New Britain herald., 1920-02-26

 brought together, in one great sum. Since 25o billions represents the prob able total wealth of the United states its lands, it's buildings, it's mines, it's railways, it's water power, it's accum- ulations of every sort,--it will be seen that the five years of war cost. directly and indirectly, nearly one and a half times the total value of the United States. Perhaps in such a comparison as that we begin to get for the first time some notion of the burden which the world has taken upon it's shoul- ders in order to preserve free govern ment from the imperial autocracy of the Central Empires. The resulting problems will tax and perplex our best and most far-seeing statesmen for at least a generation to come.
 Debt Reflected ill Living Costs.
 All this huge burden of debt and this greatly exparded cost of govern nent directly affect the cost of living. The expansion of credit n ecessary to float government loans and to carry on the war. with it's resulting imitation of currency. depreciated the purchas- ing power of the dollar and has at least doubled the cost of living. A daily wage of $4 in 1914 is not worth
 
 other hand, to increase that wage to SS in order to equalize conditions with 1914, operates to increase the cost of goods and so to establish a vicious circle of wages and prices, the effects of which are more serious the longer the vicious circle is continued. The withdrawal from productive industry of more than thirty million human beings in order that they might take part in the war naturally reduced the amount of goods in the world and therefore put up prices. The shorten ing of the hours of labor in the in terest of better and more humane conditions decreases production and increase the cost of living, unless ways and means be found through the use of improved machinery and better shop organization to increase produc- ton. Much of our present industry is carried on by machines, and ma- chine that is operated eight hours a day will only produce four-ffths much goods as a machine that is operated ten hours day. The short cned hours of labor mark a great ad- vance in civilization, but they should be accompanied by the study of other methods to increase and to expand production.
 Reduce Govt. Cost First
 dl hi; heaTX ,dd taSation that has al more unwise forms. such the cess profits. taxes, tends to increase the cost of living. We cannot do much to reduce the high cost of liv- ing until we reduce the high cost of the high cost of government the hish cost of living will fall autorna tica1l1-- reduction in the public debt and a reasonable economy in governmental expenditures. Then, and only then. will the high cost of living, which every man, woman and child in the land feels. begin to decline.
 Advocates Steady Savings.
 Tn addition, if every individual in this land who is in receipt of wages, salary or fixed income. would at once deter 1mfnc to save something every week. no matter how little, and would deposit the amount saved in a bank or invest it in lirSt-ratc securities not speculative, the cost of living would be sensibly lowered within six months. The reason is that money saved and wisely invested is money set to work When money is set to work 1t pro- duces more goods and when more goods are pro duced prices come down. At the present time the world has too much money in circulation and too 'ew goods available for purchase and Ise. So long as this condition lasts. prices will be high. and. money being apparently plentiful, men and women will be eNtraVagant. One of the clev- crest devices of the bolshevist auto ,rats in Russia is to make money so by the use Of the printing press that nobody will want it because 0f it's lack of purchasing power. This s a shrewd way to attack the nations economic and industrial system. Tho production of more goods of every sort and kind by tho factory. by tho arm, and by the shop, and the sub- 5titution of thrift for eXtravagance, Ire the two certain meth ods by which private persons can effectively reduce the cost of living"
 What Did He Mean?
 Over 500 representative republicans