The Adair County news., 1922-11-07
Taste for New Foods; Garments,
and AmusementS Acquired
by the Public.
PROBLEM SUBJECT OF STuDr
Prices Have Not Risen so Much as tt&r,
Number of Commodities Regards6
as Necessities Has MuL
tiplied.

reduction of existing wages. In SONS
strikes only issues involving hours ~
labor and other working cOnditiOxxs
have been involved, but, generally
speaking, the strikes have been WaEsse
strikes
Since prices of commodities starts<l
to go up with the outbreak Of th.E-z
European war especial stress has be-zEs
laid on the elements of the cost Et-8
living as the principal argument fHE--
wage increases or for retention, TathfsE
than reduction, of established wasss
scales.
This has led to special studIas- asc
the problem of the cost of living ORz-~
fact established is that prices RsRE~
not risen so much as the number -
commodities regarded as necessities
has multiplied. In truth, the pEfcRkS
of some staples are substantially less~-
er than they were years ago F'urthsEs
many commodities are within tks-
range of comparatively low-WRGsa2I
workers which, because Of rarity or
high price, were formerly wholly cut
| of their reach. The net result OF the
study is that the whole question Css
the cost of living is relative.
J Exact Comparisons Can't Be Made
There Is scarcely any one who eass-G
not agree that the people should hare,
the additional things which they enJoS
under modern conditions, but there Is
desire to emphasize that exact ecG1s-
parsons cannot be made Snd that az,
say that the cost of living, has. hEsz-
creased is not wholly fair. The msEs.
! precise statement is that the cost 81
modern living has increased
Take the single item of ice ereaU
Formerly it was altogether luxury
| Today, every urchin on the stresrks
has an ice cream cone daily and; sOmt---
times several day.
Every American city spends seysTzsI
! thousand dollars day for ice cream
This is an entirely new addition tO,thS
cost of living, and it may be, pokuesSQ
out that it is not fair to caE tfIs EIe
increase in the cost of living II
merely is an addition to the cost Gt
living. If a given city spends SSO.0SEss
day for ice cream the citizens Or-
that city have added $4,000 day tCa
their cost of living by making this *
! penditure. This is an addition, nor agT5e
increase, in the cost of living Of S2liss-
/ 600 a week; $1O,92O,OOO a year. WEs
spend, in addition, S1,OOO,OOO a dr.
for ice, a comparatively modern cox
yenienCe.
Another immediate comparison is
tie motion picture show. Two BeSs~
AIDES ago movies we're scarce. 4 Eese5
were operating, but the universal 40
mission charge was cents TtSSgE-
the American public spends apprONfz
mately S1,OOO,OOO,OOO a year ON tue
movies. This is $40 apiece for eTsEs-
man, woman and child in the nation
These instances could be mulCtp&isS
almost endlessly. The country. i hCCsE
ed with novelties IN the way OF new
foods, new sorts of wearing apparel,
new amusements and thousand aue2
one other new things totally unbrs0Waa
to and unused by the man Of only enc.
generation ago
What Automobiles Cost.
Perhaps the single biggest addition
to the cost of living is the automobile
Not so many years ago the h0cssaesSsz.
carriage was a curiosity regarded as
practical only by Missionaries. To-day
every tenth person in the United
States has one. This means that every
second family has one \ low averasg>
cost of running an automobile il 81 s.
day. This means that the American.
people spend $1O,OOO,OOO a day foT =
automobile upkeep, as there are Es.-l
100000 automobiles. This amounts
to S3.65O 100000 year. admittedly q.
conservative figure
fair average price for ATT aurOmo-~-
bile is $1,000 and an autOiuuu.-e U6Al
last. on an average, five years Then.
If a $1,000 car lasts five years, in
costs S2G0 a year, in addition to the.
upI;eep. There are 10,000O00 cars, IL }
use. This makes S2,0OO.OO06 0600la year
What the economists point oUt Is
that the American standard of living
is so high that it misleads man. pe.s.-
ple Our people spend a lot bu.' Chea,-
get lot. Recently two Seandfn viaH=
born Americans met. One had gs-ra
to his old home and was telling Tie
other of the good fortune that ''i
befallen one of their mutual frit ,rSt
He said that the man had becOme,L n
He had done so well, the man cy=-
planned that he had bought himsel -
/ bicyc1ei In
There is concrete example of WI. =.
is meant by saying that the cost az
living has not increased in america
so much as the scale of living has in.
creased Americans have ruoree gtasr,
any other people in tie wori6-> ehey-
are surrounded with 5ewRferfns-
variety of goods, most of sshla'Ss -.
within reach OF tlle .,.1 ssiTeiys
deep purses - the ryea rels-e-s. p
IS an OLD 'tsi9se saar ~ ,.ys ne,
piper i sateiad g s ne ass
America e.. aa exp ir A