REDUCING COST OF LIVING Reducing the Cost of Living BOOKS BY THE AUTHOR " WAGES IN THE UNITED STATES." " FINANCING THE WAGE EARNER'S FAMILY." " SOCIAL ADJUSTMENT." " THE SOLUTION OF THE CHILD LABOR PROBLEM." " THE SUPER RACE." " SOCIAL SANITY." " WOMAN AND SOCIAL PROGRESS." /In collaboration with \ ^Nellie M. S. Nearinf J Reducing the Cost of Living By SCOTT NEARING, Ph.D. Wharton School of Finance and Commerce University of Pennsylvania PHILADELPHIA GEORGE W. JACOBS & CO. PUBLISHERS HP /Vf Copyright, 1914, by GEORGE W. JACOBS & COMPANY Published July, 1914 All rights reserved Printed in U. S. A. A MESSAGE To the multitude of those who are grappling for existence ; To the well-to-do, struggling for supremacy ; To the scattering spectators who surround the economic arena ; and To posterity which waits expectant on the outcome of the conflict Preface WITH impertinent regularity, economic and social questions present themselves for solution. At one time the central figure in the tangled mass of issues that loom before society is slavery ; at another time it is universal education. Each issue, as it appears across the path of progress, must be met and mastered before civilization can resume its course. When the twentieth century dawned the Western World was confronted with two portentous problems. One of these problems involves the relation between private and social property ; the other involves the cost of living. The cost of living issue is intimately related to the controversy over the rights of private and social prop- erty. The two problems are not inseparable, however. Indeed, in many of the phases they are sharply dis- tinguished. Neither question can be ignored. America is a land of justice ; yet blatant wrongs challenge the attention of the most superficial observer. America is a land of equality ; yet the present generation enters upon a life arena of inequalities such as the world has seldom seen. America is a land of plenty, but rising prices spread hardship and misery. The questions involved in the high cost of living are menacing in some of their aspects. The obstacles 8 PREFACE which they present are not insuperable, however. The outlook is hopeful ; there is ample room for optimism ; yet the time has come when both hope and optimism must culminate in decisive action. Contents INTRODUCTION ... . . 13 PART I A STATEMENT OF THE ISSUE I. THE COST OF LIVING AS A POLITICAL ISSUE . 23 II. THE COST OF LIVING AS A SOCIAL PROBLEM . 3 1 PART II THE CHANGING FORM OF " LIVING " III. THE CHANGING FORM OF AMERICAN LIFE . 41 IV. THE INCREASING DEMAND FOR SERVICES . . 52 V. THE INCREASING USE OF COMFORTS AND LUXURIES . . . , . . 67 VI. THE ASCENDING SCALE OF NECESSARIES OF LIFE 79 VII. GETTING AHEAD . . . .92 PART HI THE CHANGING PRICES OF COMMODITIES VIII. PRICE CHANGES IN THE NECESSARIES OF LIFE . 103 IX. THE CAUSES OF ADVANCING PRICES . . 116 X. THE FOOD SUPPLY AND THE INCREASING POPU- LATION . . . . . .124 XI. THE INCREASING GOLD SUPPLY . . .136 XII. INDUSTRIAL COMBINATION AND MONOPOLY AND THE COST OF LIVING . . . . 155 XIII. THE INCREASE IN THE COST OF RAW MATERIALS 165 10 CONTENTS XIV. THE INCREASE IN LAND VALUES . . .176 XV. THE INCREASE IN LABOR COSTS . . . 193 PART IV REMEDIAL MEASURES A PROGRAM XVI. FACING THE ISSUE . . . . .201 XVII. THE SIMPLE LIFE ..... 209 XVIII. BACK TO THE LAND . . . . .217 XIX. SOCIAL EDUCATION ..... 228 XX. INCREASING THE EFFICIENCY OF FOOD DIS- TRIBUTION ...... 240 XXI. CONSERVATION AS A MEANS OF REDUCING THE COST OF LIVING ..... 248 XXII. INCREASING THE EFFICIENCY OF LABOR . . 259 XXIII. INCREASING THE EFFICIENCY OF EXCHANGE . 267 XXIV. THE REDUCTION AND ELIMINATION OF MON- OPOLY PROFITS ..... 277 XXV. READJUSTED TAXATION .... 289 XXVI. THE OUTLOOK 295 Appendices APPENDIX A. STATISTICS OF THE PRODUCTION OF NECES- SARIES AND LUXURIES ..... 305 (a) Statistics of Certain Industries which Produce Goods Ordinarily Classed as Comforts and Luxuries, 1909. (3) Statistics of Certain Industries which Produce Goods Ordinarily Classed as Necessaries, 1909. APPENDIX B. CHANGES IN FOOD PRICES , . . 308 (a) Relative Retail Prices of Food, 1890-1913, as Reported by the United States Bureau of Labor. (6) Cost of Living in New Jersey, Comparison of Average Retail Prices, 1898-1913. APPENDIX C. MOVEMENT OF FOOD PRICES AND OF EARN- INGS IN NEW JERSEY, 1898-1912 . . 313 APPENDIX D. VARIATION IN THE COST OF LIVING FOR SIXTY-SIX NEW JERSEY TOWNS, 1912 . . 316 APPENDIX E. PER CENT OF TOTAL FOOD EXPENDITURES FOR VARIOUS KINDS OF FOOD, BY INCOME . . 319 APPENDIX F. ITEMIZED COST OF PRODUCTION FOR PAPER PULP AND NEWS-PRINT PAPER . . . .320 (a) Itemized Cost of Production per Ton of Sul- phite Pulp, by Years, 1901-1909. (b) Itemized Cost of Production per Ton of News- print Paper, by Years, 1900-1909. (f) Itemized Cost of Production of Ground Wood Pulp, by Years, 1900-1909. 12 APPENDICES APPENDIX G. INCREASE IN THE TOTAL POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES BY DECADES, 1790-1910 . 316 APPENDIX H. COMPARISON BETWEEN THE STOCK OF GOLD ; THE NOTES IN CIRCULATION, AND LOANS AND DISCOUNTS, 1889 TO 1910 . . .327 (a) Gold Stock. (&) Notes in Circulation. (f) Loans and Discounts. APPENDIX I. ANNUAL OUTPUT OF GOLD AND THE PRICE INDEX NUMBER, 18501912 . . . 328 APPENDIX}. FARM VALUES, 1900 TO 1910 . . 330 (a) Total Farm Values, 1900-1910. (6) Increase in Land Values, 1900-1910. APPENDIX K. INCREASE IN THE LAND VALUE (ASSESSED SEPARATELY FROM IMPROVEMENTS) IN CERTAIN CITIES ........ 332 (a) New York. (J) Three Eastern Cities. (c) Three Western Cities. APPENDIX L. AVERAGE WAGE RATES PER MONTH FOR OUTDOOR FARM LABOR, HIRED BY THE YEAR, WITHOUT BOARD, 1866 TO 1909 . . . 334 INDEX . 335 Introduction THE cost of living has been discussed in such a multitude of forms that any addition to the literature would be superfluous, were it not for the fact that few attempts have been made to treat the subject generally. Specific instances of increasing living costs, and ab- stract theories of causes have appeared in abundance, together with many suggestions for remedies. There seems to be lacking any unified statement covering these various fields. The question is not without importance, however. Indeed, there is no economic topic which, at the pres- ent moment, is absorbing a larger share of public attention. Prices have been rising almost steadily for eighteen years. On every hand there are indications that the rise will continue for an indeterminate length of time. Since the bulk of wages shows no such alac- rity, vast numbers of wage- earners are menaced by a dwindling subsistence. Action without thought is as bootless as thought without action. In some cases it may be even more disastrous. If the problem of the increasing cost of living is to be dealt with intelligently, it must first yield itself to a careful examination. The facts in the case must be analyzed and stated. Only after the matter has been looked at from all possible angles, should a course of action be decided upon. Additional weight is lent to the cost of living prob- 14 INTRODUCTION lem by the prominence which it has attained in recent political discussions. Peculiarly aggravating in char- acter, and intricate to the last degree, the topic has not been made a political issue by the free choice of political leaders. Instead, it has forced itself into political prominence by its sheer bulk and momentum. Thus far party declaration and attempted fulfilment have alike proved futile. The cost of living continues to rise. Before further regulative attempts are made and further blunders perpetrated, it seems wise to seek out the line along which a sane solution lies. What are the facts t What is their import! Should this book proceed but a little way toward the answer to some of the vexing questions involved in the cost of living discussions, it will have fulfilled its purpose. In the final analysis, no solution will be efficacious that does not carry with it the reasoning approval of the thoughtful men and women of the community. The investigation which formed the basis for this book was intended as a scientific study of one of the imperative economic questions of the day. There is in the work no attempt to substantiate preconceived theories or to uphold catch words of reform. The conclusions reached bear no stamp of finality. Neither the first word nor the last word on the subject is here set down. Eather the book contains, first of all, a summary of the important facts bearing on the cost of living ; second, an interrelation of these facts ; and third, a series of suggestions regarding the lines along which any sane solution of the issues at stake must proceed. For the convenience of those readers who wish to INTRODUCTION 15 get the general line of thought underlying the book before beginning their reading of it, the following brief summary is presented : A SUMMARY OF THE ARGUMENT At the last national election the increasing cost of living was a leading issue in each of the major party platforms. The Democratic platform was PART I Cha ter 1 particularly insistent upon the ability of the Democratic party to reduce living costs by lowering the tariff and curbing the trusts. As individual issues are sifted, it becomes more evi- dent that the public estimate of Democratic achieve- ment must depend upon the results of Democratic handling of this particular issue. Higher living costs will prove an almost insurmountable barrier to Demo- cratic success in 1916. Lower living costs, on the other hand, will go far toward another Democratic victory. The issue is now before the country, an issue of immense significance, "Have the Democrats sensed accurately and gauged wisely the forces which are responsible for the high cost of living!" "Living" is a term that conveys different ideas to different people, because each group of people has _. . its own standard of living. When the Chapter II standard has once been set, the people living in the group must keep to it or be unhappy. The standard may begin with corn-pone or a baby- grand piano ; in any case it must be maintained. The cost of living problem really involves two dis- tinct issues. One is the issue that confronts the well- to-do ; the other the issue that confronts the family of 16 INTEODUCTION low income. The well-to-do family asks anxiously whether it can afford this comfort or that one, always taking for granted that the bare necessaries of life will be forthcoming. The family under a thousand dollars a year is dealing with the necessaries of life. Such families have comforts, to be sure ; but their primary interest is in the necessaries. Families with large, and families with small in- comes are alike affected by the change in the ways of living. The inventions and discov- PART II Chapter III er * es wn i^ * e( l to the use of the steam engine, the power-driven machine, and the factory, took people from home industry to factory industry, from simple village life to the complex city life. The growth of town and city life led to an increased dependence upon services. The village dweller could serve himself. The city dweller, partly Chapter IV *.u 11 * from necessity, and among the well-to-do, partly from choice, turned expectantly to public and domestic servants, asking them to render assistance in making living easier. Side by side with the increased demand for services there has gone an increase in the number and variety of luxuries which the middle class enjoys. Among the well-to-do, luxuries of food, of clothing, of house furnishings, of means for amuse- ment and for pleasure abound. No less significant is the change in the popular estimate of the things which comprise the necessaries of life. A hundred years ago the necessaries were few and simple. At the INTRODUCTION 17 present time they have increased in both number and variety. Each decade witnesses the addition of new classes of necessaries to the long category which civili- zation has already prescribed. Although much of the well-to-do living is based on a desire for comforts and luxuries, another great seg- ment rests upon the desire of the well- to-do to "get ahead." Pride leadsmen to furnish a house, to dress, to spend, and to live in a manner which is in no sense dictated by personal desire. The well-to-do see the cost of living problem as a problem of getting the largest possible number of goods and services in return for the income which they spend. The cost of living is rising for them because the demand for things, services and enjoyments is greater. The family under a thousand dollars is interested in changing prices rather than in changing standards of life. For such a family the pressing Chapter VIII Question is one of securing an amount of income sufficient to buy the things which the family needs for the maintenance of physical effi- ciency. "When prices rise the low-income family may be forced to deprive itself of some essential item in the family budget. There is a wide-spread tendency to lay the burden for price increases upon some individual, or group n. . , v of individuals. The proceeding is essen- C banter IX tially unfair. There may be cases where an individual has been responsible for increasing prices. Such instances are, however, the exception and not the rule. The rise in prices is the result, for 18 INTEODUCTION the most part, of large economic forces which are Dot amenable to individual dictation. The most startling feature of the recent increase in the prices of food is the rising price of meat and Cha ter X dair y products. A study of the facts shows that the supply of meat and dairy animals is failing to keep pace with the demand. The gold supply of the world is increasing more rapidly now than at any time since 1850. In most r*. * vi commercial countries gold is the com- tnapter XI modity in terms of which all other com- modities are measured. Gold is the financial yard- stick. Unlike the thirty-six-inch rule, the gold dollar is decreasing in length ; that is, it will buy less beef or flour to-day than it would buy twenty years ago. Although it undoubtedly has some effect on prices, the total influence of the increasing gold supply has been grossly overestimated. Next to the increasing gold supply, the trusts are more generally blamed than any other single factor for the increase in living costs. An exami- nation of the facts shows that there has been no general increase in the prices of trust-made goods. Some of the trusts have secured huge profits, it is true, but these have been the results of improved methods of production and not of increased prices. Producers insist that prices have advanced because of the advance in the cost of the raw materials and the _. . V1 labor which enter into manufacture. The Chapter XIII prices of raw materials have changed un- equally. Eaw materials derived directly from the land have risen rapidly in price, while semi-manufactured INTKODUCTION 19 materials have increased less sharply or have decreased in price. Attention is called again to the increase in the cost of land-derived products. Food prices rose rapidly in the cases of meat and dairy products. The prices of those raw materials most directly secured from land likewise have risen fastest The facts show that during the past twenty years, the values of agricultural land, timber land, and city land alike reveal a marked upward tend- Chapter XIV ., ency. The facts relating to value in- creases during the past two decades may be searched in vain for any parallel to the rapid increase in the values of those particularly desirable parts of the earth's surface upon which mankind is most intimately dependent for his living. The meager figures relative to wage changes indicate that there has been a general tendency to increase ^ L . v , wages. Whether this increase has been Chapter XV offset by a corresponding increase in effi- ciency, the facts at hand do not show. On the face of the returns, labor engaged in agriculture, in transportation, in construction work, in mining and in manufacturing, is paid at a higher rate in 1914 than it was in 1890. The high cost of living appears as an issue of im- mense proportions. Its phases are various ; its causes manifold. No one can put his finger on PART IV Chapter XVI anv one cause and ^Ji " ^o here ! " or 11 Lo there, is the cause of the increasing cost of living." Nevertheless, the question must be solved ; otherwise Western civilization is a self-con- fessed failure. The remedy before the well-to-do is an individualistic one. Each man is his own want ad- 20 INTRODUCTION juster. The remedy open to the worker is a social one. He can secure more returns for his labor by buy- ing at lower prices, or by getting more service for his expenditure. While men cannot follow Rousseau's behest and get back to nature, they can simplify their wants, bring them within the reach of their incomes. Chapter XVII <.?*. and look for satisfaction in other ways than through the possession of things. The hope for the well-to-do lies in a new vision of life. The ideal of possession must give place to that of service. Society must get back to the land. The cost of liv- ing of the well-to-do can be effectively reduced by de- Ch r XVIII creas * n & tne num ber f services upon which they depend, and by bringing them into direct contact with the work of producing as many as possible of the things which they use. Education can play a large, though indirect, part in reducing living costs. People may be taught to buy intelligently, and to use to the best ad- vantage the things which they purchase. Then, too, producers and consumers may be educated to cooperate, and thus to reduce the costs of production and of marketing. Education will raise the standard of public intelligence, and strengthen the sinews of public demand. Another ready means of price reduction lies in greater efficiency of food distribution. Man has been separated from his pigs, chickens and kitchen garden. As a villager, he sup- plied many of his own wants. As a city dweller, he buys the food which he needs. That the food may INTRODUCTION 21 reach the consumer at the lowest possible figure, it is necessary that the steps from producer to consumer be reduced to a minimum and simplified to the utmost. Speedy increase of land values makes clear the im- portance of conservation as a means of regulating liv- ing costs. No more significant duty rests upon society than the conservation of its soil fertility, its timber and mineral resources, and its water rights. Such a policy is a long-term policy. No one administration can inaugurate it and carry it to completion. Nevertheless, it is a social investment of the utmost value. Most boys who go through the schools will engage in some occupation. The real question before the school is, "Shall these boys go out of the schools fitted to do their work well or badly t" Vocational training is the answer. Labor efficiency may likewise be increased by improving health, lengthening life, providing incentive, and im- proving mechanical appliances. All such devices, by adding to the productive power of the community, tend to lower prices. The chaotic arena of financial controversy offers rich opportunities for activities that must finally play a large part in stabilizing values. The gold supply is increasing so rapidly that it is no longer a stable medium of exchange. Nothing short of an agreement between the great commercial nations to control the output of gold mines, or to use fiat money, can stabilize gold values. Monopoly means a control over a commodity, which is sufficient to raise or to maintain its price above the 22 INTRODUCTION price level of free competition. The sources of mon- opoly power in the United States are laud ownership, franchises and similar public grants, patents, credit monopoly, and industrial monopoly. All forms of monopoly power must be taken from the hands of individuals, and lodged in society. Through this means drastic modifications un- doubtedly can be made in the cost of living. Perhaps the most practical step toward the reduction of monopoly power is the readjustment of taxation on Cha terXXV ^ S ^ )as ^ s assumption, " Each man has a right to all that he earns, and to noth- ing more." Taxation is the legitimate means by which the people can take over all values belonging to society. The national administration faces a grave responsi- bility. To its care has been committed the task of re- v , , ducing the cost of living. No more in- Chapter XXVI . . , . sistent issue presses for solution. A suc- cessful program for reform must include increased ef- ficiency, conservation, and monetary reorganization, besides the elimination of monopoly profits, through a readjustment of taxation. The well-to-do can settle the matter by simpler living ; but the lower-income families, which comprise the great mass of the popula- tion, are dependent for relief on a policy which will give to each man what he earns and no more, which will take for social uses