Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1914-02-25
Has Beaten !:
F MTV3 N@" f.hH. ". "|'E f~%E% -% s %fFr
High Cost Of Living
~T4.&EH Bas 'H. a@#&Ls#Ff &H
Declares Secretary

the cost of food and clothing through
the removal of the tariff atx. lt,lmay
be we'll to point out, however, that
the costly processes. of distribution
lay a tremendous tax upon our con-
sumers, and that In my judgment the
single and little discussed factOrs'O
carriage alone lays q heavier burden
upon our people than the total
amount paid for railway frelghts.s &
I"Tle new tariff has not, thus fur.
resulted in any material increase of
importatiOns of manufactured arti.
Giles to compete with the products
of our own factories, but ratheriits
important effect has been to addEto
our food supply. E,-.,.. ...t af~
ut remains to discuss briefly two
other elements of the existing stu
alton, the prices of commodities land
the matter Of unemployment. :. Dur
ing the winter months .thousands'*Of
labOrers are. thrown out of wOrkCf y
climatic reasons in all our northern
states and it is normal that they
should concentrate, as for years. past
they have done. in our. large cities
and industrial centers. Statements
have been made and denied to tlefef
feet that there are more unenploy-
ed in New York this year than usual.
This may be true without meaning
that there is any, abnormal excess
of unemployed in the whole country.
New York City is known to be ip,the
act Of. spending several hundred mil.
lions upon subway construction.
Furthermore, It is we'll known that
New York provides literally for the
unemployed through its vast private
and public charities, and this tsa an
attractive factor to some 0utTrtOf
work. All these factors would natu,
rally draw the unemployed to- that
city in numbers, even in excess of
possible employment. The fact that
they have so gathered there or lin
other cities in large numbers Hthis
year may or may not have direct
bearing upon the prosperity Of. in.
dustry. A large part Of the unem.
ployed are probably not those who
work in factories, but rather those
who follow the kinds of. labor which
the ,inclemency of the season fOrbids
continuing and which are alwaysysus,
pended at this time Of the Year,!
"Tle. reopening of idle mills
throughout the central west has elm
proved conditions. 1t is certainly
true that many of those who were
out of work when the year opened
are now busy again, and the tend.
ency Is to-, employ more. With, athe
opening Of the spring many avenues
to- work that the season now closes
will reopen. Thus. the normal pas
sage of time acts to solve the prob.
lem. ~. 'Mtf.
Snow, it Is the fact that in recent
years the tariff tax has so operated
on food as to make it visibly more
costly. There was q time recently
when potatoes were imported when
our supply, was scant, and whennthe
tariff tax or potatoes was equal t.
about so per cent on their price,. ,and
necessarily increased their cost. ION
the other: hand, it is the fact; now
that Argentine beef Is being shipped
to New York free of the tariff tax
and this has resulted in a declinetir
the wholesale New York market fol
beef of about 4 cents q pound. Thi:
reduction when transmitted to- thu
local New York retailer has resulted
in a reduction of the price of .tbee|
) locally in that city of about 2 cents
a pound. As beef has gone outside
Of that city into the country at. large
5 tho reduction in price has been sab
+, sorbed by the dealers and has beef
little felt as YETI 49,. y +
, 1T is the fact, too, that butter Ina,
| been reduced In, price by the ,larg,
recent importations of that FOOD ant
. l have known that preserved mill
has been offered in this country',a
lower prices than those which hav,
heretofore prevailed. Furthermore
the importati0ns Of Argentine corr
has, during the recent winter, y,oper
ated at least to prevent a rises IL
the price OF corn in our Atlantis
coast cities. II It has not directlyt're
duced the price in those cities. 1t. i
a well known fact that the price q
woolen cloth from the largest MAX
ers has been reduced this winte
from Is to % per cent. The pric
lists of the American WOODEN COZ
pany and the United States Worste
company and other textile mills sho,
this plainly. Many things are beugh
in the wholesale trade already NOR
q cheaply than they were a years age
particularly Woolens, beef and sbu'
ter. s ~; q,
. "ln the face of foreign condition.
the total exports of iron and ste,
and manufactures from this countr
!, increased in last October over til
!, totals for either July, August or Sci
TENDER. The imports of, iron an
steel in October, 1913, the fri
month under the new tariff, wer
- $l,575,000 less than they were in 20
!" tober Of the previous year. There:
+. ports were $25, 1S9, 900, nearly. II
y ~ times greater than the imports. n!
= vember last showed a similar resul
: The imports were less than two al
:. a. half millions, ", smaller sum,,tha
y In October and less than In tlespff
vious November. while the expor
u were in excess Of twenty million dc