The Richmond climax. (Richmond, Ky.) 1897-1914, 1913-11-19
PLEA IS FOR Time
DEMOCRATS SAY THE COST OF
LIVING CAN'T BE EXPECTED
TO DECLINE YET.
TARIFF ALONE NOT ENOUGH
Wilson Believes Other Measures Win
Reduce Prices In a Year-Solution
of the Problem Admittedly the Key
to Power.
BY GEORGE CLINTON.

BY GEORGE CLINTON.
Washington.-By force of the new
tariff law is the cost of living to be
reduced? Some of the Democrats in
Washington apparently desire that
the country shall believe quickly and
fully that the NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
bill cannot be expected to bring down
the price Of things until it has been
in operation for at least ten months or
a year.
The Democrats, while they do not
will make a great difference in the
cost of necessaries, are hopeful that
other bills which they intend to enact
into law, coupled with the tariff, will
bring material relief to the consumers
of the country. II must be left Of
course to time to prove whether the
Democrats are right or not President
Wilson seemingly is convinced that in
a year things will not cost as much
as they do now.
er claim, or admit, whichever way
you choose to put it, that the political
organization which can present the
best plan to bring down the high cost
OF living will be the one to get control
Of the house of representatives next
year and of the presidency two years
later. The Democrats are In power
and II they have a plan to make liv-
ing cheaper they can put II into effect
II they want to. In the early days
the party made definite promises that
the tariff would turn the cost cutting
trick, but now there is a little hedg-
ing on this proposition and the prom
Use is that when the antitrust laws
are in force next year prices will
, drop so that the consumer can hear
them.
Opponents Are Satirical.
Some OF the opposition party MEM
bers in Washington are asking the
Democrats why, il their antitrust leg
islation is to accomplish such high
deeds of service to the people, it is
necessary for various official bodies
to be studying other means of reduc-
ing the cost of living. The agricul
tural department today is trying to
solve the problem and men have been
sent abroad to study agriculture and
marketing methods over there with
the hope that the result Of their stu
dies may bring relief over here Nat
urally the opposition party men are
satirical. They say that perhaps the
Democrats hope to cut the prices OF
living In half through their antitrust
legislation and then to wipe out the
other half through the solving Of GER
tain agricultural problems, thus bring.
ing the consumers of the country to
the blissful condition of men and wo-
men who can get everything they
want for nothing.
One of the salient facts as 1t OBJ
trudes itself In political circles In
Washington is that the leaders Of the
three parties maintain that the high
cost of living is the big problem OF
the day, and each party virtually
seems ready to admit that ascendency
will come to or be held by the politi
cal organization which presents a plan
which appears to the people to be ade
| quate to the occasion. OF course the
Democrats say that their tariff and
their antitrust legislation must be
| given time to prove the virtues which
| are claimed for them. The people
| probably will be willing to do this and
will not lay the crime of Incompetence
up against the Democracy until yea
or so has elapsed. when II eggs are
still fifty cents dozen and butter for
ty-fve cents a pound, and clothes s4t
a suit, there may be an attempt Il
change the existing political order OF
the ground that the next condition
can be no worse than the existing
one, and that perhaps It may be bet
ter.
VIII Wages Drop AIso7
Both Progressives and Republicans
seem to think that there may be som,
1 little drop in the cost of things as !,
result of the Democratic tariff legis
lation. The Republicans are certain
and some of the Progressives feel I'll
less degree likewise" that II thu
present tariff law does bring a reduc
ton in prices It will also bring re
duction in wages. It was not long ag'
that the senate appointed commit
tee to investigate the causes of tn
high prices of living. Mr.. Lodge o
Massachusetts was the chairman o
the committee, which was dominates
by Republicans What might hav
been expected happened. The mai
feature of the report turned in wa
that the tariff had nothing to do wit
keeping prices up.
1t is definitely known that Presiden
Wilson and his Democratic friends 4
house and senate are hoping and pei
haps praying that out of the legisls
ton which the party now In powe
has enacted or intends to enact some
thing will come which will caus
prices to drop without making wage
drop with them. The high cost G
living is still the chief matter Of cor
Germ to the leaders of a party who 70
personal and public reasons want ;
keep that party In power. The Ike
to the problem lies somewhere. an
men of three different party faiths ar
4 L.