the values created by society, and which will regard the state as an organization of citizens effected and maintained to minister to their needs and to the needs of their descendants. Reducing the Cost of Living THE COST OF LIVING AS A POLITICAL ISSUE 1. PLATFORM PLANKS ON THE HIGH COST OF LIVING SINCE 1895, there lias been an almost uninterrupted rise in the prices of foods and of other important com- modities. The Republican party a decade ago talked about the full dinner pail, yet the years of Eepublican ad- ministration passed without any successful adjustment of the wage scale to rising prices. The subject was dis- cussed around breakfast tables, bridge tables, and caf6 tables, alike. It was an issue which occupied a prom- inent place in the thinking of every one who was buy- ing things. Women knew more about it than men, be- cause they do most of the spending in the ordinary home. Men had learned of it, however, since they supply most of the money which is spent. By 1911, the increasing cost of living was so manifest an issue that no party could afford to ignore it. Although the parties differ in their analysis of the cost of living problem, they agree in their recognition of its imperative demand for solution. The high cost of living is a serious problem in every American 24 BEDUCING THE COST OF LIVING home," declares the Democratic party. The Repub- lican party states that, u The steadily increasing cost of living has become a matter not only of national, but of world-wide concern. . . . When the exact facts are known, we will take the necessary steps to remove any abuses that may be found to exist, in order that the cost of food, clothing, and shelter of the people may be in no way unduly or artificially increased." The Progressive party platform holds that " the high cost of living is due partly to world-wide, and partly to local, causes ; partly to natural, and partly to arti- ficial causes." In each case, the issue is analyzed at some length. The matter of solution is variously handled in the three platforms. The Democratic platform ascribes the high cost of living to the high tariff and the exist- ence of trusts. The Eepublican platform specifically denies this. "The fact that it is not due to the pro- tective tariff system is evidenced by the existence of similar conditions in countries which have a tariff policy different from our own, as well as by the fact that the cost of living has increased, while rates of duty have remained stationary or have been reduced. " The Progressive party initiates a more specific solution. "The measures proposed in this platform on various subjects, such as the tariff, the trusts, and conserva- tion will of themselves remove the artificial causes. There will remain other elements, such as the tendency to leave the country for the city, waste, extravagance, bad systems of taxation, poor methods of raising crops and bad business methods of marketing crops. To remedy these conditions requires the fullest informa- COST OF LIVING AS A POLITICAL ISSUE 25 tioii, aud based on this information the effective gov- ernment supervision and control to remove all the ar- tificial causes." Specific remedial measures are not abundant in any of the platforms. The Democrats pro- pose to reduce the tariff and break up criminal con- spiracies. The Republican party commits itself to "support and promote scientific inquiry into the causes which are operative, both in the United States and elsewhere, in increasing the cost of living. " The Pro- gressive party pledges itself to "such full and immedi- ate inquiry and to immediate action to deal with every need such inquiry disclosed." Among the three parties, there is unusual agreement as to the statement of the problem, aud no inconsiderable uniformity in the vagueness and unsatisfactory indefiniteness of the remedies which they propose. 2. THE STAND OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY The Democratic party did not declare itself in favor of any unusual policies with regard to the cost of living, but it went into office with the best wishes of a large section of the American people, who believed that through its activities the cost of living might be reduced. The rapid price increases of the years im- mediately preceding the election of 1912 had brought the cost of living issue to a very acute stage. What- ever its causes, the Eepublican party had "stood pat," making no active effort to remedy them. The Demo- crats, alleging this inaction as a cause of increasing prices, declared that they could bring about material price reductions. "The Republican party," declares the Democratic 26 REDUCING THE COST OF LIVING platform, "attempts to escape from responsibility for present conditions by denying that they are due to a protective tariff. We take issue with them 011 this subject, and charge that excessive prices result in a large measure from the high tariff laws enacted and maintained by the Eepublican party, and from trusts and commercial conspiracies fostered and encouraged by such laws, and we assert that no substantial relief can be secured for the people until import duties on the necessaries of life are materially reduced and these criminal conspiracies broken up." The increase of liv- ing costs under successive Eepublicau administrations, and the failure of the Republican party to take any drastic steps to reduce the tariff or break up the trusts, lent additional color to these declarations of the Demo- cratic platform. The country, impatient under the goad of rising prices, saw in the Democratic program a possible loophole of escape from the high cost of living. No one can fairly maintain that the present Demo- cratic administration will stand or fall as it solves or fails to solve the high cost of living problem, yet it may be asserted with much show of reason that the popular judgment of the success or failure of the pres- ent administration will rest in large measure on that issue. The President may be never so able as an administrator ; his diplomatic adventures may be never so successful ; he may direct his party with unfailing energy and courage ; he may carry out the party platform to the letter ; nevertheless, if at the end of his administration prices are as high, or higher than they were when he took office, the country will react vigorously against the Democratic party. COST OF LIVING AS A POLITICAL ISSUE 27 Should the Democrats fail to reduce the high prices, they will throw themselves open to the charge of failure in a matter which comes directly to the attention of almost every voter. Most issues of political impor- tance are far removed from the housewife and from the man of the street. The tariff, diplomacy, trust regula- tion, and national conservation are splendid in the abstract, but they have no concrete meaning in the ordinary home. High prices are known and under- stood wherever income is received and commodities are purchased. The Democratic party may feel, and justly so, that it will achieve successes in fields other than those involving the high cost of living. For the great majority of mankind, however, the price of com- modities in 1915 and 1916 will serve as the most con- crete measure of the success or failure of Wilsouian democracy. A considerable reduction in prices during those years will send the Democratic party back into power on the high tide of popular favor. An increase in prices will fasten upon the country at large a belief that the Democrats have failed in their main purpose. 3. WILL THE DEMOCRATS EEDUCE THE COST OF LIVING 1 ? Pursuant to the policy stated in its platform, the Democratic party, immediately after taking office, undertook three lines of activity, all of them aimed more or less directly at the high cost of living. In the first place, a special session of Congress passed a tariff bill that materially reduced import duties. The business world stood appalled at the revolution which the tariff was to effect in its status. Industry, 28 KEDUCING THE COST OF LIVING particularly the textile industry, was foredoomed to annihilation according to many forecasts. The time has not yet come for scientific analysis, but the official enactment of the tariff bill prescribing a level of duties considerably below that of any recent Republican tariff, has resulted, apparently, in no business failure or calamity. What ultimate effect the passing of the tariff bill may have on prices remains to be seen. For the present, prices show no material change that may be ascribed to tariff reductions. The second important measure which the Democratic party passed through Congress was the currency law, reorganizing the banking system. For a long time charges had been made respecting the existence of a Wall Street money trust. Interlocking directorates, chains of banks and trust companies, and the concen- tration of great masses of capital in a few hands resulted in the virtual control of the nation's credit by a small group of men. The dangers of such control were manifest ; its effect upon competition was apparent. Some form of decentralized banking was therefore necessary, and the Democratic scheme for regional banks replaced the banking system which had grown up since the Civil War. The effects of the financial reorganization brought about by the currency law remain to be seen. That the change has materially modified external conditions in the banking world is obvious. That it has seriously impaired the concentrated power of certain financial interests is not so certain. What its effect on prices may finally be, the future alone can disclose. The third proposition advocated by the Democrats COST OF LIVING AS A POLITICAL ISSUE 29 was concerned with the regulation of industrial com- binations. Blame for most of the ills incident to modern life had been for a decade heaped on the trusts. The Republican party had made attempts, more or less successful, to regulate trusts. The Democratic party placed its trust program before the country in the form of a number of significant, regulative measures. All of these measures were based on the general economic theory that competition must be restored, and that any attempt at an ultimate solution of economic problems must be based upon this resto- ration of competition. Again, the future must be relied upon for an answer as to the efficacy of the Democratic trust program. 4. THE ISSUE BEFORE THE CITIZEN The thoughtful citizen who has watched the rapid climb of prices during the past two decades, and who has an interest in the outcome of the present political movements, naturally asks himself the question, u Will these three star plays of the Democratic admin- istration lead to the desired reductions in the cost of living, without which the Democratic party can scarcely hope to win another national election!" Nearly every voter is looking anxiously for an answer to that question. The popular judgment of the success or failure of the Democratic administration in the success or failure of its efforts to control the high cost of living will be passed wholly irrespective of the merits of the case. Popular opinion is hazy on the whole cost of living question. Much expert opinion is no less nebulous. 30 EEDUCING THE COST OF LIVING The atmosphere of confidence, which has thus far surrounded the administration at Washington, arises out of the belief that considerable reductions in the cost of living will follow the passage of the measures which the President has so ably fathered. Whether they will have the desired effect depends upon neither public opinion nor Democratic pronouncements, but rather upon the underlying causes which are operating to raise living costs. n THE COST OF LIVING AS A SOCIAL PROBLEM 1. A SOCIAL ISSUE BECOME POLITICAL THE cost of living problem has forced its way into politics. It is too full of unexplored recesses, and fraught with too many unmeasured possibilities to make a welcome political issue. Many political issues are woven from the fertile imaginations of astute vote- getters. No such jingo practices were necessary to bring the cost of living into the foreground. The people knew that the increasing cost of living was a problem before the politician awoke to its existence. Popular knowledge led quickly to popular demand. By the time the matter had reached the cartoonists it had assumed real significance. Then politics acted. The cost of living issue is typical of those issues which are injected into politics. At least one party has been persistently telling the voters that their dinner- pails were habitually full. The advocates of this party platform even went so far as to describe party allegiance as an automatic dinner-pail filler. Pros- perity was assured, this party maintained, so long as it remained in power. In opposition to these asser- tions, the phantom of advancing prices stalked through women's minds, into the columns of daily news, and into the funny sheet. " Cost of Necessaries Jumps 32 EEDUCING THE COST OF LIVING Again," the bead-liner announced, and the cartoonist built a table with extension legs, and loaded it down with a tempting dinner, which the legs waved far above the reach of the hungry family seated about. The issue was made on the bread and butter appeal. The increasing cost of living has been converted into a live issue, not because political economists and politicians know anything about it. Indeed, there are few problems on which their knowledge is less accurate. The issue has arisen because the women and men of the country, who pay the grocer and the dry- goods merchant, have found it increasingly difficult to make ends meet 2. THE CHALLENGE OF THE HOME The cost of living problem is a problem which con- fronts those who spend income ; therefore it arises in the home. The home made its appeal to the powers that dominate politics, asking, u How shall we buy the necessaries of life ? ' ' The politicians might, under certain circumstances, answer the question by insisting that with the rise in prices there has gone a corresponding increase in in- come. The peculiar circumstances which would jus- tify such a statement are frequently not present, how- ever ; hence the statement cannot be made. The chal- lenge of the home remains unshaken, and becomes automatically an ugly, dangerous issue in the field of politics. The man who raises the issue must be bold as well as learned. The homes hang upon his word. If he says, " Let me take this issue with me into the White COST OF LIVING AS A SOCIAL PEOBLEM 33 House, and I will solve it for you," the homes, if they trust him, axe prone to accept his proposition. Woe to him if he fails, however ! The homekeepers have their eyes fixed intently upon him. By this one ques- tion he will be justified or condemned. The cost of living is a peculiarly dangerous issue to handle, because the homekeepers cannot be fooled in regard to it. It is possible to assure an ordinary citi- zen that the money-trust, or some other trust, is dis- solved ; that the natural resources of the nation are be- ing conserved ; that the foreign policy is sound. The man on the street must accept the word of some one on such matters, because he has no means of directly confirming his own judgment. The produce market and the grocer's store offer a daily opportunity for the homekeeper to confirm her judgments regarding the cost of living. The problem of the increasing cost of living origi- nates in the home. There it has its most obvious ef- fects, in the relation between income and expendi- ture. From the home it has been forced out into politics. At bottom, however, it is a social problem. 3. WHAT is LIVING ? What does living mean ? A part of the answer is contained in the phrase, " The American standard of living," as contrasted with that of some other locality China or Hindustan, for example. A little reflection will reveal the immense range of meanings which may be attached to " living." Each town or city, and each social group within a town or city, has its own ideas on the subject. Living stand- 34 EEDUCING THE COST OF LIVING ards also vary from one part of the world to an- other. Unless living be taken to mean u the state o.f being alive," as contrasted with death, there can be no definite meaning attached to the word. A social group at a given time has its own definition of living. For the savage living means an opportunity to get food, to escape from enemies, to protect himself against the inclement weather. The typical American, unused to such living, would describe it as unendurable hard- ship. The American Indian with a well-organized system of government and a written language, a knowledge of agriculture and of many of the simpler arts, lived crudely in comparison with American pres- ent-day standards. The Jew in the ghettos of Eussia lives under conditions of congestion and insauitation which seem unendurable when contrasted with Ameri- can standards. When the Jew or the Sicilian settles in the ghettos of New York, and for the first time in his life enjoys the privilege of glass windows and wooden floors, he feels that he has taken a long step toward the joys of paradise. Illustration might be multiplied of variations in living standards : suffice it to say that the members of each group are expected to conform. When men speak of the cost of living they therefore mean the cost of that kind of living which has the sanction of the community. Such an estimate is relative, not absolute. The American workingman could live on black bread, rice, and soup. He could herd his family in a single room ; he could buy one good suit every ten years ; he could suffer from typhoid and smallpox ; he could be subject to all of the malad- justments which afflict men in more primitive com- COST OF LIVING AS A SOCIAL PROBLEM 35 munities. The American workiugmau could suffer these things and still live, yet from the American view-point he would enjoy, not a living, but a bare ex- istence. The native American has accustomed himself to a certain standard of living. The Jew or the Sicilian, settling iu the ghetto of New York, soon discovers this. If he fails to make the discovery, his children make it for him, and they insist on adopting the more elab- orate American standard. There are a number of things which the ordinary American man or woman has which may be unneces- sary in the strictest sense of the word. Eibbons, finely finished shoes, well-cut clothes, sanitary conve- niences, newspapers and street lights are comparatively modern products. Ages of men lived without them. Yet when the bathtub and the tooth-brush have once been introduced into society, on what grounds can they legitimately be excluded ? The standard of liv- ing is fixed by the advancement of civilization. "The cost of living " is the cost of that standard. 4. THE INCREASED COST OF KEEPING THE PACE American life involves a universal competition for equality or for excellence. From the lowest to the highest income rank men and women strive to excel in the number or splendor of things that they have. However desirable or undesirable this competitive regime, it exists none the less surely. Therefore in the discussion of the cost of living it must be reckoned with. The active competition for excellence, coupled with 36 REDUCING THE COST OF LIVING the advance of science, has resulted in a startlingly rapid increase in wants. Who wanted a bathtub fifty years ago ? How many men wanted an automobile in 1890 f Who wanted prepared breakfast foods in the last generation? Who wanted telephones, phono- graphs, or moving picture shows when our fathers were young ? All of these things are new, and the want for them could not arise before people knew that such things existed. Furthermore, these are only a few illustrations from among the countless numbers of new things which pack the counters of department stores and fill the catalogues of mail-order houses. Education, advertising, freedom to pass from one social group to another, the general feeling of equality in a democratic society, and the desire to have as many things as your neighbor, all tend to push up the stand- ards of every group in the population. The increase of wants and the development of civili- zation go hand in band. Unless they are accompanied by increasing income, an increase of wants leads away from happiness toward dissatisfaction. It is useless to want a grand piano on ten dollars a week. Such an increase in wants is, however, a spur to ambition, and consequently an effective means of encouraging ac- tivity. Most men will not expend energy until they are stimulated by wants which press for satisfaction. Human wants are the driving forces behind civilization. 