Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1914-07-01
DOMESTIC IDEALS
LEAD TO EXTRA HIGH
COST OF LIVING

That the high cost of living is really
and more strictly. the cost OF high
living. has been stated and pretty well
proved on ANALYSIS again and again,
but probably nowhere more fQrcibly
than by Fred Mason at a recent ban
quet of the Ann Arbor Retail Mer-
chants Association. Mr.. Mason
sounded strong blast to summon
back to the simplicity of the past,
the mad rush of to-day and To show
that i'm the general scramble for lux
ury, the merchant is unjustly blam-
ed for the increasing expense of or
binary existence.
ut makes me hot" said Mr. Mason,
when | read of the attacks made
upon the merchant or middleman and
see him assailed as the cause of this
high cost of living.
Il was raised on a farm out i'm Min
nesota, and | can remember how
modestly we lived. We used TO go TO
church and benefit by what we learn
ed there and it didn't cost us much.
Now we go to church and vie with
each other TO see who can wear the
best clothes and put up the best APP
DedIdHGt. we Mbil lnt pitfANANi
who draws the biggest salary. but do
you think that we get any more good
from attending church now than we
did when we were more humble in
our tastes?
when | was a kid if we wanted
good time we would throw a lot of
straw into the bottom of a sleigh, call
around at the houses of the different,
boys and girls and wind up at the
country school house, where we would
have a dance and what modern dance
is there that is prettier than the Nir-
ginia reel? For refreshments we
would have some doughnuts. pop
corn and cider
Now, when the young people want
to go to a dance, what do they do?
The young man thinks he must have
a carriage, furnish flowers and candy
for the lady and regardless of the
salary he is earning, spends an
amount of money out of all proper
ton to his income All of this is add
ed to the high cost of living
81 remember that we used to sell
calico for from IL to ) cents yard
and when people had a dress made
from this material. they could con-
slider themselves well dressed. In the
old days | remember how my mother
used to have the other ladies come to
our house TO attend the sewing cir
Gle. They used to take a personal in
terest i'm each others affairs and the
subjects that they talked about were
wholesome and uplifting.
Now if one of our wives wants To
have an afternoon tea, she must CALI
up her grocer and get all of the finest
delicacies for her luncheon in order
To Guido the lady who gave the last
reception. She will pay up TO hun
dred dollars for a gown that doesn't
cover nearly as much of her as that
calico dress in which l used TO think
my mother used TO look so beautiful.
These increased expenses are also
charged up against the high cost of
living and the business man is blamed
for it.
1T isn't an increase in the neces-
saries Of life that has caused the high
cost Of living. it is the expense con-
nected with the service which Gus
toners demand and the big increase
i'm the amount which we spend for
luxuries The merchant is blamed for
everything that enters into the higher
standard of living. whereas he ought
TO be rewarded for his many chart
ties
I'VE hear great deal about what
Andrew Carnegie and Rockefeller give
in philanthropic work. Without in
any way detracting from the contri-
buttons which these men have made
to charitable causes you could take
the total of their gifts multiplied by
100 and you wouldn't reach the
amount that has been given to the
poor and needy by the retailers of this
country" Michigan Tradesman.