Evening star., 1923-09-05
CAPITAL KEYNOTES
BY PAUL Y. COLLINS

from the years 1902 to 1922. That is
an increase of 25 per cent. The
whites of this country have not in
creased by births with anything like
The Indians are cared for as wards.
yet many Of the tribes are made up
OF rich men and women, especially
those whose land has developed oil.
In somewhat the same way, the
buffalo. which has been declared in
imminent danger Of determination,
has so Increased and multiplied under
the care Of both the United States
and Canadian governments that or
ders have gone forth by Canada to
butcher 1000 of them for their meat
and hides 4 big buffalo hide. well
ago at retail for SIS to s25 would now
bring about $500.
1t has been imagined. nearly sixty
years after the civil war, the call for
pensions would have subsidized ma
terially. Every reunion OF the Grand
Army of the Republic shows thfnned
ranks. and each year seems almost
the last possible for the aged veterans
70 get together. Yet the number of
employees In the pension bureau in
required. '''
Postmaster General Harry S. New
mas undertaken to ascertain why
newspapers so frequently lag in the
mails. He has appointed a special
committee of officials to make a study
or speed in all malls. The first sug-
gestion from the head of that COM
mittee, First Assistant Postma ster
General Bartlett. is that in every city
OF $4,000 or more population there
should be Iiaison citizen whose duty
II would be to write propaganda both
Tor circular letters and newspaper
publication. urging and teaching
merchants and others how they NAV
cooperate with the mails. The citi-
zen would not be a post office official.
put member Of clubs and CONNER
cial bodies. and he must be capable
OF talking with business men and
addressing mems clubs.
Presumably, somebody must pay a
good salary to such a man. No
cheap" man would have sufficient in
huence with business men to be worth
while.
1t Is not very clear how long such
an outsider could keep up public in
terest in 'mail-early' slogans. nor is
1t proved that the fault of late daily
mailing is the entire trouble. 1t does
Postmaster General New set out to
remedy-the tardiness OF second-class
mall. Mr.. New is himself a news
paper man. whose interest in second
class mail service is bred in his bones.
*
Mr.. Gompers, president of the
American Federation of Labor, SAYS
wages must be kept high because
living cost is high. The head of the
Federation of Women's Clubs of the
District says the home must be de-
veloped and that it is up to the
women to discover why the cost of
living continues so high, in spite of
the great economies in production,
including the use of by-products.
Does the cost of labor. which, after
all, constitutes about 80 per cent of
living cost. account for some of the
high cost, of living? In the face of
these speculations comes the Depart
ment of Labor with its cold statistics
showing that the cost of living is
no longer SO high as it is cracked
up to be-" If so. wherefore the
arguments above cited?
The Department of Labor an
nounces that. compared with the
costs of 1920, things necessary are
today much cheaper. Taking 1913 as
the basis. at 100, it is noted that in
1920 the costs of food, clothing, fur
niture and housing had run .p to
216.5, but In 1923 the same articles
cost only 1897.
Take food in 1918, at 100, in 1920
its cost was 219. and in June, 1923,
1t was 144.3 Prices are gradually
falling. except as to coal
Copyright. 1923. by p. V. coIlins.)