5. "LIVING" MEANS MORE THAN " PRICES" A little thought will convince any one that the term " increasing cost of living " really means more than an increase in prices. In fact, for a certain group of the COST OF LIVING AS A SOCIAL PEOBLEM 37 population, the chief element in the increasing cost of living is the increase in the number of things that a man must have in order to " live." To be sure, the in- crease in prices plays a part. For the family living on $600 a year it plays a very material part. For families having more than $3,000 the increase in prices is im- material. The real stumbling-block to their happi- ness is an increase in the number of things that people must have in order to " belong." All living has a definite purpose, the obtaining of a certain amount of things. The things included in a living are those which satisfy human wants, such, for example, as the wants for shelter and clothing, the wants for food, amusement, and the like. The wants of different people vary. The wants of one section of the country are not the same as the wants of another section. Generally speaking, however, there are cer- tain things, like clothing, simple foods, shoes, hats, and houses, which all people want and use. The total cost of living for any family or any individual varies with the standard which that family or individual must maintain. The increase in the number of things which men in- clude in their ideal of living and the increase in the price of these things, are knotted together into a cost of living problem. Generations of strenuous life and of avid social competition have tied these knots se- curely, until a time has been reached when it is an ex- tremely difficult matter to undo them. It is, of course, possible to follow Alexander's example and untie the knot by cutting it. For the man who wishes to live in American twentieth century society, however, some 38 EEDUCING THE COST OF LIVING other solution must be discovered. The well-to-do people in any American community are interested for the most part in a determination of the amount of things which they shall buy ; they never want for the necessaries of life. There is no time in the well-to-do household when the possibility of missing a breakfast will be considered. Breakfast will be served, of course, as will lunch and dinner. The question as to what will constitute breakfast, lunch, and dinner is, however, a very real one. The question, too, as to where and how the family shall spend its vacations, what form its recreation shall take, and to what extent it is justified in spending income for luxuries, occu- pies an important place in all discussions. Well-to-do families accept the necessaries food, clothing, and shelter as a matter of course. They are at odds over luxuries. Since they cannot have all that they want, they must take this thing or that. The family may have an automobile or a new house ; it cannot have both. Out of this necessity for choice arises much middle-class misery. Those people in the community who are not well-to- do (in America this group probably constitutes at least four-fifths of the industrial population) are concerned chiefly with the question, "Can we afford to buy the necessaries of life ? Can we have a sanitary house ; can we have nourishing food ; can we have clothing which carries with it the ear-mark of respectability ? " For such families, the issues involved in the increase of the cost of living bear mainly on family necessities. Some idea of the situation may be gained from the fact that the ordinary workingman's family of five COST OF LIVING AS A SOCIAL PROBLEM 39 spends two-fifths of its income for food, one-fifth for rent, and one-sixth for clothing. This expenditure leaves a little more than one-fifth of the income to cover fuel and light, health, insurance, recreation, sav- ings, and all of the other miscellaneous items of ex- penditure. For a family living on $750, the amount available for all of these purposes would rarely exceed $160 or $175 a year. The family with more than $1,200 a year is not de- prived of the necessaries of living when prices in- crease. A man with less than $1,200 may be. Both families are engaged in an attempt to increase the num- ber of things which they may have and the number of enjoyments that they may secure. For both, there- fore, the increasing cost of living is a significant prob- lem. For the man under $1,200 it is deeply signif- icant. If he receives less than $750 it is sinister. Whether the increasing cost of living is looked upon vis an issue confronting the well-to-do, or as an issue confronting families with small incomes, it is an in- tense and vital one. Its presence in a community is the result not of individual caprice, or of individual decision. Eather it is the product of social forces which have been operating unnoticed for generations. 6. SOCIAL REORGANIZATION HAS FORCED THE ISSUE The cost of living problem has become a problem in the process of a social reorganization which the eight- eenth century began, and which the nineteenth century carried far toward its logical conclusion. No individ- ual, or number of individuals, could have made an 40 BEDUCING THE COST OF LIVING issue of such stupendous proportions. It required the readjustment of family life ; the reorganization of the city ; the movement from the village to the large center of population ; the growth of specialized industry, and the increasing dependence of the population on factory products, to throw the cost of living issue so prom- inently into the foreground. Families in every walk of life have passed from independence to dependence. Men earn what they can, and spend what they must, meanwhile striving to make both ends meet and to live according to the standard set by their friends and neighbors. The self-sufficient Kentucky mountaineer is independent of prices and living costs. The dweller in a great city is tied hand and foot to the cost of living. The evidences from every side indicate that the social problems arising out of the change from village life to city life are pressing for solution. Advancing standards on the one hand and advancing prices on the other harass the man whose welfare depends upon the amount of "living" that his income will purchase. Working class and well-to-do families alike are learn- ing to understand the effect of rising standards and of rising prices upon their welfare. Ill THE CHANGING FOBM OF AMEBICAN LIFE 1. THE COST OF HIGH LIVING MAKES THE COST OF LIVING HIGH THE first element in the high cost of living is the high standards which the American people have set for themselves. Not content with the simple definition of living laid down by their Puritan ancestors, they have felt called upon to readjust their standards with the enlarging boundaries of civilization. The constant redefinition of "living" in terms of higher and higher standards places before society a constantly advancing ideal of life. While the goal of living is a will-o'-the-wisp, no one can be expected to find any great satisfaction in a past, or even in a present, standard of living upon which the community has agreed. The end to be attained beckons from over yonder, and thither we make haste to go with all of the speed that desire and ambition can muster. That will-o'-the-wisp, the cost of high living, has an excellent reason for existence in spite of the numerous anathema that are directed against him. He was engendered in the spirit of social progress, and his early surroundings were those of a rapidly changing social order. Hence, when he seems over-insistent upon change, men should never forget that he is, by hereditary right, the child of change. 42 REDUCING THE COST OF LIVING 2. NEW WAYS OF GETTING A LIVING It is a part of man's nature, as it is of his training, to seek out new methods of achieving results. Not the least among the changes which his indomitable inquisitiveness has wrought are the changes in the way of making a living. The hand rake and shovel give place to power machinery. Every device which will add to the good things of life is eagerly seized upon. Mankind wishes to live well. Having learned that a long life and a comfortable one may be assured through the adoption of this device or of that one, some exponent of progress comes forward, advocating, insisting, until the change is wrought. A new way of getting a living proves attractive to humanity, partic- ularly when that new way is an improved way. The savage who first used fire to cook his food was un- questionably ridiculed, threatened, censured and per- haps even executed. His neighbors, tasting of the mess which he had made, soon adopted his scheme, however, because cooked food was much more palatable than food that was uncooked. The same thing is true of the use of the oven. Men, accustomed to the products of the open fires, laughed until they ate. The savor of the oven-cooked food reassured them, and made amends for many a hoary tradition now reduced to the rank of a " barbarism descended from the past." 3. THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION AND AFTER The latest, and one of the most complete changes ever made in the method of getting a living, is that in- volved in the substitution of machine labor for the labor of the hand. CHANGING FOEM OF AMEBICAN LIFE 43 Until about 1750 men made things with their hands. The tools which they used were simple hand tools. One individual took a piece of leather and turned it out of his shop a finished shoe ; or he converted cloth into a suit. This hand-craft system of industry required the outlay of a great deal of human energy. If there was lugging and carrying, some man did the work. If the shuttle was to be thrown, a human hand threw it. Industrial power was human power, the power of the arms, legs, and backs of men. The industrial revolution involved an overthrow of the hand-craft industries. A number of inventions coming within a period of fifty years resulted in the perfection of the steam engine, of the manufacture of iron and steel, and of textile machinery. These inven- tions were the backbone of the factory system of pro- duction. Under the impetus which the factory system gave to civilization, men left their village homes and moved into great city hives of industry. In England large groups of the population abandoned agricultural towns in the Southeast, and moved into the Northwest, where coal and iron lay side by side awaiting the touch of human genius to convert them into implements, by means of which the work of the world could be facili- tated. These newly discovered sources of mechanical energy greatly augmented man's power to produce wealth. Where the human hand could make one nail, the machine could make a hundred. Where the human back could lift a bushel of corn, the machine lifted a thousand. In every direction man's authority over the forces of nature was increased and multiplied. 44 There is this difference between the tool and the machine. The tool is simple, easily manufactured, readily manipulated, and so cheap as to be owned by those who use it. The machine is complex, intricate, bulky and costly. It cannot be operated or owned by any individual. The replacement of the tool by the machine transformed the tool-using, skilled mechanic into a semi-skilled machine tender, whose duty con- sists in seeing that the machine, which his employer owns, does its work well. No one would for a moment suggest that individual workmanship has disappeared from industry. Neither can any one who is familiar with industrial conditions fail to realize that the large proportion of factory operatives are merely subordi- nates, working side by side with their pace-setting superiors, the machines. Hand-craft industry could be carried on by one man in his home or in his shop. Factory industry is carried on by large groups of men working together in great establishments. A great establishment is im- possible without a wide market for the goods pro- duced. Once this market is secured, however, the great establishment becomes inevitable. 4. THE CONCENTRATION OF PEOPLE CITY LIFE With the exception of commercial cities, the old- time town depended very largely for its prosperity upon the surrounding agricultural districts. Farmers raised their products, brought them to town and ex- changed them for the groceries, or other store goods, that they needed. In this way the large town and the small city grew up on a basis of rural prosperity. CHANGING FOEM OF AMEKICAN LIFE 45 The city life of the twentieth century is essentially industrial. It is built, not upon the prosperity of neighboring rural communities, but upon its own in- dustrial success. The change from dependence upon an outlying rural district to internal industrial activity has transformed the city. Twentieth century city life is centered about factory industry. As factories grow in size and number, industrial cities grow. Whatever the limit of industrial development may be, it has not yet been determined. Until it is determined, cities will con- tinue to grow in size, with the growth of the industries upon which they depend. The concentration of city population will be constantly accelerated by the con- centration of industrial enterprises. 5. THE MOVEMENT TO CITIES Men realize with difficulty the extent to which American life has been transformed in a little more than a century. In 1790 there were in the United States six cities with over eight thousand inhabitants. In these cities lived about one hundred and thirty thousand souls, or about three per cent, of the total population. In 1910, of the 92,000,000 people in the United States, nearly one in ten lived in the three cities of New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia ; one in three lived in some large urban district ; and one in two (fifty-five per cent.) lived in incorporated vil- lages, towns, and cities. The United States is becom- ing a country of city dwellers. Since there is as yet no clear limit to the increase in industrial concentration, there is no apparent limit to 46 EEDUCING THE COST OF LIVING the increase in city population. Some portion of the population must remain on the laud to provide the food supply. As mechanical machinery is improved this proportion may grow constantly less, while the great stream of immigration carries men almost ex- clusively into the industrial city life. The cost of living problem is in certain respects a city problem. It is because men must live in cities that they have left their kitchen gardens and their simple rural ways. It is in large measure because men live in cities that their food, for which the ordi- nary man spends two-fifths of his income, must be pro- duced in rural districts, and shipped to urban centers. The life problem of the cities arises out of the fact that people are living together. The more coherent their social activity, the more satisfactory will their living be. 6. THE FAMILY AS THE SOCIAL UNIT Family life lies at the basis of the cost of living problem, because the family is the consuming unit in modern society. Presided over by a woman who pur- chases the food, the family is the ultimate destination for which most consumable things are produced. There are to this general statement a number of no- table exceptions. The spread of hotel life decreases the importance of the family as a consuming unit. The tendency of individuals to keep " bachelor apart- ments" decreases the potency of family control. All in all, however, the family is still the consuming unit in society. Of prime interest, therefore, is the ques- tion, "What type of family confronts the cost of living in the twentieth century I " CHANGING FORM OF AMERICAN LIFE 47 The rural life, so prevalent in the early nineteenth century, is fast disappearing in the twentieth. Self- sufficiency and economic independence are giving way before cooperation. The twentieth century is the century of the city, of big business, of wage-earners, of machinery, of factories, and of economic interde- pendence. Rural life remains, of course. There are more in- dividuals engaged in the agricultural business than in any single form of business. Rural free deliveries, telephones, automobiles, interurban trolleys, express trains, daily, weekly and monthly papers, phono- graphs, and improvements in educational devices, have socialized farm life by giving it a solidarity of its own, at the same time linking it to the world. The farmer as a seller and buyer is no longer dependent upon his own products for a living. He, too, is fac- tory-fed, clothed and entertained. Thus has the factory system of production revolutionized even rural life. The interest of the present study centers, however, primarily around the city family, because it is in the city that the new civilization will stand or fall. The city family is the family of the future. It is the family which the twentieth century must unify and re-create to meet the new type of needs which the last hundred years have evolved. The changes in family life which have been wrought during a century are revolutionary in the last degree. The characteristics of the nineteenth century family were, economic solidarity, division of occupations, economic independence, and independence of prices. 48 EEDUCING THE COST OF LIVING Each one of these characteristics was an economic asset of considerable importance in freeing the family from the burdens now imposed by rising prices. The economic solidarity of the family was based upon division of labor and resulted in economic inde- pendence. Each member of this family was necessary to the economic well-being of the family group. Hence the entire family was bound together by eco- nomic ties of the strongest character. The father had his work in connection with the shop, the farm, or the store. As manufacturer, husbandman, wood- cutter, or tradesman, he had an occupation, which, while yielding him an income, permitted him at the same time to carry on his work in close connection with the family life. The mother likewise had her definite service in connection with domestic economy. She was responsible for making clothes, for cooking, preserving, washing, and caring for the house. Some- times, in addition to these regular duties, she assisted the father by spinning or carding, tending the do- mestic animals, or caring for the kitchen garden. At all events, she, too, had a group of occupations very different in character from those of her husband, and absolutely essential to the continuance of the home. These home occupations were something more than occupations, however, since they gave the parents an unrivaled opportunity to educate their children by the practical doing of things. Etiral life abounds in chores. There are scores of tasks every day in which boys can assist their father, and girls their mother. The division of occupations in the home thus gave an opportunity for the employment of children under CHANGING FOEM OF AMEEICAN LIFE 49 home supervision, which furnished an excellent train- ing-ground, at the same time giving the child a definite place in the economic life of home. This economic solidarity, based on division of labor, gave the family a most complete independence from outside sources. Making their own products and con- suming the things which they made, they were able to dispense with money income, and with the necessity for purchasing commodities. Eeceiving and spending little money, largely independent of outside sources of supply, the prices of goods made little real difference to family welfare. With this self-sufficient family of the early nine- teenth century contrast the industrial family of the twentieth century. This family is, in the first place, dependent largely on money income for its support. Living in towns and cities, cut off, therefore, from most sources of secondary income, engaged in occupa- tions outside of the home which do not yield any direct return in the form of economic goods, the twentieth century family, instead of being a producer of its own consumption goods, has become a consumer of con- sumption goods produced by others. The nineteenth century family was a potential seller, because it was a producer of goods which it might consume. The twentieth century family, on the contrary, is a potential buyer, because it is dependent absolutely on the purchase of goods produced by some one else. The change from potential seller to potential buyer means not only economic dependence, but it necessarily means high prices. The potential buyer must pay for the product which he obtains, the cost of production, plus 50 REDUCING THE COST OF LIVING at least a reasonable profit, and under prevailing economic conditions, a handsome monopoly as well. Take knitting as an example. Any middle-aged person will remember distinctly the click of knitting- needles in some one's else living-room. Perhaps the mother, and certainly the grandmother, occupied her spare moments in knitting mittens, socks and caps. To-day, however, knitting-needles are almost never seen. Neither the grammar nor the high school graduate is taught to use tools which two generations ago were considered an indispensable part of the equip- ment of every home. On the other hand, the hosiery and knit-goods