Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1912-02-24
CONSIDER THE COST OF DYING
Result of investigation Into the
Exorhftsht Charges of Under
takers.

or all the conyenuonslities which hold
poor humanity in a relentless grip none
are more difficult to bring into harmony
with the dictates Of experience and com
mon sense than those connected with
death and funerals. Women swaths
themselves for years In unvholesome
Grape TO satisfy what they suppose soci-
ETY. has prescribed as proper mourning
and shut themselves out from all CON-
partnership and almost from the light OF
day. TO their own great detriment and
to the benefit Of no one. True affection
for the deceased may be better shown by
making life happier for those left be-
hind. So, too, II has come to be consid-
cred a necessary mark OF respect for a.
member Of a family who has died to give
him or her what has come to be known
as a bang-up funeral. with very little
regard to the expense or the means Of
the survivors. Here again respect for
the departed would be more truly mani
tested by committing him TO the earth
in the simplest way possible and devot-
ing the needless expenditure to the pay
ment Of debts or to the advantage OF the
living. Very poor people. merely TO sat
isfy their own pride. for the funeral must
be Indifferent TO the dead. incur expense
and run into debt In order to have a
certain style Of funeral So dominated
has society In all its branches been by
the fetich-like customs. established by
long prevalent observances. that almost
no attempts at reform have been made.
Recently, however. the subject has
been taken up for rational consideration.
valuable facts gathered and classified.
and interesting conclusions reached. Con-
ditions are by no means uniform through
out the country. but a thorough insesti-
cation in the city of New York shows
that undertakers, like lawyers and doc
tors, fix their charges somewhat with
reference TO the status or their patrons.
II further shows that everything con-
nected with death and burial Is made I'M
necessarily burdensome. particularly TO
the poor. Caskets costing to make from
80 TO SIC are sold at from 80 and $50. and
the general ratio Of profit on these is
said TO be 15o per cent and on all other
funeral belongings go per cent This state
Of things led TO the occupation becoming
overcrowded. and. as the business is I'M
regulated, there grew up unseemly scram-
bling for orders and outrageous pressure
on the poor to give their relations ex-
pensiye funerals. Now, however, II is
said. and the statement carries an econ
omic suggestion with 1t. that there is
hopeful tendency. especially among the
larger and stronger undertaking estab-
lishments, to stsndardize funeral fur
nishings at flat-rate, moderate cost. The
monopolizing and dominating tendencies
OF the widely organized burial trusts are
shown to be less burdensome and peri
lous to the poor than the Irregularities
and rapacitles TO which the horde OF
unorganized undertakers are driven by
unrestricted competition" This is one OF
many advantages that the organizers OF
other trusts claim for them.
The gentleman who makes the report
hopes to solve the problem by uniform
public regulation. which we are told has
been adopted in most foreign countries.
Almost every city abroad Of any size has
a department for the administration Of
cemeteries and the burial OF the dead.
The German law requires that all paupers
must have decent funerals. and the city
Of Berlin alone buries 1000 persons every
year. In several Of the cantons Of Swift
xerland they so further and give free
burial to every citizen TO the extent Of
a simple casket and hearse. the services
OF an undertaken and carriage for the
family. In Norway this Is extended to
cremation, II desired. Some OF the Ger
man cities ara regularly In the under
taking business and have rates according
to the style of funeral. In Berlin the
cost OF a burial In q common lot runs
from sl.50 for infants to $3.50 for adults,
not including collins. In France the
communes have a monopoly Of burials
and the law allows no regulation Of price
according to income. II is found that
has lessened the ten
dency TO pomp at funerals and has re-
duced expenses. Our towns and cities
may well look into the matter. There is
no doubt that the burden Of our poor
can be greatly lightencd by judicious
regulation OF funerals, burials and ceme- |
Enquirer.