Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-01-09
LIVING COST PROBE
IS TO START SOON
Only Families With Incomes OF
$500 or Less to Be
CanvasSed.
PEOPLE ASKED TO ASSIST

Families in the District of Columbia
having a maximum annual income not
in excess of $500 are the only ones
which will come within the scope of
the investigation into the high cost of
living here by the bureau of labor sta
tistics of the Department of Labor. in
accordance with the resolution adopted
by Congress. Just when the investiga-
tion will be started has not yet been
determined. said DIR. Royal Meeker
chief of the bureau. who is to super
intend the taking of this cost of living
census. He said. however. that 1t
would be started before the end of the
month
The principal matter which is hold
ing up the inquiry is obtaining the
schedules which the investigators will
carry with them in the house to house
canvass. These are now at the govern
ment printing office with rush" tag
on them. and are expected within few
days
Selecting Force of Canvassers.
1T is a difficult investigation to ar
range for" said Dr. Meeker today
You cannot go out on the street and
pick up any passerby to put on the
force to collect this information cor
rectly. The force of twelve persons
now is being selected from the special
agents list of eligibles at the civil
service commission. The force will be
all ready to go out by the time the
other details are arranged"
Commissioner Meeker indicated that
the inquiry would go deeper than the
mere finding out of the prices now
being paid by householders for the
necessities of life. The investigators
are to be instructed to find out the
wages being paid by various institu-
tons here, including department stores,
shops of all kinds. laundries. Offices.
etc He expressed the belief that this
ton, and therefore has directed that
this inquiry be inaugurated with the
cost of living inquiry.
The city will be divided into a num-
Der Of divisions. which in turn will be
divided into subdivisions. This is not
one of the easy tasks in connection
with the inquiry. he said. for one can
not sit down with city map before
him and outline the districts. In such
a case one might divide the city UP and
have some districts where there were
very few houses.
Care in Mapping City.
Efforts will be made to so divide the
city that the information obtained will
shove an average For instance. he
said. il one division should taks IN a
section where a great many laboring
people iIve and another section where
mostly the higher salaried people live,
it will show the cost of living abnor-
mally high in the one and abnormally
low in the other.
Newspapers of the city. DIR. Meeker
told a reporter for The Star, are to be
asked to help in the investigation when
the Investigators are ready to start out
to the extent of giving it wide pub
licity and so educate the people that
they will have most of the information
at hand when the canvassers call.
He urges that they now begin to keep
a budget of their expenses at the pres
ent time and to save all they have
for years back. Although the bureau
has in it's files information on the
retail prices charged by stores of the
city as far back as 1907. any informa-
tion which could be obtained from the
homes in this line would be of ma
terial help in making up the report of
the investigation. He expressed the
the income is less than s1.S00 records
are kept of the expenses. All informa
tion so gained from individuals. of
course, is kept in the strictest conf
dence at the bureau.
The preparations for the investiga-
ton are being rushed with all possi-
BILE speed to the end that the inquiry
may be completed and the report made
to Congress in as quick time as pos
sible. Dr. Meeker estimates that it will
take approximately six weeks for the
canyassers to complete their task, but
it will take more time than that to
tabulate the figures and prepare the
report for Congress