Coulee City dispatch. [volume] (Coulee City, Wash.) 19??-19??, 1923-08-03

KEW u " yOu'
1.-THE High Cost Of Living" or the
Cost Of High Living" which?
II may require some courage to claim
that the consumer himself is largely to
blame for this high price; but an i'm
partial analyses of the subject must in
evitably lead to such conclusion.
The present high standard of living
which is making itself manifest among
people Of all classes is bound to result
ia still higher prices for all staple ar
ticles Of consumptirn. The courses of
high prices may be catalogued this way:
Extravaganza, Waste, Luxuries. Style,
Craving for Pleasure and Desire to be
waited upon.
Extravigance in all its forms is add
lag it's quota to the cost of living and
thereby causing financial embarrassment.
Wastelfushess Is sin of which we are
eli more or.sless guilty, so much so that
We a. . nation have acquired world
wide reputation on that line. AS every
thing wasted has to be replaced it stands
to reason that the consumer will ulti-
mately pay the cost. For example;
wasting Of timber means higher prices
for lumber. Wastefulness on the farm
means an added demand for farming
tools. Machinery rusting and decaying
for lack Of shelter adds cost to farming.
Waste Of public property and funds
means higher taxes which in turn means
higher prices on the goods we buy as
all taxes are finally forced onto and paid
By the consumer. In the home the habit
Of supplying the ready to eat victuals
all the way from fried potatoes to cook
ed pumpklr IL adding to the Cost 81 eat-
ing. II you think this picture is over
drawn just observe the piles of empty
tin cans in most peoples back yards or
dumped along our highways; an eye
sore to passers by.
Not long ago the head of meat pack
ing concern declared that the high cost
Of meat was partly due to the fact that
everybody wants to buy the choicest
eats. while the cheaper are fully as nu
tricious and often drug on the market.
Luxuries: Things which "a few years
ago were considered only obtainable by
the wealthy are now supposed to be
necessities by those not financially able
ia possess them. In other words the
Keeping up with the Joneses" mania.
Styles; the frantic effort to keep up
with the changes in styles is RESPONSE
BILE for the high cost in this line. TT e
styles in women's garments change ev-
cry season Of the year, if not oftener.
Today hoops, tomorrow hobble, now
Sits, one day short, next day long, next
don't know what.
Pleasure; an almost unnatural demand
for pleasures, good. bad and indifferent
and the ever rediness of some one to
supply the demand at SO much per, is
quite tax on the pleasure consuming
public.
A desire to be waited upon at every
possible and impossible occasion is null
tiplying the high cost of existance.
Now nearly everyone has telephone
and in the cities especially, whenever
anything is wanted, be it safety pin
or piano. it is ordered by phone ard
delivered by the merchant Who de-
mands the extra service and who pays
for it if not the consumer? If you are
travelling on a railroad train or stopping
at hotel. porters and walters of every
description are swarming around you,
ready to carry yeur baggage, polish
your shoes. brush soy off, etc. At the
table someone is ready to adjust your
chair, unfold your napkin and tuck it
Under your chin, put cream in your cof-
fee and all you have to do is open your
mouth and the food will be conveyed
there premastigated. All Of this is be-
cause the public demands to be waited
upon. and the cost is paid by the con-
suEaer.
A demand for things. always has a
tendancy to higher price leyel feven if
the supply has not been diminished.
Our social existance is costly because
We all want to dwell within a certain
sphere. Our politics are high priced
fessional politician to do our thinking
for us. Even our religious living is
soaring sky high THAT is, the price of
it is) owing to the many creeds claim
ing support by the claimer of orthodox
needs.
The Cost Of High Living cannot be
lowered but the High Cost of Living
can be brought down several notches if
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