factory industry has grown with as- tonishing rapidity, until in 1909, in the state of Pennsylvania alone 40,248 persons, assisted by ma- chinery aggregating 22,000 horse-power, are engaged in the manufacture of fifty million dollars' worth of knit goods annually. Knitting, together with a hundred other eighteenth -century crafts, has become a factory industry. This transference of occupations from the home to the factory converts the home into a buying rather than a producing unit. When grandmother knit the socks the family had them at cost. When the machine knits them, the rent, interest, wages and profits of the factory must be added to the cost of the materials before the final price is made. Grandmother knit in spare minutes, or at a time of life when she was unfitted for more strenuous labor, for her knitting was a secondary occupation or a pastime. The factory employees, old and young, knit for a living. Knitting is their trade, and they must be paid accordingly. CHANGING FORM OF AMERICAN LIFE 51 7. THE FAMILY AS A BUYER This new family status, the family as a buyer rather than as a seller, is aii inevitable accompani- ment of twentieth century civilization. Society has set its stamp of approval on modern industrialism. Industrialism means life in towns and cities. The sole avenue of wholesome city life is a radical readjustment of family relations which will permit the family to occupy its new economic position to the advantage of all concerned. The nineteenth century family was a producing, selling, largely self-sufficient family. The twentieth century family is a consuming, income-earning, buy- ing family, dependent for its continuance upon the economic activities of hundreds of thousands of other families. Selling was incidental to the life of the nineteenth century family. Even if markets were closed tight, it could survive. The twentieth century family must always earn, because it is under the con- stant necessity of buying. The prime requirement for the survival of the old family was production ; the prime necessity of the new one is purchasing power. To meet this new need, there must be developed a high type of city family with income sufficiently augmented to purchase the livelihood which the old family created for itself. IV THE INCREASING DEMAND FOE SEEVICES 1. "IF You WOULD HAVE A THING WELL DONE " THE first issue which the student of the cost of living must face has to do with the rising standard of life that has paralleled the transformation of society from an agricultural, village life, to an industrial city life. The increasing scale of comforts and luxuries, the ad- vancing ideas regarding the "necessaries of life," and the intense struggle to "get ahead," are all involved in the question of rising standards. ' ' The transforma- tion of society" is an abstract term, but its practical connotations are legion. Among the changes which the past century has wrought, none is more poignant than the increasing demand for services. "If you would have a thing well done, do it yourself," wrote the sage. Out of the wilderness of primitive ideas and of an undeveloped civilization, he admonished mankind to insure satisfac- tion by relying upon personal resources. During the years that have intervened since the sage expressed his estimate of personally wrought service, civilization has advanced by leaps and bounds. As civilizations grow up, man learns to seek for satisfac- tion from two objective forces, goods and services. INCREASING DEMAND FOE SERVICES 53 In the case of both goods and services, man may rely on his own energy or he may look to others for the supply. Civilization means an increase in the proportion of goods and services which come from other people. As society advances in its development, increasing the while in numbers, men's relations with each other become more and more complex. From this time forth and forever, men will work and live together in social groups. Therefore they will be dependent on one another for the things which they need and for the services which they require. There is no real sense in which a twentieth century man may serve himself. Cooperation lies at the basis of modern social life. Cooperation mutual service reduces the cost of living by enabling each person to secure a more abun- dant return for a given outlay of energy. Each man learns his own task thoroughly. Each depends, for the things he needs, on a group of individuals, each one of whom has mastered a particular job. There is, however, a time in which a dependence on services involves an increase in the cost of living. It is for this reason that the matter is taken under consideration. 2. LET PETER Do IT A man may ply his trade, and by exchanging the products of his energy for the products of another, he may increase the bounds of his life enjoyments. He may, on the other hand, lay down the hire of la- borers, and stand idly by while some other does the work from which he expects to reap the reward. This 54 REDUCING THE COST OF LIVING matter of letting Peter do it is one great cause of the increased cost of living among the well-to-do. First there are the things which no person can do and remain a lady or a gentleman. Among the rude settlers of America, during the eighteenth century, these things included all acts which soil the conscience or destroy the good name. In present-day well-to-do society, they include those tasks which will soil the hands or destroy the crease in one's trousers. Many forces are at work to counteract this spirit of social snobbery. Country life, vacations, athletics and college all play their part in democratizing men and women to a point where they are willing to do any- thing, at college. Nevertheless, when they get back into the straight-jacket of formal life at home, they distinguish sharply between " servant's work " and work that a lady or a gentleman can do. There is many a small town and many a fine suburb where these lines are sharply drawn and woe to any one bold enough to transgress them and " spoil the servants." The same thought finds expression in another form. Whenever a discussion turns on an issue of social re- organization, someone inevitably remarks, "That's all right, but then there is always work that some one must do," or " Who would do the dirty work ? " Cer- tainly the well-to-do have no intention of doing it, and their children, graduating from high school or col- lege, are looking forward to the pleasant, clean, gen- tlemanly positions. If there must be scavengers, they certainly will not come from one of these families. What well-to-do mother would contemplate factory work for her daughter? Well-to-do girls use dress INCREASING DEMAND FOE SERVICES 56 goods and shoes made by other women who work in factories, but they themselves are far above factory work. They have been brought up to believe that they should pay some one else to do such things. The well-to-do hope to hire done everything that they dislike to do themselves. Their conception of life is not one that involves the exchange of product for product and of service for service. Rather, out of their income derived it matters not how they are planning to hire Peter to do it. The same spirit finds its expression in many another form. Why play baseball if a half dollar will hire some one to play for you? Why compel children to study in a public school if they may be sent to private school where a teacher will " help out " ? Profession- alized athletics and vicarious education are the logical outcome of such an attitude. Men let Peter do it, not realizing that mere ability to pay will neither bear the burden thus laid on Peter, nor prove an adequate substitute for the spiritual loss to the shirker of re- sponsibility. 3. THE NEAR- GRAFT SPIRIT The hope of something for nothing, the chance of buying life in return for a money compensation, the search for a bargain in enjoyments and satisfactions has allured the world for ages. The philosopher's stone, the spring of eternal youth and the apple of life have been sought by countless thousands. To-day, pursuant of the same philosophy, men put it off on Peter. There is a fond hope, lingering in the human heart, 56 REDUCING THE COST OF LIVING that in some way Peter will be able to do it for them. Why not ! Has he not been liberally compensated for his services ? Yes, that is true enough, but can one's life be lived by another ? Meanwhile, the well-to-do gather servants around them, and pay for more and more services in the hope that life may after all be found in that way. In any case, they would hardly be expected to fetch and carry themselves ! So the tasks of the well-to-do are piled on Peter's well-loaded .back and the cost of living rises as the amount of service comprised in "living "in- creases. 4. THE MINIMUM OF SERVICE IN RURAL LIFE Some idea of the distance which the well-to-do have traveled in their demand for service may be gained by contrasting the conditions now existing in rural and in city life. In the country, each man is more his own master and less some one's man. The farmer, to a very large degree, serves himself. When our ancestors, in early colonial times, lived in small villages and in rural districts, they were their own servants and gloried in the fact. They were able to serve themselves and the capacity for self-service was a source of pride and satisfaction. The movement into large towns and cities overthrew the self-service idea in many of its forms. Families ceased to provide themselves with the necessaries of life. The milkman called ; the baker called ; the huckster called. Fam- ilies patronized cows they neither owned nor milked ; they ate bread baked in the oven of another ; and as for the truck-patch in which they had always taken INCBEASING DEMAND FOE SEEVICES 57 such pride, it was a thing of the country and of the past. As towns and cities grew, services multiplied. There were not only the numerous tradesmen who supplied the things formerly made at home, but there were public service corporations who pumped the water, sent in the gas and carried passengers on the street railway. Upon these services the city folk depend for their existence. City life also develops servants and servant types. The hired man or hired girl in the country were son and daughter of a neighboring farmer, or else they were "from over across the hill." The city servants in the United States are ordinarily of another race and of another caste. They are servants, eating down- stairs, wearing servant liveries, ordered about and treated as servants, and in every way looked upon as inferior to the masters for whom they work. The city man is not only dependent upon others for the services which he requires, but he is dependent on a group of servants who are distinctly servile in their attitude toward him. He is the master and they are ''different." 5. THE SUBSTITUTION OF SERVILITY FOR MANHOOD Manhood is a matter of equality. The phrase, " He is a man," carries with it admiration and respect. There need be no friendship, no acquaintance, no in- timate knowledge of the person in question. If he stands straight and looks one directly in the eye, he is a man. Men respect those who are proved equals. Whether in a bout at arms, a play of wits or merely 58 EEDUCING THE COST OF LIVING in appearance and dress, equality is a prerequisite of friendly recognition. Birth, physical beauty or strength, mental acumen, position, all of these things and many more, in terms of which the world judges equality or inequality, place men on a footing. The city servant has nothing in common with his master except their common manhood. He must be respectful. He must know and keep his place. Be- longing as he does, in a different class, he need never expect to regard himself as in any other class. Masters are kind to their servants. They are con- siderate, thoughtful, sympathetic. They exercise toward them all of the forbearance that they would exercise toward the most cherished friend. Yet they regard them . as servants, a fact which it behooves the servants under all circumstances to remember. Since servants are "servants," they cannot be equals. Under such circumstances, democracy is im- possible. One thing alone remains, a relation of superior and inferior, of higher and of lower that es- tablishes a servant problem. 6. THE SERVANT PROBLEM The servant problem is acute among the well-to-do women who marry. They are frequently ignorant of housework, and they must rely upon servants. Per- haps they are thoroughly acquainted with domestic science and art, still none of the neighbors does her own work ; why should they ? On the other hand, many women have avocations or vocations which they con- tinue after they are married. To such, the housework is a mere incident, which they gladly leave to servants. INCREASING DEMAND FOE SERVICES 59 Meanwhile, the entrance of women into factory and store has drained the market of many of the women who otherwise would be servants. They prefer to work in the store, where they are on a basis of equal- ity with their employers. There is in the store and the factory work no taint of servility. Even though it pays less than domestic science, it is preferable. The demand for domestic servants increases with the increase in the number of well-to-do families. The supply of women who will do domestic work is cut down by the demand of industry. Consequently there is an unsupplied demand for good "help " which is a source of continued aggravation to the housewife and which constitutes the real domestic servant problem. The most independent girls will not enter the servile atmosphere of the kitchen. This situation leads to an interesting paradox. The servant becomes master despite her servility. The mistress continues to regard her as an inferior. She looks upon her as an individual who belongs in a lower stratum of society. Nevertheless, the girl servant is in a position to command because girl serv- ants are so hard to find. The burden of servants is carried by masters and mistresses. There are instances, numerous enough, in which a mistress would expend less effort in doing work herself than she expends in the supervision of her servants. To such persons, the hiring of an ad- ditional servant always signifies the assumption of an additional burden. The hope for the future seems to lie in the abolition of "servants." Servility and democracy are incom- 60 EEDUCING THE COST OF LIVING patible. Since the tendency of the time is strongly toward democracy, servility lies in the past, not in the future. The diminution in the number of domestic servants does not involve a decrease in the amount of services. Indeed, the apartment houses and family hotels in which service abounds are in many cases free of servants. Finally a man's servant will be as much his equal as his bookkeeper or his head sales- man is his equal. Science has cleared away the tra- ditions of differences in mankind. It remains for social reorganization to complete the work which science has so ably begun. 7. PUBLIC, PERSONAL SERVICES The newer aspects of the problem of service appear in the service which is rendered publicly, either free, like the service rendered by the city government in the form of fire protection, or for hire, like the service rendered by actors in providing public amusement. Both forms of service are free of the servility attach- ing to domestic service. Both are increasing at an extravagant rate. The free public services rendered by the government are an accompaniment of the congested living which the present day city involves. City life leads to a multitude of public services for which the home was formerly responsible. The home at one time provided almost all of the amusement for the members of the family. For that amusement the family now turns to the amusement and recreation places which abound in every center of population. There was a time when people went to lunch at their own homes. The growth INCREASING DEMAND FOE SEEVICES 61 of city life has made such a practice unusual, hence lunch rooms are opened on a vast scale. No blame attaches to the home for its failure to provide amuse- ment and lunches. The change underlies city life. Every one in the city accepts public assistance, and as a matter of course, uses public property. The streets, the parks, the schools are thought of, not as "charity," but as the due return which the citizen may expect from his city. Social service has in no sense demoralized men and women by lowering their self-respect, but it has increased public expenses vastly. 8. THE INCREASE IN SERVICE OCCUPATIONS Despite the failure of the classical economists to make good their distinction between productive and unproductive labor, there is, in the contrast, an element which is worthy of serious consideration. There is a kind of labor which provides the food, clothing, and shelter upon which all depend for their existence. There is another kind of labor which is occupied in providing society with the comforts and luxuries of life. The first class of labor is absolutely essential in any community. The presence of the second class ordinarily denotes a more or less advanced state of civi- lization. While not essential to physical existence, it yields those returns which convert mere existence into life. Labor engaged in the production of comforts and luxuries is a vital factor in civilization, but it cannot be increased unduly at the expense of that labor which is engaged in the production of necessaries. Although this argument may sound highly theo- retical, it has practical bearing of the most extreme 62 KEDUCING THE COST OF LIVING importance. Here was a farm owner, who after trying general farming for several years, and being unable to make ends meet, had turned to the growing of flowers for the New York market. "It was no use," he said. "I gave it a thorough try-out, and couldn't make expenses. On these flowers I clear a handsome profit." The flowers, while very beautiful, were luxuries. The corn and potatoes which this farm might have grown, ceased to be and with them there disappeared a part of the supply of food upon which the community depends for its existence. To what extent this illustration is typical ; to what extent mushrooms have replaced wheat, and fancy fruits standard vegetables, no one can say. The change is occurring here and there. If it becomes general, its effect on prices of staple farm products will be marked. There are numerous industries beside agriculture in which a similar transformation is taking place. The railroad hand is taken from the section crew, where he kept the road-bed in repair, garbed in a red hat, and posted in the station as a "porter " ; the janitor dons a uniform, stands in front of the department store, and opens the doors of arriving automobiles ; the big hotels are alive with flunkies whose sole duty in life is to see that patrons are given no opportunity to help them- selves ; hundreds of thousands of men and women have entered the teaching profession ; middlemen abound ; every great industrial center carries in its wake a mob of camp-followers who, in some more or less obtrusive manner, graft on the workers. INCREASING DEMAND FOE SEEVICES 63 With perfect justice it is argued that these servants increase human happiness. There is no doubt that the vaudeville performance, the grand opera, the up-stairs maid, the polite floor- walker, and the assiduous school- teacher increase human happiness. They may also in- crease human efficiency. Neither of those facts, how- ever, has any bearing upon the statement that they are not engaged directly in producing the necessaries of life. This oft-reiterated statement regarding the increase in the amount of luxury-producing labor is always met by the answer, "to be sure the proportion of pro- ductive labor is decreasing. That decrease is made possible by the use of machinery and the augmented efficiency of labor. There are fewer laborers but they produce much more than they did formerly." That statement may or may not be true. The de- velopment of machinery has unquestionably been phenomenal. Whether this development has been in proportion to the decrease in productive labor re- mains to be seen. Meanwhile, it is well to bear in mind the fact that a whole line of industries are engaged in making the machines which relieve the laborer, and that all of the people in these industries must be fed, clothed and housed by the producers of food, clothing and housing. While it is impossible to measure the relation ex- isting between the saving through machinery and the loss through the increasing proportion of non- produc- ing labor (and it is beginning to look as though the real facts had been covered up by the employment at subsistence wages of large bodies of unskilled im- migrants who have replaced the higher Americans in 64 REDUCING THE COST OF LIVING many of the producing occupations) there can be little question that the burden of producing the food, cloth- ing, and housing for the people of the United States has fallen on an astonishingly small number of shoulders. 