The Lubbock avalanche. (Lubbock, Tex.) 1909-1922, 1919-10-02
LARGE RENT INCREASES.

LARGE RENT INCREASES.
Advances in rent were reported to be very ir-
regular. running as high as 80 to 100 per cent.
in the crowded centers Of war industry. Allow
ing for the varying importance OF different
items of expenditure the Conference Board put
the total increase of cost of living from July,
1914, to November, 1918, at from 90 to 10 per
cent. The increase in wages during the same
period is, unfortunately, not gwen, put II Is
quite evident that wages have advanced III
about the same percentage.
Leaving aside the question of proflteerlnR
which will. in the near future, be carefully and
impartally investigated by Congress, and
remedy applied we can. therefore, consider our
selves as passing through a period of change
and reimbursement. When this period has been
weathered successfully we shall find ourselves
somewhat in the same condition as before the
European war, except that there Will be much
higher level Of prices prevailing, business VIII
be good and prosperity everywhere evident
Speaking of read justments, we must remem-
Der that these are always going on in the busi-
ness world even in normal times. The only
difference between the present postwar period
adjustments and those of normal times is that
postwar adjustments are more pronounced and
sweeping.
Business people who have been holding back
from engaging in new ventures fearing lest
need hesitate no longer as there is every indl-
cation that higher level of prices is here to
stay.
As an illustration of the way readjustments
of prices occur in normal times in different
lines. and sometimes in such way as to sur
prise one, the writer recalls a few years ago
being in the office of large retail lumber COM
pany in a town in central eastern Illinois. when
a farmer came in and asked one of the clerks
A. of inch md m III
fence posts. saying he wanted to get enough for
fencing in a square forty. The clerk looked up
the price list and said "a cents each. The farmer
was amazed and said the price was outrageous
as he had bought the same sized posts for the
same field in that same office 20 years ago Tor
exactly IL cents per post and he was sure tnat
fence posts had not doubled in value in the
meantime, and not only that, but that he had
exchanged oats for them on the basis OF two
posts for each bushel. The clerk said that that
was all right. they would exchange him fence
posts for oats on precisely the same basis as be-
FORE but the farmer said he had sold his crop
of oats The clerk asked him how much he had
received per bushel. and he said AZ cents, which
proved that through the readJustments OF trade
the farmers oats had increased in value on an
equal footing with the lumberman's fence posts
few years ago a first class laborer could.
in two days work, earn enough to pay for his
board a full week. The same man could buy
a fair pair of shoes for the same work. This
same aborer can. practically speaking. pay for
his board and shoes with the same labor today.
AFTER REIMBURSEMENT.
When we consider these things IL will become
increasingly evident that conditions are rapidly
readiusting themselves, especially so far as the
laboring man is concerned. The only remaining
obstacle is the lack of employment, and this
shows signs of soon being overcome, and within
30 days there will be scarcity Of workers.
The higher level Of prices will be most keenly
felt by those whose incomes were permanently
adjusted in the low-priced period prevailing be-
fore the European war.
When profiteering and waste have been re-
duced to the minimum We shall as a people, be
able to live on a more generous basis than We
have been living during the past two years. IL
is appalling the great waste that is going on in
the United States. outside of the waste and ex-
travagance in the family as glance at the fol-
lowing list will show.
Damage from rats. mice. gophers. squirrels.
chipmunks rabbits. prairie dogs. etc. as per the
estimate made by the biological Survey shows
yearly loss of $500. 100000.
The Plant Disease Survey estimates the loss
resulting from plant diseases IA wheat, 6i2T7. :
600 bushels; rye, 2.6s6 900 900 bushels barley
i2.2b2, 900 bushels oats. ibii2O,O00 bushels
corn. 900 bushels. potatoes. III. 600
bushels. sweet potatoes. il,lo6,O00 hnshels
cotton. ,s06,0o0 halea, sugar heets. sib.Isa
tans. A fair valuation OF these losses would not
he less than Al goo 100000 annually.
LEGISLATURES ARR nIsl.
fhs proper handing and u41AsLAaz q i&z'a