The St. Joseph observer. [volume] (St. Joseph, Mo.) 1906-1932, 1918-10-12

| nnt ITien IL VIII re Hit Ngtin anu
Then Possibly Few More Times.
| 1t is reported from Washington that
the government investigators say
l$1.4OO a year is the minimum upon
which workiugman and his family
can live in a large city during the
present period Of high prices An in
crease of wages in war industries to
a level which viii insure the worker
and his family a living is proposed.
Workingmen have families OF va
rious sizes. So also have salaried.
men, who. of course. are not honored.
not even self-honored. by the distinc-
tive classification which indicates that
breadwinners OF one sort feel that
| they work for their bread while
breadwinners Of other sorts get theirs
after the manner of Jerome X.
Jerome's character who went to an
office after breakfast and slept there
until closing time, when he was
awakened and put out.
The salaried class has been hit
hard and hit often and hit again since
the war began, Nobody has proposed
that recipients Of salaries may live as
they lived before the war began and
escape the burden OF high prices. AS
suredly no saldried man who is not
| upon the payroll OF an institution
which is making extra profits because
Of the war reasonably can hope to be
relieved or demand to be relieved of
share Of the burden of the increased
cost Of articles and commodities. The
sacrifices OF war ought to be distrib-
uted as evenly as possible. Everyone
should be willing to help to tote the
load"
Tho average Breadwinner.
| The salariej class is made up,
largely, OF nren and women who never
have been accustomed TO demanding
fun and Immediate relief from higher
costs OF living and who are not de-
manding it now. The average salar-
| led breadwinner asks advances. or
hopes for advances, for merit, for
promotion to higher posts OF duty, for
long and faithful service. rather than
because breakfast bacon in glass jars
has risen to 10 cents. In the present
situation he has. speaking generally,
grltted his teeth and stood the satf.
lie has seen his household expenses
mount steadily. He has subscribed.
to the measure Of his shrunken means,
for Liberty bonds and war stamps.
He has given-sums which have look
ed niggardly perhaps-to the Red
Cross and various relief funds.
He has worn his last year clothes
not because Mr.. McAdoo says half
soled trousers are the garments of
patriotism. but because the alterns-
tiyes have been increased personal
/ dingness or increased debt. He has
reduced personal indulgences TO the
/ irreducfbls minimum.
Not a s14OO Man.
The average salarted man Is not q
81 to0-a-year man. A recent tabula-
ton of railroad salaries showed that
| plainly enough to persons who didn't
know the fact. IL was not necessary
to show Il 10 the horde Of retail sales
men. shipping clerks, bank clerks. Of
edge Of pay is broader than theiP ex-
perienos OF payrolls; the desk-worn
mlddle-assd men, gray at the temples.
shiny at the elbows. who are seen in
the central sections of oities during
the rush hours Of morning and even
ing when they are getting into or out
Of street cars which convey them to
and from their small apartments the
little residences in residence sections
not spoken OF generally as such or
their little suburban cottages about
which stavistio impulses bads them
dig and dslve even before war garden
ing began.
To such men and TO their families
this war 10 all that General Sherman
called war. They are not riskins
their lives. II is true. In shsll-torn
trenches or fighting dusls 10000 feet
in the air or going down TO the sea
In ships. amid mines and submsrsiblss.
Circumstances shield thsm from GER
tain admitted dangers Of battle. also
denying them certain admitted thrills
OF war. as they pursue their daily dead
routine! never 80 dsadsning as since
the news has tesmsd with stories Of
deeds OF daring and hsroism done by
young Americans In khRd on land
and sea and in the sky beyond the
clouds, What "otttoe man" has read
even a romance Of war or adventure