9. SERVICE AND GROUP LIFE Service is essential to group life. Men cannot live together unless they help one another. The specializa- tion which makes of each man an expert and gives to each a work which he must perform adds greatly to the efficiency of the group. Each receives more be- cause all are directing the efforts in the interests of each. Service begets service. Only in its own coin may service be repaid. No one who fails to contribute a fair share to the work of the world has a right to ex- pect aught save emptiness and waste in return. The unrest of the well-to-do, the dissatisfaction with the returns that life brings them, is a frank rec- ognition of this one thing, that life cannot be bought for any less price than that of service. The immense increase in the number of services for which the well-to-do expect to pay is one of the mov- ing forces in the increasing cost of living. For them, money income is important largely because it will en- able them to hire some one to do the unlovely work of the world. 10. THE DEMAND FOE SERVICES AS A BURDEN ON INCOME The immense increase in the number of those who are rendering personal service must be paid for. The INCREASING DEMAND FOE SEEVICES 65 actors, ball players, telephone operators, railway por- ters, bell-boys, and floor-walkers expect to live. They are employed to render service to the well-to-do. The recompense for this service is added to the mainte- nance bill of society. Simpler forms of life have given way before more complex ones. City life has replaced life in villages, towns and isolated districts. Increasing complexity of living means, among other things, an increase of serv- ice. Servility in service is menacing as well as costly. Service from equals does not threaten Demo- cratic institutions, but it does heap up the costs of maintaining the community. Amusement is expen- sive. Entertainment comes at high prices when it is provided by " talent." It may or it may not be true that men have more amusement and entertainment for the additional expenditure. For the most part this unrequited service should be classed among the comforts and luxuries of life. The well-to-do believe that they cannot live without it, but the world knows better, because the world at large does live without it. The world must learn that no one who is able to serve should idle. That any one should receive a return for services above the value of those services to the world seems inethical to the last degree. It is un- questionably vicious in its effects upon the idlers. It is no less expensive to society. Services must be analyzed and treated variously. Those services which are necessary to the continuance of group life, and most of the services which are performed in return for other services, will continue to 66 KEDUCING THE COST OF LIVING increase in number and variety. The result will be increased satisfactions for every member of society. Those services which are, on the other hand, received, with no service given in return, constitute an obstacle to social progress of the first magnitude. As they in- crease in amount they fasten themselves as a perma- nent charge in the living costs of individuals and of society. THE INCREASING USE OF COMFORTS AND LUXURIES 1. WHAT ARE LUXURIES? EACH person has a definition of luxuries which suits his taste and his position in life. The South Sea Is- lander regards a pair of trousers as a luxury. In Lon- don they become a necessity. The three words which are most usually employed to distinguish various kinds of goods and services are "necessaries," "comforts," and "luxuries." Neces- saries are those things which are required to maintain physical efficiency. They include the essentials of physical upkeep, such as simple clothing, plain food, and a sanitary dwelling. Comforts are things over and above necessaries, which may be very generally possessed by people throughout the community. Re- productions of good pictures are not necessary to physical efficiency ; they may be cheaply obtained, however, and a house possessed of them is said to be comfortably furnished. The same thing may be said of any commodity which is not immediately necessary for efficiency, and yet which the ordinary man of fam- ily may secure if they so desire. Luxuries are things beyond the income of the great majority of people in a community. A grand piano is a luxury. The in- come of the ordinary family is too low to enable it to maintain efficiency, and at the same time have enough 68 REDUCING THE COST OF LIVING surplus to purchase a grand piano. A three-thousand dollar automobile is a luxury for the same reasons. Things become luxuries when they pass beyond the income-reach of the ordinary man. Accepting these rather arbitrary distinctions as a working basis, it becomes apparent, first of all, that the question as to what things are luxuries changes rapidly from, one period to another. When tapestries were first thrown upon the floor for lords and ladies to walk upon, carpets were a luxury. In the homes of the humble there were no floors save the bare earth. No American looks upon a carpet as a luxury. There are kinds of rare carpets which are luxuries, but car- pets as floor coverings are within the reach of every one. Indeed, a house without carpets is generally con- sidered below the standard of necessaries which any family may expect to maintain. The standard of lux- uries changes because of improvements on the methods of producing economic goods. There are various reasons for the purchase of lux- uries. Some people buy luxuries because they yield comfort. Some people find in luxuries, such as ail objects, the satisfaction of some taste. Another group of people buys luxuries because it is the thing to buy them, and they buy those luxuries which are in style. Expensive dresses are peculiarly in this class. Their value is only temporary ; and it consists not in their fit or their comeliness, but in their likeness to the standard of a particular season. Luxuries which are procured because they satisfy a certain standard of fashion or style are peculiarly sub- ject to the effects of competition. Each person strives THE INCREASING USE OF COMFORTS 69 to set a standard of luxury above that of some other person. Each aims to excel. The triumph is thus in excelling and in possession not in the intrinsic worth of the thing possessed. Under such circumstances, the standard of luxuries can be forced up at a terrific pace. No one need enjoy what he has. No one need even appreciate the lux- uries which he already possesses. He must have as many, or more, than his neighbor, and he must have them as new or newer in style than his neighbor. This competition leads to a contest in which the most liberal spender sets the pace. Spending depends on income. The largest income supplies the most lux- uries. The pressure is intense. The competition is keen. Men and women sacrifice everything even health to make a showing which is on a par with that of the others. The weapons in this fashion-contest are the luxuries that one has at command. 2. ElBBONS AND LACE The well-to-do spend vast sums on luxuries. In a very considerable sense their social position depends upon this expenditure. On the other hand, their edu- cation has led them to expect elaborate menus, fine clothes, and splendid houses. The time has come when a very considerable amount of labor and capital is engaged in the production of comforts and luxuries. The manufacture of pianos and organs necessitates the employment of 41,882 per- sons, and a capital outlay of $103,234,000 ; the manu- facture of automobiles has enlisted 85,359 persons, and a capital investment of $173,837,000 ; the capital in- 70 EEDUCING THE COST OF LIVING vested in the silk industry is $152,158,000, and the number of persons employed, 105,238 ; the tobacco industry employs 197,637, and involves a capital out- lay of $254,660,000 j the manufacture of all kinds of alcoholic liquors requires 77,779 persons, and is cap- italized at $771, 516, 000. 1 There are a number of less important industries producing such luxuries as billiard tables, artificial flowers and feathers, confectionery and jewelry, phonographs, soda water apparatus, and the like. Large and small industries alike require the in- vestment of capital, and the employment of consider- able numbers of people. The exact amount expended for luxuries is immaterial. The fact of the expendi- ture is alone significant. The labor and the capital which are engaged in the production of luxuries obviously cannot be engaged in the production of necessaries. Were the available amount of labor and capital unlimited, there could be no objection to diverting it into any desired channels. Since both labor and capital, at any given time, are definitely limited in amount, their employment in one industry, or in one group of industries, virtually de- nies them to another. 3. THE ^REDIRECTION OF PRODUCTIVE ENTERPRISE There are in America to-day numbers of people who lack the simplest necessaries of life. They have the desire to secure them. Income alone is lacking. When a readjustment has been effected which will, on the one hand, provide them with the income, and on 1 These figures are taken from the Census of Manufactures, 1909. See Appendix A. THE INCREASING USE OF COMFOETS 71 the other, so increase the production of necessaries that these people may have an opportunity to secure them, it will be time to concentrate on the production of luxuries. That time has not yet arrived. Euskin insists, and with some apparent show of justice, that "in due time, when we have nothing better to set people to work at, it may be right to let them make lace and cut jewels ; but, as long as there are any who have no blankets for their beds, and no rags for their bodies, so long it is blanket-making and tailoring we must set people to work at not lace." l The growth of industries devoted exclusively to the production of comforts and luxuries, in full view of the misery and wretchedness which begs for the neces- saries of life, is a serious charge against any civiliza- tion. It becomes doubly serious when, as in the case of the automobile industry and the talking machine industry, this production of comforts and luxuries in- creases faster than the production of life's necessaries. To be sure, these are new industries. At the same time they show with undeniable clearness the wide- spread demand for acceptable comforts and luxuries, thus bespeaking the satisfaction of the well-to-do. 4. THE CHARITY BALL, There is a deal of vile nonsense spoken on this par- ticular issue. No one point in economics has been so flagrantly misstated as the results of expenditures for comforts and luxuries. After diligent inquiry the well-to-do have made two 1 "The Political Economy of Art," John Ruskin, Part II, Ap- plication. 72 EEDUCING THE COST OF LIVING answers (the reply, " Cannot a man do as he will with his own?" cannot be dignified with the title of "an- swer"). The first of these answers is, "We exert ourselves in philanthropic ways for these people." The second is, "We spend our money, and thus cir- culate it in the community." Both answers are legiti- mate subjects of analysis, since both are freely bandied about in every public discussion of the subject. Pursuant of the philanthropic principle, good peo- ple organize various schemes for the uplift of their fellows. lu all of the large cities charity balls are given. Vast sums are expended in decorations and in elaborate toilets. If, perchance, the affair clears ex- penses, the surplus finds its way into the coffers of some philanthropic institution. The patrons of the charity ball believe that it is charity. A fair-minded outsider cannot help seeing that the real beneficiaries of the charity ball are the people who attend, even though a few crumbs fall from their table to be snatched at by the needy. There was recently given in a large city a bridge for the benefit of a home for destitute colored orphans. To this affair splendid ladies came, decked out in jewels and fine laces, paid the admission fee of a dol- lar, gazed covetously at the rich prizes arranged on a table in the center of the room, and then turned with avidity to the game. After two hours of intense play these ladies separated and returned to their com- fortable homes, taking their jewels and fine laces with them. Each had played for a great stake. Many had lost ; a few had won. They had done it all in the name of charity. THE INCREASING USE OF COMFORTS 73 The charity ball and the bridge for destitute colored orphans are a form of make-believe charity that has deluded the world for ages. The patrons go because it is the thing to do. If they were charitably inclined they would exchange their splendid attire for sack- cloth and ashes, and give the cost of their extravagant clothes and jewels to the poor. 5. SPENDING OR PROSPERITY t "We spend our money and thus circulate it in the community." Does spending make prosperity! " Yes," you aver, " if it makes work." Put aside the "makes work " argument for the time being, and con- fine the discussion to spending. What is spending? What but an act whereby a person, having an income, exchanges that income for things that will satisfy his wants. There are many people in the community who still believe that the man who spends benefits his fellow men. Carry that philosophy to its logical conclusion and let one person in the community take all of the in- come and spend it. Would his fellows be benefited ? It is true that no doctrine can fairly be carried to its logical conclusion. Nevertheless, it is a false doctrine which will not permit of some logical analysis. At the present time one class in the community spends for another class. A vast bulk of income goes into the pockets of the well-to-do. This group directs its expenditures in a way to suit itself. It consumes wealth for comforts and luxuries, then consoles itself with the belief that spending benefits the community. " But we circulate our money," argue the spenders. That is true ; the spender does circulate money. Pros- perity consists, however, not in the circulation of money, but in the opportunity which each enjoys to spend his income in a way that will suit his wants. Eeal prosperity involves spending by the people who want the necessaries and the simpler comforts of life. When the necessaries and comforts are supplied to all of the people, it will be time to consider whether the spending of surplus wealth by the well-to-do adds to social prosperity. Meanwhile, it is evident on the face of things that when the well-to-do buy automobiles and silk clothing, they exchange their income for comforts which they are to enjoy. The men and women who are engaged in the production of auto- mobiles and silk clothing receive no higher salaries than the men and women engaged in the production of cotton cloth and delivery wagons. The mobility of labor is a guarantee against any material difference in wages between those who produce necessaries and those who produce luxuries. A great part of the income of the community is spent for comforts and luxuries by the well-to-do. That expenditure means an increase in the production of luxuries and comforts. Were that same income spent for necessaries and the smaller comforts by the poorer people in the community, there would be an equally increased demand for necessaries and comforts. Spending involves prosperity only when the spending is done by people who are thereby obtaining the nec- essaries of life. Spending by the rich makes no in- crease in the individual incomes of the poor. THE INCREASING USE OF COMFORTS 75 6. MAKING WOBK is MAKING WANT The "making work" argument is frequently used, and as often abused. "When we spend," insist the luxury seekers, "we make work." In one specious sense that is true. Industry is carried on in response to demand. As people go in the market and offer to buy goods production is stimulated and new goods are produced. There is no real sense, however, in which the position is sound. Suppose that instead of spending your money and "making work," you left it with the bank. Loaned out to some industrial enterpriser, it would then be used to build a factory, or extend a trolley line. Thus it would not only make work, but it would add to the wealth of the community as well. The real fallacy in the "making work " idea lies in the belief that the using up of wealth is a good thing. Granted that he who makes work is a public benefactor, it necessarily follows that he who makes the most work is the greatest benefactor. Thus he who gives a dinner provides work for the butcher, the grocer, the gardener, and the butler. To this extent, he benefits society, while he and his friends gorge themselves with the dinner. They were not hungry when they sat down to eat, and the meal impaired instead of improving their health. Nevertheless, they made work for those who prepared the meal. The next day, instead of giving a dinner, mine host decides to tear down his house and build a larger one. By so doing he makes work for carpenters, masons, decorators, and all of those other people who are engaged in building. His limit as a benefactor is not yet reached, however. He 76 REDUCING THE COST OF LIVING lives in a city which he one day surveys from the top of a high tower. "What an opportunity," he tells himself. " I will burn down this city in order that I may make work for its people." He descends from the tower and burns down the city. The next day there is work for all and to spare. Has this man who ate a dinner which he did not need, and built a house which he did not require, and burned a city that he might make work for its inhabitants, really benefited his fellows'? Certainly he has not. He is a real benefactor who adds to the wealth of the community. The wanton destruction of wealth, or the destruction of wealth which is involved in satisfying the wants of whims or fancies for those who are already satisfied with the things of life, is no public benefaction. Des- troying wealth uselessly makes want, not prosperity. There is a saying of momentous importance to the world, "Do not grind the seed corn." If the seed corn is ground there will be no sowing; without a sowing there can be no harvest ; and if there is no harvest the people will die of famine. There is a saying of like importance to society, " Do not deny the necessaries of life to the workers." If the necessaries are denied to the workers, then efficiency will be impaired ; if efficiency is impaired, the production of things is curtailed ; the curtailing of production makes less possible the provision of neces- saries, and the vicious circle is perpetuated to the end of the chapter. There is no more essential principle in modern statesmanship than this of the vital impor- tance of providing the necessaries of life to those who do the work of the world. THE INCEEASING USE OF COMFOETS 77 From the standpoint of the economist, or of the statesman, it matters not a whit whether any one has luxuries. All of the luxuries in civilization might be destroyed over night, and the machinery of life would continue as before. Deny the necessaries, however, and the world stops. 7. THE SOCIAL BURDEN OF INCREASING LUXURY Whatever the final readjustments which ethical and economic considerations force upon mankind, this fact remains, that increasing luxury constitutes an in- creasing social burden. The people who enjoy luxury do not necessarily render a return to society in proportion to the income which is at their disposal. It is true that some men and women of large income have been largely service- ful. It is likewise true that with each passing year there are afloat in the community a larger body of mortgages, stocks, and bonds, and title deeds, by virtue of which the owner, in return for his ownership, may receive an income. The holders of property are not necessarily idle. Among them are the leaders in the world's activities. The mere holding of property, however, to-day gives to the holder a right to live, if he so chooses, without rendering any return service at the expense of society. Other men labor. The property-holder gathers in the fruits of their labor. The rapid increase in property makes it more and more possible for a certain number of persons to live on their property. They travel, spend, live splendidly. 