Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-10-25

The retail purchasing power of the
American dollar, as far as foodstuffS
are concerned, is 80 cents greater than
it was in 1925. according to figures
compiled yesterday by Ethelbert Stewart,
commissioner of the Labor Departments
Bureau of Statistics.
In computing the retail purchasing
power of the dollar at $1.39, the COM
missioner said that since December, 1929,
the dollars purchasing power has in
creased 81 cents. He affixed the whole
sale food purchasing power OF the dol
lar at 81 40.
The base of these index numbers, or
100. was December, 1925, and the avail
able data show that for almost three
years both the retail and wholesale food
purchasing power increased only 28 per
cent. Two months after the Wall Street
crash in 1929, however, the dollar be-
gan to increase steadily in value until
now is it only cents less than In 1914,
the year the World War began.
Drop in Wholesale Prices.
Commissioner Stewart said the pres
ent industrial depression has played no
favorites and, therefore, the purchasing
power of the dollar in cost of living, as
between December, 1925, and June, 1884,
has increased only ID cents.
and one-half years wholesale prices OF
all commodities fell approximately 80
per cent but during the same PERIOD
the cost of living of the work1ngman
family-made up Of many items besides
food-fell only about Is per cent, ana
still more significant to the workman
the total amount diSbursed as wages IN
manufacturing industries dropped al
most 40 per cent.
roll does not mean, of course, that IN
dividual wage rates were cut IN sucn
proportion" the commissioner explained.
Most of the decline was due 10 the
discharge of employees, to the proratlne
of Jobs, and to Short-time work. But II
does mean that the income and conse-
quently the purchasing power OF en-
ployes in manufacturing industries as a
whole was less by 40 per cent than II
was in 1925, as the widespread charac-
ter of the depression leaves no reason
to believe that workers dropped or pro-
rated in manufacturing industries coulo
obtain Jobs elsewhere.
This series of events may also be
looked at from the angle of what hap
pened to the purchasing power 0:
money during the period of five ana
one-half years. Because of declining
prices, the purchasing power of the
of wholesale prices, the dollar OF 1925
in purchasing power SLAB in June,
1881, but in terms of total cost OF Nv
ing the dollar purchasing power in
creased only $1.18.
There are thus, in actuality, two dis
tinct "dollarS"-the dollar of commerce,
or the wholesale dollar, which increased
its value by 48 cents during the period,
and the dollar of the home, that Is,
the coSt-of-living dollar, which in
creased in value during the same period
only to the extent of 18 cents.
Declining Pay Rolls.
Meanwhile, as the number Of dol
lars which the workers, at least those
in the manufacturing industries, had to
spend had shrunk, as noted, by some
40 per cent, the workers attached to
manufacturing industries, taken as
whole, had suffered far more from de-
clining pay rolls than they gained from
lower prices on the things they had TO
buy, their net loss being roughly 80 per
cent. Similar detailed information for
other groups of industrial workers IS
not available, but such as Is available
indicates that the situation of most
other groups of workers has been little
If any better than manufacturing.
Food, which has fallen so sharply
in price, is the largest single item in the
workingman's budget, but after all 1t
represents on the average only about 80
per cent Of his expenditures, and the
other things which he must buy have
shown no such sharp price declines,
with the result that the index for the
total cost of living has Jagged far be-
hind the food index
Thus, while clothing prices had de-
clined, the price index in August. 1881,
was still above Sc, and the indices OF
rent and fuel and light were well above
80. Moreover, the index for the group
Of items claSsed as miscellaneous, in
Guiding such diverse things as street
car fares and doctors fees and repre-
Senting some 81 per cent of the ex-