The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-02-24
HIGH COST OF LIVING GUT BY
 NEW, TARIFF
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No legitimate business in this or any country will fall by the wayside un- der any conditions if we have within ourselves the true fighting spirit, cou- pied with our best endeavor.
 "* In any case, we must work out our own salvation under conditions as they exist, hoping to the end and fighting the good fight of faith'-faith in our country, faith in our form of government, faith in our industry, faith in ourselves, faith in the good sense of the American peo- pie and faith in the existence of true patriotism, which means America for Americans and American industries for American workmen."
 GERMAN EXPERTS VIEWS
 Within a few weeks the head of t. large machinery manufacturing cont pany told me that they employed a weil-known German mechanical en- gineer at their works in this country He told them that they could produce their large machines as cheapIy as they could be made in Germany. The German mechanic pointed out that the lower cost of material offset any difference there might be in wages, and suggested also that the wages of skilled mechanics in Germany were not so much lower than those in this country as was commonly supposed.
 It remains to discuss briefly two other clements of the existing situa
 
 .nodities and the matter of unemploy- ment. Taking the last of these first let me say that the principal fact about the subject seems to bethe lack of precise Knowledge. The whole matter has to be treated with caution lest wrong inferences be drawn. Dur- ing the winter months thousands of laborers are thrown out of work for climatic reasons in all our Northern states and it is normal that they E they have done in our large cities and industrial eenters. Statements have been made and denied to the effect that there are more unemployed in New York this year than usual This may be true without meaning that tHere is any abnormal excess of employed in the whole country New York City is known to be in the act of spending several hundred millions upon subway construction This has been widely advertised, and as the work goes on throughout the winter it is especially attractive to men seeking employment.
 SEEK CTTY OF CHARITIES
 Furthern76re it -eWen known that New York provides liberalIy for the unemployed through it's vast private and public charities. and this is an attractive feature to some who are out of work An incid ent is the further fact that New ' York spends at times. as just recently. large sums in winter for unskil1ed labor in removing snow from the streets. All these factors wo6ld naturally draw the lInemploy- ed to that city in numbers even in ex- cess of possible employment The fact that they have so gathered there or in other cities in large numbers this year may or may not have direct bearing upon the prosperity of indus try A large part of the unemployed
 F,Try factories but rather those who follow the kinds of labor which the inclem cncy of the season forbids continuing and which are always suspended at this time of the year.
 Inquiry made by the Department of Comnerce in the State of Washing ton shows that the statements made about unemployment there can not be verified. On the 18th instant the First National Bank of Boston in it's New England letter says.
 There are indications in the United States of increasing commercial activ- fty and a slight diminution in the amount of idle labor.
 The reopening of idle mills through out the Central West has also imprcv-s ed conditions. It is certainly true that many of those who were out of work when the year opened are now busy again, and the tendency is to employ more With the opening of w the season now closes will reopen. Thus the normal passage of time acts to solve the problem.
 Cost of Living Factor
 Finally the question of the cost of living must be fairly met. Intelli- gent men of any party will not blind their eyes to plain facts and in con- nection with the prices of conmodi- ties, or what is pE6perly called the cost of living there are many facts to be considered The tariff is one of these factss and is but one of them I have myself long believed it un- righteous to tax food and made my campaign for Congress on the state ment- Takes tariff taxes off foods I do not assume, however, nor do I know any sensible man that does as- Sume, that the tariff tax always con tro1s the cost of food, or that there were not factors which might raise or lower the price of food while the tar if remained unchanged. do believe matter of course that removing the tariff tax tends to reduce the price of food and this I think it will be easy to show has been the case.
 But let us take the larger view of this matter first of all If food were high only in Wheeling we might dis cuss it as local matter and look for a local cause. If food were high cnly in West Virginia we nigh discuss st as state matter and look for a etate cause If food were high only m America we might discus it wholly as a national matter and look for rational cause. But the fact is that food together with other commodities has been of late years relatively high all over the world and it must there fore, if it is to be discussed. sanely, be discussed as worldwide matter. It s not something caused by your local action or by your state action nor wholly by national action A world wide rise in prices must have a uni yersal and not local cause, and thoughtful men of all parties will rec ognize this fact. Such universal eff feet which must, I repeat. have uni versa1 cause may however be and cer- tain1y is modified by local, state, or national conditions If you were to