The Lancaster news. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1905-current, 1914-09-25
The High Cost Of Living
Savoyard, in Atlanta Journal.

que 10 state or mind, and not to a
crisis OF the mart. The cost of liv-
ing is high because we allow 1t to be
nigh. The law of supply and demand
Is obsolete because the average
American is a spoiled child who was
raised on the best, must have the
best, and will have none but the
best, regardless of consequences.
IL was delicious poet Of Green's
Durg Green county, Kentucky, who
sang this beautiful strain a long time
ago:
Roll on, roll on, thou silvery moon.
Thou carest not damn for ex-
penSes."
And this is the American; he cares
not rap for evenses.
When the American was born the
house was full or good fairies. He
was given sagacity, strength self
rellance, energy, virility of all sorts,
and thousand virtues other be-
sides; but an old hag of witch was
present and cursed him with this:
He shall not have serr-denial," the
foremost of the virtues.
X
That is what is the matter with MS
living. We will not deny ourselves
Like a spoiled child we are: we crv
Tor things; spanked and sent supper
less TO bed we cry for things we want
ana refuse to behave until we get
them. We are thai holy terror in
every family who must have the sun
ny side Of the peach, the bud of the
lettuce the tenderloin of the steak,
the marrow of the bone. the heart OF
the melon, the cream of the milk, the
loin OF the squirrel, and so on. We
care not Tor expenses. We have no
self-denial.
Let me illustrate. Now and then
/ take stroll through Center mar
ket, this here town, that is a salaried
town and the biggest spoiled child of
all our cities. Being a Southerner
l was looking out for blackeye peas.
came upon quart OF 'em. They
were worth 15 cents. The negro wo-
man saw was a fool, charged me 80
cents for EN-, and paid 1t. Why?
Because l am the average American
and am devoid Of the virtue of self
denial. That negro woman was a
plgger fool than 1 was, for she could
nave got four bits for that quart OF
peas had she asked it.
ana SO IL goes. Some yearS.fago
the beef trust advanced the<6rices
or its goods outrageously1Sm this
town, though the prices then set by
that extortionate monopolv-tbat
should have been in the penitentiarv
at the time-were much less than the
current prices, and we had a terri
Die row about it. Our folks met i'm
town meeting, some ten hundreds OF
EN-, heads of families, resolved Nv
all the gods that made Hector vi
troy that we would eat no more beef
as long as the eXtortion prevailed.
IL is possible, barely possible. that
a score or so OF us observed our OBJ
legation and quit beef for a day or
two The answer of the beef trust
was further advance in prices. And
spoiled children that we are.
Why not borrow virtue from tho
Chinaman whom we despise? Some
dozen or so years ago we heaped
contumely on that folk. We treated
them outrageously, holding the sons
OF the mandarin as same as coolies
We would not let them land on our
shores. What did China do? She
boycotted us. Not one particle of
American product would Chinaman
from high to low, buy. 1t got to be-
awful, and we then yielded to Mam-
mon what we had denied to Justice.
We took in our horns. We let their
students come in and the boycott was
lifted. But our boasted folk have
not the grit OF the Chinaman. We
boycuott for a day and then sur
render. When your despised China
man oges a-boycotting, he boycotts.
That is the only way we will ever
bring the beef trust to law.
unless our department OF Justice
snail do what it so often threatens
TO do-put some elegant and high
toned monopolist i'm the penitentiary
and make him work with his hands
Tor the public. That is a way out of
II, but not as good a way as the uni
versal boycott. If we had the grit
of the Chinaman TO employ the hoy
cott. You can live on breal and
water week. - Chinaman would
do 1t at the drop of the hat Try it.
IL all OF us had the fortitude to do
that the cost of living would dron
and stay dropped for half a twelve
month.
But we won't. John Smith de-
pends on his neighbor Bill Jones TO
do 1t and neither does it. A King of
Franco lived on bread and garlic for
weeks. He had to. There was
nothing else to eat. But few OF us
have the grip OF Henry OF Navarro.
1t is estimated that the meat
monopoly has created 1000 pluto
Gratis. worth from $1,OOO,0OO to
$bO,OOO,OO0 each. These gentry.
every time they are challenged, point
TO supply and demand; but each and