m. to 6 p. m. NM
Moves in cotton mill, near w.
worked from 5 q. m. to p. m: ana eooA
nav out Of 1.-The store. paying ~ 10
" per cent profit. GoodIslzed gltls
earned $3.50 4 week and boarded tnem'
Labor lived on pork and slept OIL
- lest the old farm at the age OF ~
and the world has not gone against
mo I have retired now. but tor many
wears I employed from $50 to 800 peo
nla 40 I have been in q position 1or
Aftv wears to know about and De IN
terested in labor. D.,
labor Is now simply sharing 10
some extent. in the advancement OF the
world. and is living comfortably ana
decently. l note the appointment OF
ali Kinds of commissions to ascertain
the reason for increased cost OF nv
inc. also a lot of fool talk from col
lac professors and writer's about the
Increased supply of gold and many
other things being the cause. =,
The Increased cost of labor IS the
sola and only reason for the increase
I.hor now receives from two to -FOUR
times "A much as formerly; and Y one
follow any product Of the farm or OF
+ha manufacturer through the many
hanalinxs until it is delivered at the
door. it will be easy to account TOT the
increase in the cost OF living:
There Is much force in the state
man+ that the increased cost OF labor
!. ma .ole reason for the increased
noat ~ living according to the view ex.
nressed by the American Economist
N commenting on the New York
nav. communication. Compared
NTH the period OF fifty years ago.,
aavs the Economist, Tabor is better
naid earns more, spends more and
Rv.s better. Going back ten years
tarther. to the period between 1850 and
1910 there Is still stronger contrast
hetween labor and living conditions
then and now. In the sos, with the
walker free trade tariff IN operation
the wages of skilled mechanics were
verv low. The highest paid employe ID
a fonndrv in a western New YORK VII
lare the superintendent, received ~
= day. The next highest wage was mat
n the boss pattern maker, $l.62h q
day. On this meagre income tami'y
~ eight had to be supported. Inc
writer Of these lines was one OF tnat
fam,lv and he vividly recalls the vast
difference between the mode OF living
then and now. In spite OF the Tree
trade tariff Of sixty years ago, every
thing but house rent and fuel cost far
more%than it costs today. The closest
economies were compulsory. meat
rom the butchers shop came to the
FAMILY table not oftener than once a
week What are now known as needs
were Injuries then. The boss pattern
maker Of today receives and spends
three ar four times as much as be did
n the sos. The difference alike in
The price of labor and in the general
standard of living has all grown out
=, tho DEVELOPMENT of industrial en-
yernrise. and that, in. turn, is the pro-
duct chiefly, OF the permanent protec'
tive tariff system which began WIN
the Morrill, tariff Of 1860 and with but
one intermission has continued up to
the present time.
"To the extent that the tariff has in
creased incomes and requirements. the
tariff Is responsible for the cost or
hikh living. Some wise economist has
said that a man is OF relatively little
value to society until he has arrived at
the stage Of requiring tooth brush
and q napkin. What he meant was
that country begins to grow rich and
prosperous in proportion as 'ts people
advance to a higher plane OF living.
There are not many tooth brushes and
napkins in use among the work people
Of European countries. In our own
country after more than sixty years of
projection, they are the rule and not.
the exception.
.The present trend in the direction
Of free trade leads toward lower
wages and lower standard of living.
There can be no other possible result
OF such lowering Of our tariff as
shall facilitate foreign competition for
the ayowed purpose of regulating do.
nestle prices. To the small minority
Of or people who live on fixed incomes
which are in no way dependent upon
labor and production that might be
welcome condition, but to the vast ma
jority, the tens of millions who are d.
rectly dependent upon labor and pro-
duction it must mean misery and
nothing else" .s.s-....... -.
THE USE OF WIDE TIRES
County Auditor Garfield of Linn
cn,,nfv ca11c aft anti0n 70 q state law