The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1919-12-26
As IT SEEMS
TO ME
DANA SLEETH

@1AKING the cost Of living
ms II is In Seattle today.
the dollar OF 1914 is
2S9 worth exactly fifty cents.
This being proven by
extensive tables and summaries
that include every angle of the cost
~ living.
Very well. according To that. the
man who has not doubled his In.
come Is in hard luck.
Only he Isn't
Everybody has been 40 persist
entity pe.ring on the dark side Of
this II. c. L. thing that I'm going
to turn II over and sec II there
aren't a few square inches OF
bright surface on the other side.
Tho. OF course. nobody viii
thank me for intimatlng that We
are not all starving 10 death.
First Of all. while prices gener-
ally have doubled. or more. this af
fects no family that has an income
\ OF more than So 900. because $4,000
Today win support family OF four
In Seattle with any sort Of man
4gement
So. folks who have incomes Of
from 81. 500 up. and who are agitat
ing for more money. regardless Of
their personal ability. are asking
for something under false pre-
lenses.
a lot OF public employees and
professional folks are crying 10
high heaven over their unfortu-
nate plight, when. as a matter OF
fact. they are about as well off as
they ever were. Only certain
per cent Of their incomes ever
went for these necessities that are
now doubled in price. and they are
not within the truth when they
yeIp so loudly that they cannot
live on their income.
The average American family
wasted third OF It's income.
And IL stiIl does
At the going wage In any craft
there IL excess profit over a good
living N the worker works steadily
and lives wisely.
We have not been living wisely.
We have been used 10 easy money
that we have not earned for n few
years, and we have adopted lot
Of expensive habits that II hurts
TO drop.
The average family is not suf-
fering 50 long as II Ia impossible
for jewellers 70 secure enough dla.
fnonds 10 go round. 30 long as au-
tornobllea cannot be turned out
fast enough to meet the demand;
so long as the demand in every
nne keeps ahead Of the supply, no
matter what the prices are.
And any merchant in Seattle to-
day will tell you that the people
spent money this Christmas as
never before. with prices ridicu-
lously high.
Prices will remain high so long
rs we spend money as fast as We
make ~. and the cost OF living will
constantly Increase faster than
our pay checks II we are fools
enough 10 keep buying every silly
thing we think we want.
There is Just one way to get
even with the profiteer. and that ia
for all OF us to buy only what we
need
Try rump steak instead Of sir
loin. try soup bones instead Of
chicken. potatoes rather than egg
plant. and get acquainted with the
washboard instead OF the laundry
driver.
Probably you are getting about
what you're worth in n competit-
live world.
Probably you are getting enough
II you will use the same business
sense IN spending your wages that
-FOUR boss has 10 utilize to get
Enough ahead 10 meet the pay roll.
These 50.cent dollars will Dc
torth 100 cents ~ the not fardis-
tsnf future, so every one you put
Away pays double
y This X . cruel world, and finally
Iobodv gets something for moth
'ing--nof even shipyard worker;
and a. lrbor increases IN supply.
WAGES VIII drop. no NATTER