The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1922-02-16
LABOR AND THE COST OF
LIVING

Many Of us heard with interest the
address of Miss Rankin last week in
advocacy Of minimum wage law.
This is one Of the many factors in
the Much larger problem of the rela-
ton between labor and the cost Of
living.
In the ultimate analysis it will be
found that the commercial or ex-
change value of any product is de-
pendent upon and equal to the cost
of the labor required to produce it.
This means the labor Of all kinds re-
ouired TO secure raw material, the
manufacture and distribution Of the
finished product, the management and
supervision of the entire process. 1t
includes also the labor required TO
produce and accumulate the capital
which is used in the process. 1t fol-
lows that the cost Of living, i.e., the
cost Of all those things which are
needed to supply our wants and give
us comfort and satisfaction, must in
the aggregate be equal to the total
cost of the labor by which these
things are provided for our use
This will be so whether some kinds
of labor are adequately paid or not.
If one kind is paid less than it should
be, some other kind will be paid more
than it should be, for the total must
always equal the cost of living. The
real problem, therefore, is not to
make wages equal to the cost of liv-
ing-that will take care of itself, just
as water seeks its level-but to see
that the remuneration of labor is
equitably distributed among all the
laborers.
The following illustration will help
to make this clear. Imagine a CEN
trail dish or reservoir Of large size,
surrounded by great number Of
small cups of different sizes but of
equal depth with the reservoir and
connected with it by small tubes
from their bottoms to the bottom Of
the reservoir. Let the system be
filled partly full of water. The water
in the reservoir represents the cost
Of living, that in the small cups rep
resents the wages paid for the diff
ferent kinds Of labor. To make the
illustration as complete as possible,
the combined capacity of the cups
should exactly equal that of the res
ervoir. Now il more water be added
to one Of the cups, it at once flows
into the reservoir and raises its level,
and then from this it is distributed
to all the other cups until the same
level is reached in the whole system.
So if we increase the wages Of any
kind of labor, that of railroad men
for instance, it at once adds to the
cost Of living and ultimately raises
all other wages in like proportion.
Only during the process of readjust-
ment, which may be more or less
prolonged, will there be a difference
Of level The only way to increase
the amount of water in one cup with
out increasing it in the reservoir and
the other cups is to increase its size
at the expense Of the other cups.
This means that TO secure relative
increase in the wages Of one kind Of
labor, the world of labor must con-
sent to higher estimate Of the rela-
tive value Of that particular kind OF
labor.
The problem, then, consists in max
ing a just estimate Of the relative
values of the different kinds Of labor
and getting general consent to such an
estimate. For example, if it is unjust
that one man gets ten cents for do
ing a certain definite part in making
a pair Of shoes while another man
gets a dollar for his work, some way
must be discovered for changing
these amounts. How shall this be
done7 Whoever can give a practi-
cable answer TO this question will
give us the solution Of the problem
Of labor and the cost Of living.
Two things are necessary, intelli-
genee and unselfshness. A commits
sion should make itself as familiar
as possible with all the conditions Of