78 EEDUCING THE COST OF LIVING Their property titles buy them the comforts and luxuries which they enjoy. Nothing can be consumed which has not been pro- duced. If these live without assisting society in production, it necessarily follows that some others must be producing the wherewithal by means of which these live. For the luxury of a great part of the community, the remainder of the community is de- prived of wealth which those who live in luxury enjoy. Thus, to a larger and larger degree, society pays the bill for the luxuries of a few of its members. The bill grows constantly larger with each passing year. That increasing bill is an item in the increasing cost of living. VI THE ASCENDING SCALE OF NECESSABIES OP LIFE 1. WHAT ARE NECESSARIES ? THE definition of necessaries as those goods and services which are requisite for maintaining physical efficiency is arbitrary. There is, however, no definition which will meet with universal approval, and this one seems as well qualified as any for general acceptance. The idea of efficiency, of living with high vitality and a full head of energy, carries with it good work and effective leisure. It gives to the income-earner a stock of energy sufficient to replace the goods and services which were consumed in creating that energy. Furthermore, it sets a standard upon which normal health and normal length of life should be attained. 2. THE EXPENDITURE FOR NECESSARIES Public opinion, in particular that portion of public opinion which retains a vivid recollection of its Puritan ancestors, holds that this is an age of fearful extrava- gance. There is some ground for such a view. Wher- ever the eye turns it encounters signs of extravagant living, expensive tours, gay clothes, gorgeous enter- tainments, and needlessly ornate houses. The well-to- do and the rich have set a pace of costly living that brings the ordinary citizen to his feet with a gasp. The age seems extravagant, yet, if the truth could 80 EEDUCING THE COST OP LIVING be known, it would probably appear that the vast pro- portion of income spent by the American people is spent for necessaries, rather than for comforts or luxuries. Unfortunately there is no way in which the situation can be accurately measured. It is, however, worth while to note the immense preponderance of those industries which are apparently producing the necessaries of life. There are two classes of industries that fall under the census data on manufactures. One deals with the production of capital goods, machines, tools, raw materials, and the like. The other deals with the pro- duction of consumption goods. It is in this latter class that the present interest centers. One cannot say that an industry is devoted exclusively to the production of comforts and luxuries, or to the pro- duction of necessaries. Nevertheless, certain industries, such, for example, as the manufacture of cigar boxes, may well be classed as industries concerned almost wholly with the production of luxuries ; while certain other industries, such, for example, as the production of butter, cheese, and condensed milk, may be regarded as creating the necessaries of life. For the great majority of industries the distinction is not absolute. Cotton goods may sell for ten cents, or fifty cents, a yard. Flour may be converted into French pastry or bread. Furniture may be for the kitchen or the exclusive draw- ing-room. In spite of the obvious inadequacy of the classification, there are certain industries which may be generally regarded as producing luxuries, and certain other industries may be looked upon as pro- ducing necessaries. NECESSARIES OF LIFE 81 A moiig the industries producing luxuries 1 8 report the employment of over 25,000 persons 5 " " " " " 50,000 " 2 " " " " 100,000 " The two industries which report the largest number of employees are the tobacco manufacturing, with 197,637 persons at work, and the manufacture of silk and silk goods, with 105,238 persons at work. The value added by manufacture was More than $ 25,000,000 in 8 industries " " 50,000,000 " 5 " 100,000,000 " 3 The three industries with more than a hundred million of capital were the manufacture of liquors, of tobacco, and of automobiles. The eight industries which may be described as large luxury-producing industries are automobiles, clock and watch, confectionery, jewelry, liquor, piano and organ, silk and silk goods, and tobacco. It will be noted that several of these indus- tries, for instance, automobile, clock and watch, and silk and silk goods, are engaged in producing many goods that are necessaries. The contrast between the number of large industries producing luxuries and the number producing neces- sities is sharp indeed. Among the industries produc- ciug necessities 19 report the employment of over 25,000 persons 11 " " " " " 50,000 " 10 " " " " 100,000 " 1 All of these figures are taken from the Census of Manufactures, 1909. See Appendix A. 82 EEDUCING THE COST OF LIVING AmoDg these industries the value added by manufac- ture was More than $ 25,000,000 in 24 industries " " 50,000,000 " 11 " 100,000,000 " 8 " The ten industries reporting the employment of more than 100,000 persons were boot and shoe, bread and bakery, men's clothing, women's clothing, cotton goods, furniture and refrigerators, hosiery and knit goods, slaughtering and meat packing, woolen and worsted goods. It must be apparent without further discussion that the number of important industries in which necessaries are produced is greatly in excess of the number which produce comforts and luxuries. Industry is devoted very largely to the production of necessaries. Comforts and luxuries form but a small element in the total of the country's purchases. 3. THE PRESSURE OF CIVILIZATION The pressure of civilization is constantly creating new standards of necessaries and comforts. First new wants are stimulated in men ; then the means are dis- covered for meeting these wants ; and finally the wants are looked upon as wants for necessaries of life. The use of books and papers furnishes an excellent case in point. It is but a few centuries since books were written on vellum. Then the process of printing from movable types was discovered. Up to that time books had been a luxury, purchasable only by the very rich. From that time forward, book manufacturing has been cheapened through the introduction of cheap papers and efficient methods of printing, until books, papers, and mag- NECESS ABIES OF LIFE 83 aziues are sold at so low a figure they are looked upon as one of the necessaries of life and intellectual growth. The processes of civilization have added books to the list of necessaries. Culture and education have forced upon men a new want. The younger genera- tion coming into the world is compelled, even against its will, to spend a large portion of its time perusing books which were undreamed of luxuries among its ancestors. 4. EDUCATION AND NECESSABIES The most potent single force in changing the stand- ard of necessaries is education. By means of educa- tion ideas and ideals of livelihood are advanced. More than that, however, education breeds democracy ; and on that foundation the increasing standard of neces- saries have been built. Where a caste system prevails, where men recog- nize that equality is impossible, the standards of the different castes remain utterly different. The priest caste, or the governing caste, enjoys the first fruits of the earth. The lowest caste of agricultural laborers receives the barest pittance that will induce the soul to remain in the body. The lower caste may hate the higher, but it does not seek to emulate its standard. Into the arena of caste- content, democracy throws the gage of revolt. Men are potentially equal, preaches the democratic spirit. No man has an inher- ent right to have more possessions than any other man. This one wears the ermine ; his father was a wood-cutter. Yonder lady is decked with jewels ; her 84 BEDUCING THE COST OF LIVING mother was a charwoman. Not what our fathers had, but what we possess, be our glory under a democracy ! Wherever the democratic spirit is injected into a society of unequal income, discontent ensues. Am- bition is stimulated. Men are taught to strive for a place at the top. Granted the presence of unequal income there is no society where incomes are equal it follows that the more unequal the income, with a given democratic attitude, the more keen will be the competition for a place at the top. Similarly, with a given inequality of income, an increasing belief in equal rights will cause an increase in competition. The incentive to competition for place in the United States has been education. Boys and girls have been stimulated to a belief in themselves and in their powers of success. They have been taught to look up and ahead. There was a place at the top, if they could but get there, and the top meant a large income to spend for many things. The teachings of the public schools have caused a phenomenal rise in the standard of those things which are considered necessary. If the banker can have a suit cut to this year's style, why may not his book keeper, or the janitor of his bank, or the street-cur conductor who rattles his change past the door? There is but one reply "He should.'' Proceeding on that assumption, the men all buy suits that are in style. So, too, women in every social group consider it necessary on some occasions to wear white gloves. If it is necessary for my lady, why not for the girl who sells her novelties over a counter ? Again there NECESSAKIES OF LIFE 85 is but one reply, aud the white glove is universally worn. To be sure all classes do not wear the same grade of gloves. The effort to emulate is present, however. The rise in the standard of those things which are considered necessaries is a part of the rise in the standard of civilization. Just as freedom and knowl- edge were at one time spread from the few to the many, so now the advances of civilization are made into a common heritage. 5. THE STORY OF A PAST GENERATION Twentieth century Americans find it hard to real- ize how complete the change in ' ' necessaries " has been during a few brief years. The family's diet has been augmented ; the supply of clothing has been varied and increased ; houses have been improved ; and the number of things which a dollar will buy has risen almost beyond computation. Only a few years have elapsed since Joseph Barton Felt wrote "The Annals of Salem," in which are described the living conditions of a typical New Eng- land town of the eighteenth century. He says of the houses, "While oiled paper lighted the cottages, glass did the same for more convenient abodes." " Though in the first occupation of our soil, a few of the more distinguished brought a stinted store of carpets with them, these articles were not seen in the far greater portion of our better houses. Down to even 1800, but a small part of our common livers had their parlors ornamented with them. Every Monday, after washing, the floors would be scoured as white as 86 BEDUCING THE COST OF LIVING piue would allow them, in all regular establishments, and then the light blue sand, from the beaches of Gloucester and Ipswich, would be thrown on, in hand- fuls, so as to make circular and spotted figures." The life of the New England farmer was simplic- ity itself. McMaster thus describes his situation in 1784: "The Massachusetts farmer who witnessed the revolution ploughed his land with the wooden bull-plough, sowed his grain broadcast, and, when it was ripe, cut it with a scythe, and thrashed it on his barn floor with a flail. His house was without paint ; his floors were without carpet. When darkness came on his light was derived from a few candles of home manufacture. The place of furnaces and stoves was supplied by huge cavernous fireplaces which took up one side of the room, and, sending half the smoke into the apartment, sent half the heat up the chimney. His food was of the simplest kind, was served in the coarsest of dishes, and eaten with the coarsest of im- plements. Beef and pork, salt fish, dried apples and vegetables, made up the daily fare from one year' send to another." 1 The wardrobe of the farmer was as simple as his living. Store clothes he never knew ; the things which he used were of home make, or so near home make as to be homely in the extreme. The living of the town laborer in the eighteenth century was wretched. " A man who performed what would now be called unskilled labor, who sawed wood, who dug ditches, who mended the roads, who mixed 1(1 A History of the People of the United States," John Baoh MoMaster, D. Appleton and Co., New York, Vol. I, p. 18. NECESSAKIES OF LIFE 87 mortar, who carried boards to the carpenter and bricks to the mason, or helped to cut hay in the harvest time, usually received as the fruit of his daily toil two shillings. "On such a pittance it was only by the strictest economy that a mechanic kept his children from star- vation and himself from jail. . . . A pair of yel- low buckskin or leathern breeches, a checked shirt, a red flannel jacket, a rusty felt hat cocked up at the corners, shoes of neat's skin set off with huge buckles of brass, and a leathern apron, comprised his scanty wardrobe. The leather he smeared with grease to keep it soft and flexible. His sons followed in his footsteps, or were apprenticed to neighboring trades- men." l The twentieth century workingman would think of himself as living in the depths of misery were any such standards imposed upon him as those accepted by men of his class at the end of the eight- eenth century. 6. STATE AID FOR THE MULTITUDE The increase in the number of things which are looked upon as necessaries has been phenomenal. Even more rapid has been the growth in the number of services which the state is expected to render to its citizens. The change of the state from a predatory, profit- seeking enterprise into an institution, the objective point of which is service, has loaded upon the shoul- ders of the state new burdens. The new state is the 1 "A History of the People of the United States," John Bach McMaster, D. Appletou and Co., New York, Vol I, pp. 96-97. 88 BEDUCING THE COST OF LIVING servant of the citizens. Are there social wrongs such as child labor and overwork 1 The state is the agency depended upon to redress them. Is there a need for great social enterprises, such as the building of a Panama Canal, the reforestation of a state, the pre- vention of floods, or the inauguration of a program of laud reclamation ? The state is the agency depended upon to perform the service. The state is a servant which is each year assuming new responsibilities and duties for those who comprise it. The forms of state activity vary. The city protects against ill-health, fire, and disturbance. There are lighted and paved streets, parks, playgrounds, and public buildings. The city is a public enterprise, run for public service. The state governments and the national governments likewise render services. Governments are expensive. During recent years there has been a rapid increase in public expenditures. In 1878, the expenditures of the United States Govern- ment amounted to $4.98 per capita, or $24.90 per family. During the next thirty years they rose to $7.45 per capita or $37.25 per family. 1 For the state of Massachusetts an even greater increase has occurred. The rapidity with which the amount of governmental expenditure has increased is due to the changes in the objects for which the government spends money. The various governmental departments the Legislative Department, the Judiciary, and the like, show a com- paratively small increase in appropriations during the past thirty years. Expenses for education, for chari- 1 Report of the Massachusetts Commission on the Cost of Living, House Document No. 1750, Boston, 1910, p. 208. NECESSARIES OF LIFE 89 ties, for commissions and boards and the like items have risen with remarkable rapidity. The original functions of government cost little more now than they did a generation ago ; the cost of the social functions is vastly increased. The cost of government has become a considerable item in the budget of the family. Averages are always unsatisfactory, yet there seems no other way in which governmental costs can be expressed. The Massachusetts Commission makes the following calcu- lation of the costs of government to city dwellers in Massachusetts : l Per Capita Per Family For national government, 1908 ... $ 9.722 $ 48.610 For state government, 1909 . . . 3.912 19.560 For municipal government, 1906 24.750 123.750 138.384 $191.920 This average would not hold for any given family. Nevertheless, it indicates the real extent of govern- mental costs. 2 1 Report of the Massachusetts Commission on the Cost of Living, House Document No. 1750, Boston, 1910, p. 210. a The Massachusetts report contains the following explanation of the above figures (pp. 210-211) : " It will be seen that including all county expenses and taking into account late increases, the actual cost of government to the average dweller in a Massachusetts city is not far from $40, or $200 for the average family (by the census of 1905 it was found that the average size of the normal families of the state was 4.44, but for convenience in computations is the usual number taken) supposed to consist of five persons. " County expenses outside of Suffolk County average about $1 per capita. 90 BEDUCING THE COST OF LIVING The cost of living has risen for this reason among others. The people are expecting more service from the state with each passing decade. There are more services, and the services are more elaborate. This service, provided so lavishly on every hand, adds greatly to the final cost of living. 7. THE ASCENDING SCALE There is an ascending scale of those things which are commonly looked upon as comprising the neces- saries of life. Invention and discovery make possible more things. The existence of more things stimulates wants. Education leads men to believe that one is as worthy as another to enjoy the good things of life. From top to bottom of the social scale, the standard of necessaries has rapidly increased. Nevertheless, it remains true that the well-to-do have pushed their standard ahead more rapidly than those farther down in the income scale have been able " Town government in Massachusetts average to cost less than half as much as city government, so that to-day the total share of the town dweller in all costs, local, county, state, and national, is something under $30 per capita, probably about $140 for the average family. "The total revenues of the United Kingdom in 1908, national and local, averaged $32.09 per capita, or $160.45 for the family of five. President A. Lawrence Lowell, in ' The Government of Eng- land,' 1909, said : " ' It would seem that the burden of local taxation in Boston is not very different from that of the average county borough (in England), and it is probably less than in the larger English cities, where the rate is usually higher than in the smaller towns.' "In France, the average of the total revenues, national and local, is about $23.27." NECESSARIES OF LIFE 91 to follow. There is no way in which such changes can be measured, but it seems clear that the contrast be- tween the day laborers' life and the life of the well-to- do members of the community was never so great as it is to-day. It is not true that the poor are getting poorer. There has probably never been a time since the industrial revolution when the day worker re- ceived more things in exchange for his day's work. During the last hundred years the poor have grown richer a very little richer, while the rich have grown richer at an unheard-of rate. The standard of necessaries continues to advance. The stove has replaced the hearth ; the granite kettle the iron pot ; sugar has become a common thing in every house; well-made shoes are generally worn ; glasses and tooth-brushes are insisted on in the schools. The well-to-do accept as a matter of course this increase in necessaries. The low-income family stands before it appalled. How shall its stationary income meet this increasing demand in the face of increasing prices ! It is there where the rising standard of necessaries meets the rising price of necessaries, there in the home of the low-income family that the high cost of living strikes hardest at that great bulwark of society called the common people. VII GETTING AHEAD 1. THE NEIGHBORS WHEN the discussion of rising standards has been ended ; when it is clear that families of all classes and particularly the families of the well-to-do are wanting more things and more services, and are enjoying more things and more services than ever they did before ; when luxuries have been so plainly differentiated from necessaries that he who runs may read the writing, after all it remains true that the people who count for most are the neighbors. People have wants ; they enjoy comforts and lux- uries. It is the neighbors who suggest the wants and the neighbors who possess the comforts and the lux- uries. If the neighbors possess them, there is no escape. One telephone in a new neighborhood of ten houses is the first step in ten installations. "It is so convenient, you know, and then, besides, every one is getting in a 'phone." The argument is unanswerable and the telephone company receives its order. We live for the neighbors as the neighbors live for us. We emulate their standards as they emulate ours. We court their approval and dread their censure, as they do ours. We are competitors, living so close to one another that each is able to keep a constant check upon the stock which the other is putting in. GETTING AHEAD 93 There is no competition like the competition of neighbors. Economists write of the cut- throat compe- tition of commercial life. It is generous rivalry com- pared with the havoc which one neighbor may make in a friendly group. The competition of industry is intermittent. There are price wars and truces. The competition of neighbors is continuous and ferocious. Men and women look constantly to the neighbors, buy as they buy, wear as they wear, enjoy as they enjoy and exist as they exist. Taken in all of its aspects there is no form of competition so insidious, so omnipresent, so unrelenting as that of neighbors. 