New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-10-31
THE COST OF LIVING
Two Recent Studies Of a Burn
ing Problem.

HFDUCIVG THE COST OF LIVING. i'y
Scott Nearing Ph y. l2mo. pp 5i3. phil
alelphia: George ". Jacobs Co.
WHY THE DOLLAR rs SHRINKING.
study ~ the Tiigh Cost Of Living i'y
irving Fisher. svo. pp. 2S3 The MacmiI' an
Company.
OF the two books before us dealing
with a worldwide question, Mr.. Near
ing's is the more popular one; Profess
sor Fishers, as vas to be expected
from his earlier books and the stand
ing they have given him, Is addressed
rather TO students Of economics. The
two are worth reading in connection
with each other, for Mr.. Nearing ad-
vocates the very popular explanations
and some of the fallacies which, accord
ing Is Professor Fisher. do rot 90 10
the root Of the matter. Reducing the
Cost Of Living" takes into account the
individual, the social and the political
the problem; "Why the Dollar Is
Shrinking the dollar has shrunk
10 two-thirds of its value since 1896
deals with its financial aspect.
Mr. Nearing has happy knack of
pithy expression. Nautilus was wrong
in predicting immediate disaster from
overcrowding. although evidently ne
was right In predicting the encroach-
mcnts of population on the food sup
ply" "The family under thousand
dollars is interested in changing prices
rather than changing standards; the
well-to-do see the cost Of living prob
lem as ID problem of getting the lag
est possible number of goods and. SCI
vices in return for the income they
spend" Moreover. with them, there is
the question Of social position of be
longing The new family status
the family as buyer rather than
seller these are phrases that tell,
and so is this:
The burden of servants is car
ried by masters and mistresses.
There are Instances, numerous
enough, in which a mistress would
expend less effort in doing work
herself than she expends in the
supervision of her servants. To
such persons the hiring of an addi-
tiOnal servant always signifies the
assumption of an additional bur
den.
The remedies Mr.. Nearing Offers
cover the field of causes he indicates.
They are individual simple living.
back to the soil, sound domestic econ
omy; social, industrial, economic the
latter in connection with legislative
regulation. The book is representative
OF modern tendencies in popular
socio-political opinion.
Professor Fisher undertakes to state
as simply as possible the general prin-
ciples that fix the scale of prices, and
TO show the manner in which they an
ply to the high cost of living. These
principles they are not new-he
states as follows: The volume Of
money in circulation; its velocity of
circulation; the volume of bank de-
posits subjec. TO check: its velocity.
and the volume Of trade The remedy
he proposes. and to which he will de-
vote future book. is the Standard
cation Of the dollar" the establish
ment, that is, of a unit which shall
be as unavailable as the units of length
and weight This he proposes to do
by compensating for every fall in The
purchasing power OF gold by adding to
the weight of gold in the dollar This
"would get rid Of the present fixed
price Of gold and allow new supplies
of gold to lower the price of gold in
stead OF as st present raising the price
of goods"
In his discussion of popular explana-
tons of the high cost of living the
author makes some telling points