The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1913-06-18
GETTING At THE BOTTOM OF IT

The high COS, Of living is g subject
tha. IS % in.eres. 20 everyone and
the Chicago Record Herald IS trying
to &c. at the bottom q i. Il has
started .he publication o. a series %
articles on ne subject and IS en-
d~eapor.nz 20 CUT out re fills and
gee al the facts The first article deals
with the was.e which - entsilsd BY
the ioss OF soil fertility. Z was,e Coy
which somebody mus pay. II intro
ducins is series tas Record Herald
70:
We are noc :. tire midst II & po.:r-
teal campaign today. ou. we have g
paramount; :ssue-she high cos; %
living. While ,he campaigns cone
and go. tha issue remains. And issue
Is joined in a mos, b~ewide-!ng fash
ion. When We ask to- the cause
OF high prices ne End Ia j, IS chss-
ed merr:iy round a circle The coa.
gunner .he retailer OF being i,
the retailer + wholesaler.
the Wholesaler. accuses the farmer,
the farmer accuses the transportation
companies and gets hack az al the
middlemen. wholesalers retailers and
cold storage a-is.s
The pubi:cis- sitting on serene
heights conprehends all the causes
and sends forth a philosophical trea-
t:se il which the increased produc-
ton Of gold buiks large, hut h con-
sumner still insists that gull, is per-
sonaL You can, interest him in
theories when he can relieve his feel
!ngs in the presence of the butcher.
The butcher being nearest him is the
malign spirit Of the drama. Here is
the evil genius who Is making him
pay a third more than he used 20 pay
FOR his meat.
And there is no m!staking the fs-
ures. They are nor made Up from
statistical tables and general aver
ages. They are told out in coin. A
steak costs so cents tina, would have
been considered dear a, IS a few
years 20. A citizen Of Chicago vino
has returned to the city after z few
years absence discovers tina though
his household establishment is much
smaller than j. used to be the ex.
larger. The increase is particularly
noticeable in table supplies, but. of
course. the inquiry should not be con-
fined TO them alone. The problem is
complicated by items from other
sources, fuel and iigh, and manufac-
tured goods OF many descriptions
1T il complicated also by the sus-
gestinn that perhaps the high cost Of
living means the cost Of high living.
People demand so much more now
than they did in the good old times
They want the best cuts. they want
all the modern conveniences Of which
a more frugal generation knew moth.
ing.
But whatever his appetite may De.
the consumer Yesents this explana-
ton OF his woes He resents the
charge that ne is not much of & book
keeper and that he is z mighty poor
manager who probably couldn't tell
from a week to the nexr what he
was actually spending on the varous
items in that appalling household ae-
count He knows or perhaps We
should say tha, she knows, that the
price Of that steak g outrageous and
that she used to do much better. And
both he and she know tha, it is,
sonehow or other, awfuliy hard to
save anything out Of an income that
once they would have considered pref
ty large. So they declare that i. the
prices are going 20 keep on going up
the incomes Of the people who pay
the prices must go Up TOO.
And the farmer. who represents
the other extreme Of the chain. and
who Is held responsible for the waste
and ignorance and the spelling Of the
soil that he should improve, re,orts
thai he understands his business much
better than his critics and tha. mar
keting conditions are 60 bad that he
has to lie, some Of his crops 70, OF
the ground because he cannot get
them out and cell them at a prof.
Everybody is interested and every
body is agreed that the Issue IS the
paramount one. ever though there is
30 great a disagreement over the
causes. But the causes are what we
All want to get at n that is why
the Record-Herald il now Offering tn
It's a series Of articles that are