2. SOME FOEMS OF SOCIAL EMULATION The competition among neighbors may take one of many forms. They may compete, for example, in the education of their -children. They may compare the child intelligence, child imagination and other of the special qualities which they believe their children to possess in a high degree. They may compete in their efforts to render service to the community, each fam- ily striving to beautify the surroundings of its house, and to be otherwise progressive in working for the interests of the neighborhood. All neighbors do not have children ; all do not have improvable front yards but there is one thing which the neighbors uni- versally possess, economic goods. Goods therefore serve as a common denominator of social emulation. Whether in the form of necessaries, or of comforts and luxuries, goods are the social yardstick. The frequency with which the goods test is applied in family competition passes unnoticed with the indi- 94 REDUCING THE COST OF LIVING viduals who apply it. How common a thing it is to judge a family's standing in the community in terms of the parlor furniture, the clothes which the mother wears, the character of the curtains on the windows and other like objective tests. How often are men and women alike approved or condemned by the style or fit of their clothes ! The well-worn answer to the accusation that families judge one another on a goods standard is really no answer. " Yes," admit the neighbors, " we judge them by what they put in their windows, and by what they put on their backs. Of course we do. That is a perfectly fair standard of judgment. If a woman is a good housekeeper, neat and tidy, that will show on her windows. If a man is a self-respecting citizen, his self-respect will show in the cut of his clothes." In that answer there is this much truth. Society has preserved a goods standard of life until it looks at all life through the medium of goods. The standard is purely artificial. Among certain savages, the character of the tattooing on the skin determines a .man's claim to a place in society. In such tribes the respectable citizens are the well tattooed citizens. Clothes and house furnishings are the tattoo of civili- zation. They are not the man ; they do not even rep- resent the man. They merely represent three things, his income, his taste, and his bump of order. Yet income, taste and bumps of order do not make up the sum total of life ; they are merely the border of one of its garments. Those who judge their neighbors by the goods standard have another argument a social one. GETTING AHEAD 95 "You should conform to this standard," they insist, " because such conformity is fair to the neighbors. They have set certain standards. When they appear in public they wear hats and shoes, and dress in style. If you have any regard for their feelings, you will do likewise while you are in that neighborhood." Such an argument is ingenuous but inconclusive. Go back one step, and ask why it is that the neighbors wear hats, shoes, and stylish clothes. Is it because they enjoy them, or are comfortable in them, or be- lieve in themt Certainly not. They, too, do it for the neighbors. The passage of time has witnessed the erection of a goods standard of competition among the neighbors. No one neighbor is responsible for the existence of the standard. All must follow it. Once in the vicious circle, the family is doomed. The neighbors do this. It is respectable. We owe it to ourselves and our neighbors to be respectable. Therefore we must do it too. So the argument runs, generation after genera- tion, while men, deceived into believing that the standard which they assist in erecting and maintain- ing is erected and maintained wholly by the neighbors, continue to conform to the neighborhood standard of things. Furthermore, there is, in this " folio w-my- leader " conformity with neighbors' standards, not one element of real respectability. Indeed, some of the things, in which neighbors are followed, lurk in dark shadows. Both individual self-respect and conscience are frequently violated by doing as the Romans do. The goods standard of neighborhood competition is not final. There are other standards such as physical 96 KEDUCING THE COST OF LIVING strength and skill ; mental keenness ; social vision and social spirit ; sympathy and neighboiiiuess by which men may be classed. These items of personal in- ventory are cast aside in the ordinary neighborhood estimate of men, and the question is still asked, "What have they!" Neighborhood competition may be largely elimi- nated. There are many ways of conducting life other than judging and rejudging. A philosophy is even now abroad which insists that men "judge not at all." Perhaps there is in that doctrine a grain of invaluable truth for a self-respecting age. For the present, at least, the goods test yardstick continues to be employed by most neighborhoods. The constant application of the goods test leads inevi- tably to a desire on the part of individuals for the wherewithal to make a good showing. If men must be measured, they may at least put forward their best foot first. Suppose they have no best foot ? Suppose they have few or none of those good things by which the world judges! "Why, then, the obvious thing to do is to get them quickly ! 3. CINCH JOBS The pursuit of goods, to satisfy one's own desire for comforts and the neighbors' critical tests of respecta- bility and social fitness, leads easily and naturally to a belief that goods are the chief thing to be desired in life. Goods become objects of endeavor and since the way in which goods are ordinarily procured is through income, income is sought religiously. The saying of the philosopher is changed until GETTING AHEAD 97 it reads, "goods is the principal thing; therefore, with all thy getting, get goods." The philosophy echoes and reechoes through the hearts of mankind, who straightway arise and set out in the pursuit of goods. Goods are the end of effort. Men therefore seek the means, income, in order that they may have goods. Couple with this feeling the natural disinclination of some people to exertion, and there results the pursuit of cinch jobs. There is much skepticism abroad on the subject of cinch jobs. How many men and women in the com- munity would be ashamed to take a job which paid a salary out of all proportion to the service rendered f How many, even though ashamed, would take it any- way! How few are those who would refuse it when the test of success is goods and the way to goods lies through income 1 The community in which cinch jobs are sought by any large proportion of the people is linking hands with ruin and disaster. Only as the individual throws himself into the struggle with ardor and enthusiasm can the fight be well fought and the victory assured. The prevalence of the "cinch job" spirit in a com- munity is a symptom of social degeneracy if not of individual demoralization. 4. SINECURE HOMES The spirit of getting goods, of making a show with- out working for it, is not confined to men. It has fastened its baneful fingers on the home, where, par- ticularly among the well-to-do, it plays havoc with 98 KEDUCING THE COST OF LIVING home life. The counterpart of the cinch job for the man is the sinecure home for the woman. Society preaches the sinecure home to each genera- tion. Girls are taught to believe that the prime requi- site in a man is the ability to furnish a comfortable home. His morals, his attitude toward life, his habits, his qualities are thrown into one side of the balance. Into the other side is thrown his income. Too often the income is permitted to outweigh all other consider- ations. Mothers, deceiving themselves with the belief that they have the interest of their daughters at heart, cajole, flatter, plead, and insist, until the daughter yields or else, in desperation, throws over the whole idea of home life, and enters upon the pursuit of a career. More well-to-do girls are driven from home and home ideals into the world of affairs by the at- tempts of the parents to maintain the tawdry respecta- bilities of life than appear at first sight. The goods standard glitters attractively before the eyes of the seventeen -year-old girl. Its splendor pales as she nears twenty-five and does not shine out strong again until she reaches that uncertain age of maturity at which her earlier ambition and beliefs yield place to adipose respectability. Well-to-do homes all over the country are sheltering women wives and daughters whose service to society can be summed up in the one word, "eminently respectable." They serve not at all. They render in return for the many things which they enjoy nothing except obedience to the dictates of fashion and of morality. They move with the crowd, have a good time, play about, cause trouble occasionally, usually GETTING AHEAD 99 pass unnoticed, despite their blatant attempts at dis- play, and at last sink into an early senility without in any way detracting from the efficiency or progress of society. Both the cinch job and the sinecure home are a social burden. If men and women live splendidly without rendering a return in service commensurate with the living which they obtain, society pays the bill. Whether this bill is big or little is beside the question. 5. THE ROAD TO ISOLATION The unending competition for goods has left men with an unspeakable horror of isolation. They cannot bear to be alone. On the one hand, there is little or nothing about which they wish to commune with them- selves. On the other hand, they have grown so ac- customed to "showing the neighbors " that a life with- out neighbors to "show" is inconceivable. Even though, in their younger days, they were self-analytical, since they grew to manhood and womanhood they have had little occasion to understand themselves. They have even ceased to inquire what manner of men they are. Only there is a lingering suspicion that if they should stop long enough to knock at the door of con- sciousness, there would appear at the wicket an ugly, distorted, wizened face, the mere caricature of the being who once lived there. Sensing the presence of such a phantom, they are afraid. Men and women whose lives have been fused and forged in the white heat of the life struggle do not care to face themselves because, as the years go by, they 100 EEDUCING THE COST OF LIVING become more arid more certain of what they would discover. There is 110 pleasure iu facing a real self which is a leering mask, welded over the possibilities of what might have been. The art of self-communion has died before the dread of self-revelation. To sit at rest under a shady tree ; to wander alone for hours through the woods and under the stars ; to paddle out over the shadowy depths of the lake, alone; to contemplate, and enjoy, these are phases of life little known in the modern world. They are little known because they imply that dread- ful task effacing things as they are and that still more awful necessity of facing things as they may be and will be. Men and women cling to their companions in order that their worst fears may not be realized. Men dread isolation ; seek madly to pile up this world's goods, and rushing into the market-place they crowd close among their companions, their souls crying aloud for succor and encouragement After years of such a life, they awake to the presence of an isolation more frightful than any other which the world can conceive, the isolation of the individual in a crowd, the marooning of a human soul on the island of goods which it has heaped together. The road to isolation lies through a struggle for supremacy in which dead things are the insignia of success. He who would draw near to his neighbor must first bare his own soul to himself. The struggle for goods is itself a bootless one. He who succeeds is hated, feared, cursed, flattered, and fawned upon. How shall he know that the many wlio hover about him are vultures awaiting the time when GETTING AHEAD 101 there shall be a feast of carrion f He who fails has already passed out of life. 6. THE PRICE OF GETTING AHEAD The struggle is frightful. Whether there is some- thing or nothing gained, the income earner is called upon to foot the bill. As the contest grows tenser, the demand for funds grows more insistent. The earner fights like a fiend, laying down his hopes, his tastes, his years and his health on the altar of greater income. What though the struggle is endless ? What though the ribbons and lace, the grand liveries and the costly furnishings are only the dross of home life ? What though, underneath the veneer of his respect- ability, the spirit within the man tells him that the end of this battle is death ? The demands cannot be ignored the demands from the folks at home. The people at home are trying to get ahead. Son is at college, buying his way into fame ; daughter is in the gay whirl, buying her way to a husband ; mother is in society, buying her way to a position, where she will be able to do the best by son and by daughter. Father pays ! All families do not sacrifice their dear ones on the altar of getting ahead. All families do not strive for futility. There are good things many of them coming out of Nazareth. Yet the well-to-do struggle for supremacy is, on the whole, a tragedy. The struggle with the neighbors is omnivorous. It takes, in income, all that men have. Of strength and health it devours all that they possess. For a reward, 102 KEDUCESTG THE COST OF LIVING it leaves with them treasures already cankered with rust. The standard of goods is raised, the cost of living is pushed upward. There are many, particularly among the well-to-do, who have fallen into line and are keep- ing the pace. They are paying dearly for their places, and so long as they seek satisfaction in the possession of things, they will continue to pay a higher and higher cost of life. vin PEICE CHANGES IN THE NECESSAEIES OP LIFE 1. EUNNING THE EACE ON NlNE HUNDRED THOSE who cannot pursue the phantom of social emulation feel the pinch of the rising cost of living none the less sharply. Whatever may happen to the luxuries of life, the necessaries must always be secured. The provision of "necessaries" is the problem that stares full into the face of the man who is raising a family on nine hundred a year, or less. There are families in the United States living on less than nine hundred. Despite the languid inquiry of the well-off, " How do they do it?" men and women are everywhere bringing families into the world, and raising them on that amount. Incomplete though they may be, personal experi- ences will convince any thinking person of the general prevalence of under- nine-hundred incomes. Nine hundred dollars is about three dollars for each working day. How many men get such an amount ? Does the baker's man or the butcher's helper, the motorman or the street laborer? Such wage figures as can be found seem to show pretty clearly that fully half of the men engaged in American industry earn less than $600 per year, while three-quarters receive less than $750. * 1 "Wages in the United States," Scott Nearing, New York, The Macmillan Company, 1911, Chapter X. 104 BEDUCING THE COST OF LIVING The great majority of the population is evidently living somewhere just above or just below the nine- hundred-a-year basis. When families live on nine hundred a year, or thereabouts, they have extraordinary difficulty to make ends meet. 1 Their struggle is a struggle for necessaries. For them the race is a race with malnutri- tion and insauitation. Families living on nine hundred a year therefore feel the increase in prices with ag- gravated keenness. The changing form of American life bears on the nine- hundred- dollar family. The same changes which have built cities have placed the nine-hundred-dollar family in the cities. The same changes which have raised the standards of life for the well-to-do have raised them for those less favored. Income is in many cases no greater, and rising standards of Amer- ican family life make the nine-hundred-dollar family dissatisfied. The real interest of the nine-hundred- dollar family does not lie, however, in changing stand- ards, but in changing prices. 2. THE NINE- HUNDRED -DOLLAR FAMILY AND THE CHANGE IN PRICES The ordinary family of three children living in a large town or city on nine hundred dollars must have its expenditures carefully planned if it is to live de- cently and get through the year without a deficit. Such a family spends about $350 a year for food. A rise of twenty per cent, in the cost of food is equiva- 1 " Financing the Wage Earner's Family," Scott Nearing, New York, B. W. Huebsch, 1913. PEICE CHANGES 105 lent to between seven and eight per cent, of the entire family income. Such a price change must be followed by a severe readjustment of expenditures. While price changes are thus vital to the nine-hun- dred-dollar family, they are none the less interesting to the family on two or three thousand dollars a year which is spending from $500 to $800 on its food. For the well-to-do, price increases mean a decrease in the number of luxuries ; for the nine-hundred-dollar fam- ily they mean a decrease in the comforts or necessaries. 3. THE GENERAL INTEREST IN PRICE CHANGES The man on the street may not understand the radi- cal transformation which has taken place in the home, the city, and the methods of making a living. He is fully aware, however, that during the past twenty years his best energies have been barely sufficient to increase his wages as fast as the increase in the prices of the things which he eats and wears. He does know that prices are high, with a marked tendency to go higher. He does know that a comparison between his grocer's book and his pay envelope, made twenty years ago and again to-day, leads him to believe that it is harder for him to get the same living now that he secured then. The man on the street knows these things, and knowing, he is dissatisfied. Mere knowledge is not enough, however. Even dissatisfaction will prove ineffective in finding a rem- edy unless it is based on careful study. Why have prices advanced ? Unless the man on the street can answer that vital question, he can scarcely hope to solve the cost of living problem. 106 EEDUCING THE COST OF LIVING It is not possible at the present stage of knowledge about prices to make final statements regarding the reasons for price changes. 1 In the future, price changes will doubtless continue, as they have in the past, until their riddle is finally solved. Certain ele- ments, like scarcity, that go to the fixing of prices, are fairly well understood. In the main, however, price changes are an enigma. The available price knowledge contained, for the most part, in state and Federal reports giving the bare price facts, is suggest- ive, if not conclusive. 4. THE PRICE FACTS The difficulties involved in securing reliable and satisfactory price figures are very great. Wholesale prices may always be found with comparative ease ; but since the consumer pays retail prices, and since wholesale and retail prices do not change in the same ratio from year to year, they are a poor makeshift for one who is seeking to find facts about the cost of the things which are bought over the counter. Another complication arises from the fact that retail prices vary from one town to another, and even from one part of the city to another. 2 Furthermore, the avail- able retail price knowledge does not cover all pur- chased commodities. Although the workingman spends less than half of his income for food, the 1 There are, of course, the elaborate theoretical discussions about prices. Based largely on hypotheses, they are philosophic, rather than scientific or prophetic. 