The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-03-14
President Taft Sends Special
Message to Congress.
Regarding Cooperation and
Everyday Expenses.
FACTS GATHERED ABROAD
Figure Largely in the COmmu-
nicatiOn Submitted.
Food Has Advanced More Rap
idly Than Wages.

Washington, March 1.-THE preside Mt
Wednesday,in a special message to con-
gress, transmitted the first installment of
the information collected by the depart
ment of state in regard to cooperation
and the cost of living in various Euro
pean countries. The department. by
direction of the president, instructed
the consular officers to make the in
Vesdgation- The results of the inquiry
are summed up in letter from Acting
Secretary of State Huntington Wilson,
which is submitted with the consular
reports and with summary of their
contents.
The president in his message says
that the popular demand for Informal
ton of this character apparently was
based on the belief that some remedy
might be found for the high cost of Iiv-
ing. The immediate result of the in
quiries instituted by the department of
state through the consular officers was
TO accentuate the fact that the increase
in the prices of the common necessities
of life is worldwide, and that it is an
absorbing question with the co-opera-
i've aSsocld IONS Intelligence present
ed by the cooperative societies shows
that even when there has been an ad-
vance In wages the percentage has not
kept pace with the rise in the cost of
food supplies The president says that
the information collected by the depart-
ment of state is a permanent contribu-
ton to the history of the efforts of pro-
ducers and consumers to solve for
themselves the economic problems If
production, distribution, and consump-
ton If the cooperative associations
which have been in existence for half
q century have not been able to de-
termine the fundamental causes of the
increased cost of living or to retard
the advance. the student of social PRO
gress may at least derive instruction
from the account of the associations
and their influence on the WelI-beiny
of their mem berS.
The president also calls attention to
his message of February 2 in which
he recommended an international
commission to look into the cause for
the nigh prices of the necessities of
life and the possible remedies. Should
such commission be authorized by
congress, he says, the relation of the
cooperative societies to this subject
would be of great Interest.
1t Is Universal
Acting Secretary Wilson in the let
ter to the president describing the ac-
tivities of the department of state in
carrying out the presidents instruc-
tons says that while the consular Off
GERS were engaged in their investiga-
tionS their attention was drawn to the
facts given by the cooperative soc:e-
ties concerning the advance in the
prices of the most necessary articles
OF food. The reports on this phase of
the subject were uniform in showing
that the members of the cooperative
associations were feeling the universal
increase in the cost of staple com
moditfes. The consul general at Lon
don forwarded a table prepared by
the cooperative wholesale societies
which exhibited the increased cost of
certain articles in the United King
dom since 1898. From a summary of
rates of wages it was developed that
the per cent of increase in certain
trades from 1896 to 1910 was Ill and
in food prices 1915. The wages of rail-
way employees during this period had
increased only 7.3 per cent. The con-
sui at Southampton reported that dur
Ing the past five years there had been
an advance of 20 per cent in the pur-
chase price of fresh beef mutton
bacon, hams, butter, eggs, fruits, tea,
dried fruits, sugar, coffee. fuel. tin
goods, women'S apparel, footwear,
clothing, cotton goods, bedding, furni-
ture, and underwear. a series of fig
ures relating to general groceries COM
Society of Manchester gave an in
structive example of what the rise in
the cost of provisions meant to an
ordinary family. Taking the table as
with 1898 the increased cost of living |
in 1910 was 1886 per cent
Few Exceptions.
The CONSUL at Havre, France. re-
ported food prices in November, 1900, |
and in November 1911. All these, |
with the exception of sugar, showed |
heavy increases. The consul at Lyons |
transmitted a table prepared by the |
Workangman'S Exchange giving the !
average prices of various food COM |
nrodities in 1900 and in 1911. Fish |
was the only food mmodity that had |
not scared in price.
With reference to Germany. the |
onsul-general at Berlin reported that |
living conditions were seriously af- |
fected by the continued rise in the |
price of food products, many of the |
r-f,1 Il h OWN f1r.
above all previous records. The |
average retail prices prevailing in
of the principal cities of Germany |
were given.
In Holland the consul at Amster-
dam quoted an official agricultural |
report covering such articles as beef. |
pork. eggs. butter, ham, and wheat, |
which showed that the increase in |
prices had ranged from 16 to So per |
cent in the 2 years following 1898. |
Reports from consular offices in other !
countries showed similar advances.
Referring to the general subject |
matter of the consular reports the Act !
ing Secretary of State says that much |
interest attaches to the cooperative !
associations in the United Kingdom be |
cause England may be said to be the |
nursery of these societies The con-
sular officers describe the inception |
and growth and the organization and |
operation of the cooperative associa- |
TONS both diStributive and productive. |
The collective growth of cooperative
societies in the United Kingdom as a |
whole is shown by a statistical sum |
mary. In 1852 there were 400 So |
cieties, with 10000 members The
value of the sales was 2,33S,0OO |
pounds sterling and the net profits |
10000 pounds sterling. In 1908 the
number of societies was slightly in |
excess of 5000, with membership of
2,701,000. The value of sales was
113, 100000 pounds sterling and the
net profits were 1o.997.0O0 pounds
sterling.