El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-09-05
By
Rene Bache

7 Of a nation moves with it. The people
! have more money to spend. and they
I buy more things from abroad
! There IS a similar tendency all over
: Asia at the present time. c. s. Donald
: son. chief Of the consular division Of
/ our department OF commerce, in calling
attention TO this matter, says that 20
cents a day added to the income Of the
160,o00,000 families in all Asia would
signify an increased spending power Of
ten billions Of dollars q year A genera
I ton from now this gain viii be an &C
complished fact
Half Live in Asia.
Half Of the people in the world live
in Asia. They buy abroad less than
$40 worth Of goods per capita annu-
ally. Australia (fOr cOntrast) imports
$50 worth OF goods per capita per an
mum. Suppose that we were 10 sell to
the Asiatics So per capita worth OF
American merchandise. 1t would mean
S2,500O0G000 worth annually or as
much as we now sell TO the entire
world. The average Asiatic spends only
Sc a year for clothing; before long he
Cor she) viii dress more extensively.
Belgium Next to Asia.
II Asia be kept out Of the question.
Belgium stands lowest Of all countries
in respect to the wage scale Of Ia bor
while the United States stands highest
The most important and valuable trade
OF that war VeZed kingdom IS diamond
cuttinE-which is Interesting TO our
selves because we buy thrse-fourfBs
Of the worlds output OF diamonds. Just
now, Of course, the market is much de-
pressed, here as well as abroad Pen-
pie DO not buy diamonds while times
are bad.
At Antwerp there are 40 factories
employing 1900 70 5000 diamond cut
tiers, who earn from So to S14 a week
1t is a very highly skilled handicraft,
and managed on a system Of such ex-
clusiveness that until recently no ap-
prentices were admitted who did not
belong to the guild. Thirty-five years
ago the trade was in so flOurishing
condition that good cutters earned from
$500 to $3.50 week This remarkable
state OF affairs naturally attracted the
try, and keen competition ensued. with
a consequent drop in wages.
Antwerp is noted, by the way, for
the cutting Of large diamonds. whereas
Amsterdam Che rival center OF the
trade, in Holland) makes a specially
Of small stones. That it came about, a
few years ago, that the great Cullinan
diamond (given as birthday present
to king Edward VII by the colonial
government OF the TransvaaD was sent
TO Antwerp to be cut
Here Homes are Crowded.
Not without reason may 1t be said
that the workingman in this country,
with good trade and stea1y employ
menI IS better OFF In many respects
than the rich man Of a generation or
two ago. II thrifty, he has cosy
little home Of his own, in which a ror-
celain bath tub and uptodate plumbing
are matters Of course the chances
are that he uses electric ligh-; his WlIe
does her cooking on a gas range ana
the rock she wears on festive occa-
s1ons is Of no material less expensive
than silk Even in these days Of hign
living cost, good clothes are Ear cheaper
than they used to be, and the horny
handed son OF toll" buys a fashionable
me-down." All sorts Of Injuries that
come in cans at cheap prices appear
on the. toilers table at seasons when,
IN earlier days. such foods were unob-
talnable even by the millionaire His
children 90 10 a firstclass school &C
curing an education that is the best
possible start in life. In short the
Workinsman's lot. If he is so fortunate
as to live in the United States. is to be
regarded as extremely enviable.