Detroit evening times., 1945-03-27
REHIND
THE NEWS
BY Paul
Mallon

throughout the New Deal and
before, quit his post some
months back, and is now an
nouncing that he will be a pri-
vate labor consultant, devoting
himself especially TO the subject
Of real wages"--in short the
purchasing power OF the dollar
you earn. its real value in bread
and butter, and not just the
number of dollars paid.
More and pore people ara
getting interested in this over
looked subject.
II seems TO me Mr.. Steelman
is practically saying that after
many years of fixing wage rates
as national arbiter-and he
fixed more OF them than any
living perSon-he has become
convinced that the actual rate
does not mean as much as ltS
economic value.
4 FRIEND of mine has pro-
"A duced some striking evil
dence on this avoided matter.
Paying out his money for food
at his A a. p store in New York
CITY he was struck with Won
der about how much the same
food cost when Mr.. Roosevelt
first came into office with the
New Deal.
He went back into newspaper
files and photostated the adver-
tisements of the A & p mar
kets for March 2. 20. II and 80,
1888, around the time Mr.. r
first took the oath of office, and
compared the prices with the
very same quality in the very
same A & p markets this past
March Is. He found out eX-
actly how much his food dollar
had been debated.
Butter had more than doubled
in price, from Il ,nts TO 48
cents a pound. Frying chickens
were up from q cents TO AZ
cents a pound; sliced bacon
from 10 cents TO al cents.
Potatoes had more than
tripled from Is pounds for l9
cents TO five pounds for "a
cents. Quaker oats cost II
cents instead OF ) cents go
ounces in each case Canned
salmon was up from 9 cents TO
% cents for a tall pink can.
from cents to 80 cents for
red.
Rye bread cost IL cents in
stead of 5 cents a sale price }
Evaporated milk likewise had
doubled from two cans for 9
cents 10 a single can for the
same price.
Roast loin of pork had more
than tripled from 10 cents 10
33 cents a pound. Sirloin steak
Sold-or rather was priced-at
40 cents. up IL; porterhouse at
az cents, up IA; top round 40
cents, up 13; chuck at q cents.
up 10; lamb chops 55 cents. up
26: bonelesS chuck pot roast 30
cents, up l6.
Cigarets. incidentally, sold at
10 cents a pack in those bad
old days. and 81 carton which
now costs S1.44 con the price
list, anyway.
MY FRIENDS grocery bill
w has consequently Just about
doubled in the Roosevelt ad-
miniStrations, government sta
tisticS 10 the contrary notwith-
standing. / do not believe my
friends salary has increased; IL
may have gone down some; at
least his income after taxes
has dropped a great deal.
Most people have been more
fortunate. Their incomes may
have increased 10, 20 or even so
per cent, but there are very
few people in the country whose
income has kept up with a 100
per cent price increase.
The official figures show
average weekly earnings for
New York State had risen from
S2435 TO S42,01 from 1892 TO
1914, but this includes. i be-
lieve, only factory workers.
4 T ANY rate l have good
"A reason TO doubt such eco
nomic statistics, which can be
pushed any way the economists
desire by including some fac
tors and excluding others.
For example the official gov
ernment figures on food claims
a price increase of only Al per
cent between 1892 and 1915 and
we have seen by my friend s
proof that this simply is not
true, but that the cost of food
has Just about doubled.
What profiteth a New Deal
which increases wages even say
80 per cent and prices 100 per
cent? What profiteth even a
factory worker whose increases
IN wages can never keep up
with the rising price era we
have been in and which is TO
continue (the administration
promiSes) for the postwar
period
But he is the most favored
OF all, while the average man
OF the country in the office.
store, school, even government
itself must get along on what