2 See Appendix D. PEICB CHANGES 107 statements concerning the cost of living usually refer to food prices almost exclusively. This incomplete- ness of statement arises from the fact that practically no authentic figures are available to show the cost of rent and the retail prices of clothing, fuel, and light. To be sure there is some fragmentary material cover- ing rent in small areas, and a few kinds of clothing ; nevertheless, the really authoritative data on price changes relate to foods alone. Even in the case of food prices the figures are neither complete enough nor sufficiently extended in time to warrant more than tentative deductions. Of recent publications which have dealt with food prices, the most extensive study was published by the Massachusetts Commission l on the cost of living. Al- though a large body of data is brought together, the arrangement is poor, and the analysis inadequate. A recent report of the Washington Bureau of Labor Sta- tistics 2 contains a short section on the cost of living in Washington, in which a comparison is made be- tween the wholesale prices of food in 1890 and in 1910. The work seems to be carefully done. The reports of the Bureau of Statistics of New Jersey contain by far the most intrusive analysis of the cost of living. Fifty-two articles of food are selected, and during the month of June agents of the Bureau secure retail prices on this bill of goods in sixty-two towns scat- tered throughout the state, buying each year of the same tradesmen. Since 1890 the United States Bureau 1 "The Cost of Living," House Document, 1750, Boston, 1910. 'Seventh Biennial Report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1909-1910, Olympia, Wash., 1911. 108 KEDUCING THE COST OF LIVING of Labor has compiled statistics of wages and prices. Retail prices for this purpose have been secured iu a manner similar to that adopted in New Jersey. Un- fortunately, however, the number of localities selected has been so small in comparison with the entire country that the ultimate value of the data must be open to question. A recent bulletin states that " data from this report was secured from more than 650 retail mer- chants 1 (651 exactly), from 168 coal dealers, and 61 gas companies." " The (39) cities included in the report are important industrial cities, representing thirty-two states." "Within the thirty-nine cities live one-fifth of the total number of people, two-fifths of the urban population, and approximately one-third of those en- gaged in gainful occupations (not including those in agricultural), in continental United States. " 2 Further, the Federal investigation covers only fifteen articles of food, though these fifteen articles include two- thirds of the entire food purchases by a workiugmau' s family. Thus the Federal figures involve only a por- tion of food items, and only an infiuitesimally small number of merchants. Neither is the selection of articles so valid as that adopted in New Jersey. Since the price data are collected for the purpose of com- parison with wage-earners' incomes, the obvious thing to do would be to select those foods which wage-earners buy. This method has been followed in New Jersey ; x ln any one city of half a million there would be perhaps 1,800 retail food dealers three times the total number covered by the Bureau in their entire investigation of the thirty-nine cities. 2 Retail Prices, Bulletin 105, Part I, Wash. Govt. Print., pp. 5 and 6. PEICE CHANGES 109 but note that the list of the United States Bureau of Labor includes among fifteen items three meat items " sirloin steak," " round steak," and " rib roast " but no other cuts of beef. As a rule, it is the cheaper cuts, and not these more expensive ones, that the wage-earner buys. So, too, their quotation is for creamery butter alone, although the wage-earner al- most invariably buys the cheaper grades of butter. 5. WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO PRICES? Whatever the dependability of the New Jersey figures, their method of collection certainly wins for them first place among the retail price statistics. They show, as do all of the other figures available, that since 1898 the prices of most food products have been rising, though the rate at which they have risen varies extremely. All of the articles included in the New Jersey list have risen about thirty per cent. Among the items, rice and oatmeal remained sta- tionary ; butter, wheat flour, beef, and pork rose very rapidly ; while canned tomatoes and prunes rose slowly. The greatest increase is in bacon, which almost doubled in price. Without going into further detail regarding price increases, 1 it may be said that such facts as are available show that the prices of food have risen generally dur- ing the past two decades, but faster in some districts than in others. A very fair idea of the changes may be gained from a summary of four groups of figures relating to food prices. Two of the lists are for whole- sale prices and two for retail ; the periods covered are 1 For additional figures, see Appendix B. 110 EEDUCING THE COST OF LIVING not exactly the same ; the figures iuclude different numbers of articles ; yet the four sources show con- siderable uniformity. 8 Sg' co >o "* r- S 8 o Q sfa! 5 10 8 \* "***! llo *"H t l 00 CO O CO o < D H ^ a. ""1 H af 13 OS CO t- 5 8 S CO JO g" | | g H O 5 |0| 00 oi CO* 00 S CO CO ^* CO v B g ^ S o - M ^ *."S(j O* 1C OS C H OQ Q CL . '^ ^* 8 i S; g 1 2 i- fa rt "jj S 00 OS CO i-H fe si o t-J ci co CO C* i-l "f " M 03 O O fa^ ^N Q >-*s ^"*^ ^"^ ^^^ CO CO 00 -^ 1C TI< o< c o IH m "3 ri i-H i-( r-l (N * (wJ, o.V/.W) UOAJ 3}j r^ c co c* CO i-l "9 00 O5 IO CO OO t~ O 00 W OC O3 T-I oo in oo co eo i-l O (suovjiffl) uoijvjntfoj in in o os oc n CD i^ O TH CO 00 T i-l O ) Substitution of new re- sources. 6. The increasing gold supply. 6. () The use of fiat money, or () An international regula- tion of the old supply, and (<) Federal control over the issue of credit. 7. The increasing cost of raw 7. They occur chiefly in con- materials, nection with the increase in land values (see 8). 8. The increase in land values. 8. (a) A laud tax to absorb the full economic value of the land. (b) Land nationalization. 9. The increase in labor costs. 9. Increase in the efficiency of labor. ADDITIONAL MEANS FOR REDUCING THE COST OF LIVING 1. The elimination of private monopoly in all of its forms. 2. A system of taxation that will take all unearned values for social uses. 3. An increase in the service rendered to the citizen by the government. A comparison of this list of necessary remedies with the Democratic program will give some idea of the distance which statesmanship must travel before it has exhausted the full possibilities of the cost of living problem. He who is sincere in his desire to reduce the cost of living must be fully aware of the fact, be- coming daily more patent, that the solution for this, as for many of the other problems of value and dis- tribution, lies, not in any superficial remedy, but in a radical readjustment of some of the most fundamental 298 KEDUCING THE COST OF LIVING economic and social relations. No tabulation can give an adequate idea of the true nature of the questions at issue ; but if this study has done anything, it has shown that they are manifold. 3. THE CLEARING SOCIAL VISION The clouds of doubt and of uncertainty are clearing away little by little. Men and women are learning to see in this, and in many of the other industrial prob- lems which society is facing, an issue that society must meet and master in the very near future. A hundred years ago the Western World told itself that it might safely rely upon individual initiative for the supplying of its wants. Individualism was unan- imously elected. Has its administration proved a success ? Certain individuals feel that it has, but the great masses of mankind are questioning its results. To be sure individualism is satisfactory to the success- ful individual ; but does it give to men and women in the mass those good things of life which they were led to believe would be forthcoming if the individualistic system of industry were given a fair trial ? Individualism has probably proved of great advan- tage as a stimulus to endeavor during the formative period in the development of natural resources. Do the same forces which promised so richly at the dawn of America's history still commend themselves to the thoughtful citizen ? He gazes upon an ordered, organ- ized, socialized economic world, wondering, meanwhile, where lies the justification for those inequalities and those hardships which fall to the lot of so many. The nineteenth century was a century of rapid de- THE OUTLOOK 299 velopmeut, of deep-seated transformations. Society organized and unified itself. Families moved together into cities and towns. The nineteenth century was the century of American adolescence. At its close, men looked back, proud of their achievement. They looked forward, uncertain which way to go. The things of the nation's childhood must now be pat away. What were the childish things'? Who was there wise enough and strong enough to convince the people that certain ideas and practices belonged to early youth, and must be left behind with the passing of youthful years ? Perhaps the most significant of all of the changes which the nineteenth century had wrought was the reconstruction of popular ideas regarding the function of government. The change from village to city life, and from individualistic agriculture to cooperative industry underlay the change of thought. It was upon this basis that the new ideas were built. 4. THE FIELD OF SOCIAL SERVICE The eighteenth century had been taught to believe that "government" and a despotism " were synony- mous terms. "Back to nature," said Eousseau. " That government governs best which governs least," insisted Jefferson. Thus men sought to escape from the tyranny of authority. The nineteenth century has convinced Americans that there are things innumerable which the govern- ment can do far more effectively than the individual. Indeed, there is a great category of activities which must of necessity be government activities. The 300 SEDUCING THE COST OF LIVING policing and lighting of cities ; the organization and direction of popular education ; the planning of cities and towns ; the safeguarding of health through an in- spection of food and drink, these, and innumerable other services cannot be performed by the individual city dweller. For them he must rely upon the organ- ized government. The patency of these facts has con- vinced men that while government and despotism may have been synonymous terms in 1776, they are not necessarily synonymous to-day, since many of the services upon which life now depends are performed by the government in an entirely non-despotic fashion. Another transformation of view-point has followed the specialization of industrial districts and the inter- state commerce and commercial relations which inevi- tably result from such specialization. The people of the United States began the nineteenth century firmly convinced of the efficacy of the State's Eights princi- ple. They began the twentieth century with a dawn- ing consciousness of Federal unity. The State's Eights doctrine was rapidly giving place to the spirit of nationalism. Cooperative industry, highly developed means of communication, and the commercial inter- dependence of all parts of the union made state lines seem insignificant or useless, at the same time that they exalted broader ideals. The path of national thought seems quite plain. ' ' We desire good service and fair prices, ' ' the people insist. "Will individualism yield them? If it will not, then perhaps cooperative social service will yield them." Men have ceased to fear the government. They THE OUTLOOK 301 look upon the state as a servant rather than a master. Is the state better able than private initiative to sup- ply certain social needs ? If the answer is affirmative, there is no question but that the state will be given a chance to demonstrate its efficacy. Can private industry furnish the goods and services which the world requires at a reasonable price ? If its profession and practice are affirmative, it will con- tinue unchallenged. The developments of the past half century would seem to lay the whole subject open for controversy. Industrial opportunity has narrowed to an astounding degree ; the wealth of a few is un- thinkably great, while the misery of the lower strata of society is unquestionable and unquestioned ; and now, in these latter years, prices rise steadily, without auy corresponding increase in many an income. Has individualism proved a success ? Has it served society in the best possible way in which society might be served ? Would cooperative social activity be of more social service t The real test is the test of service. Un- less the system of individualism which the nineteenth century evolved can pass the acid test of service, or if there is any other means by which more effective service can be rendered, then, inevitably, the old sys- tem must give place. On every side there is a grow- ing belief that neither the cost of living nor any other of the pressing economic problems can be solved until social activity is substituted for individual initiative in the rendering of social service. In so far as the cost of living is concerned, this social service will be- gin with an organized effort to eliminate monopoly profits of every kind, to conserve and administer 302 EEDUCING THE COST OF LIVING natural resources for the benefit of society rather than of any individual, aud to raise the standard of effi- ciency both in the production and the distribution of wealth. Appendices APPENDIX A 305 t ' O> 00 "3 lO 1-1 I 10 m os t- ' t- 00 00 O5 I" ; ! rH OS OS OS f 1 1- OS CC W t~ i r. i" t- o '- CO OS rH O O C<5 TH rH T}< CO t I-H rH WJ CO I- * s rH 1 5gs On a - -5 0V9 i3-*^ I^Jl s a S-<^ "J S S < ^' c ' e S BJ c-gg-uaa^-So; &E S J * * S a Rr.*3^.l II ejO S S R,a fc MS O t^D^ S*2J * 306 APPENDIX A c Oo 005 MrH P^ _- S ft 55 u | *5 5 2 ri I ooS aocoiogpo>rHior-cf^j>.cr-l!-il-i-- t- rH <-( TJl ^H !- i-( CO rt o s ** t- on O a .S 4 JB S 6c o a jTgJ 1 "j" o 2, a _ G B * HS re's w>!s *% o .5 .S H o5 o IB 13 a ua'43.2 2P o a g a 8 1 1.4 * Ol CL v SS ** 1 rH CM t^ t GO rH O CO d Oi O 00 Oi t* Oi Oi CO r^ * oi e CD rH ^l r-i CO Oi O O O O Oi rH O rH U5 CO CO CD d t- to 00 CO ^J t^ O 01 Oi Oi Oi O OlrHQO * C* ^ i^ fc> ^ O CD t- CD in C Oi TJ< ^JJ CO f," T< eo' oi o Oi Oi Oi Oi O OCOOOrH OrHCOt^CO CO C* Oi CN CO O O Oi O O 00 -^ CO ^f 00 O IO 00-<} Tfi OO i r-> c* CN co co t-j o ct if 10 os co T eo* Tf co" ec o t^ ** * to co LO LO * t^ co r-< ci -j< ** 10 LO to oq oq e* * i-j -i co to od os' op LQ LQ LO to LO io o o - -i r-i C* OS rH OS r-J c^-^'ooii-J O O i-H C rH 00 O 00 O CO 00 i- OS i- i- 00 t CO O t< O O O l^ t^ T-I.-H IO iO i-J t l CO iH eo o CO O Oi IO r-J t-J uo o t-' r-^ ui io" to io co r- t^ CO OJ * co ui co co co O CO OS O C i-I oo' t o> o ro co co co co t^ eo CO CO O U3 r-t O - CO 00 W U5 O coco'r-I IOUJU5 O CN t^ odoioo* IQUJiO CO "* O CO rH ^ ^iO co oo' *' eo' io O O i-H t-i r-( O r-J OS O CJ Cl O5 J> C CO O5 t^ 10" os eo -< o - CO O3 T< 00 * OS lO * Tt 00 OS O CO CO'CI-('TI< "* O CO 00 C* CO CO Tj< CO QTHO OOCO lOCo'to U5iOO U5U5LO ifllOlO TJ< o > co aq co os co t- 10 c ^ o i-t o os co c t> eo COOO'oO -^ at 8 -fl a g ^ a. 2 rrj O M>.? a) a ti pin ^ a ^ * RSI | D **^ 35 * ^"o ** Ilil S i o " '^ IS a * S b c3 55 I 1 a s e I* 25 Ji'-E s^ aSCOt- OS C< Ct CO rH rH C5 00 t- t~ 10' co oo r^" os co co o d o-i r-i rH O 00 CN #* 1> O rH O5 * c rn t- e i> 10 co ^rHrH rH(lC rH^t-^ OOOSOs' 1C "C O IO>CIC COOCO CDCOCp rH l> Q 00 t~ OS OS O IO 00 00 00 O5COOS ICtOOO OrHCO co co co CO CO O rH CO C* CO O CO i-^ ic co o oo ei co' co' o os' d os' ICIOU3 COiCCO COCOl- COt-CO CO O K5 < CO 00 CO US ooocscaooooocoooooooo 3 1 i N: * ;iii; 'g &g< -^ 3*,*>-g aJsS ff ? 1 1 fell S" Sf 8 r o 2 & S * * ' 312 APPENDIX B os o oo o o so co -* o t^ t- "* m us o c< OD w o *-> oo O t- t" -V CD 00 O 00 OS M C iH C< r-t rH rH Appendix C THE MOVEMENT OP FOOD PRICES AND OF EARNINGS IN NEW JERSEY, 1898-1912 l OF the entire list of fifty articles, thirty-eight show increases, aud twelve decreases of prices in 1912, compared with 1911. The greatest increase is in the price of " old potatoes," which, in 1911, averaged $0.898 per bushel, and in 1912, $1.387 per bushel, an ad- vance of $0.489, or more than 54 per cent. This increase was offset to some extent by a reduction of $0.263 in the price of " new po- tatoes. ' ' Flour per 25 K>. bag, first aud second qualities, shows an advance of $0.068 and $0.063 respectively. The various cuts of beef show increases ranging between two and three cents per pound, and pork, mutton and lamb, show smaller increases. The average prices of meats are not as high as they are said to be in offhand discussions of the increase in the cost of living. The prices quoted for "sirloin steak" averages 25.5 cents, "round steak," 22 cents, and "rib roast," 20.7 cents per pound, and "bacon" shows an actual reduction of six-tenths of a cent per pound below the average for 1911. The net increase in average prices is, as pointed out in the review of Table No. 1, $0.917, or 6.6 per cent. In 1911, the average yearly earnings of the approximately 350,000 operatives, including men, women and young persons of both sexes employed in manufacturing industry throughout the state, skilled aud unskilled, was $531.94. In 1912, the average earnings were $544.30, an increase of $12.36, or 2.3 per cent. So far as food sup- plies are concerned, therefore, the earnings of factory and workshop employees show a net falling off in purchasing power of 4.4 per cent, in 1911, as compared with 1910. In 1898, the list of forty-three articles showed a total cost of $16.901 ; in 1912, the price at which the same goods may be pur- 1 Thirty-fifth Annual Report of the Bureau of Statistics of Labor and Industries of New Jersey ; Sinnickson Chew & Sons Company, 1913, pp. 152-154. 313 314 APPENDIX C chased is, as shown by the table, $22.708 ; the increase that has taken place during the past fourteen years in the bill of goods is therefore $5.807, or 34.36 per cent. ; which is an average of 2.45 per cent, for each of these years. Of the forty-three articles included in the comparison only five show slight decreases in 1912 as com- pared with 1898 ; these are : Oatmeal in package, Java coffee, and the three varieties of tea black, green and mixed. All others show increases. Flour, first quality, shows an increase of 41.15 per cent. ; second quality, 46.67 per cent. ; butter per pound, 81.06 per cent. The highest percentages of increase are shown by the several varieties and cuts of meat beef, pork and mutton. The advance in bacon is 74.38 per cent. ; fresh pork, 67.86 per cent. ; ham, 53.78 per cent. ; beef corned brisket, 60.00 percent. ; corned round, 49.17 per cent. ; sirloin steaks and round steaks, 36.36 and 44.74 per cent, respectively, and ribs of roast beef, 32.69 per cent. Of the thirty-eight articles showing an increase, eight have ad- vances less than ten per cent. ; six show increases of over ten, but under twenty per cent. ; five show increases ranging from twenty to forty per cent. ; six show increases of over forty, but under sixty per cent. ; and thirteen are in the class showing advances ranging upward from sixty to the highest eighty-one per cent. It would be impossible to make a reasonably accurate estimate of just what the percentage of increase has been in the outlay per family for food supplies, from any deductions drawn from the fig- ures shown by the table. The entire bill of goods is, it is true, 34.36 per cent, higher than it could have been purchased for four- teen years ago, but it should be borne in mind that the abnormally great increase in the prices of a comparatively small number of articles contained in the bill is responsible for producing the high average increase shown by the table. A definite knowledge of how far the increase of prices has affected incomes can be arrived at only by ascertaining to what extent families have turned to the use of the lower priced cuts of meat and other varieties of foods as substitutes for those showing the greatest increases. . With regard to how far wages or earnings have responded to the upward movement of prices, we find that as shown by the "Sta- tistics of Manufactures of New Jersey," the average yearly earnings of all classes of labor, skilled and unskilled, men, women and minors, employed in the factories and workshops of New Jersey APPENDIX C 315 in 1910, was, as stated above, $531.94 ; in 1911, the average for these same employees as shown by the same authority is $544.30 ; the increase for the year is, therefore, nearly 2.3 per cent., while the increase in the bill of food supplies for the same time is 6.6 per cent., which leaves the purchasing power of incomes, earnings and wages, in factory and workshop industries, just 4.3 per cent, lower than it was in 1910. Since 1898, a period of fourteen years, the average annual eara- iugs of factory and workshop employees in New Jersey have ad- vanced 24.5 per cent., which falls 9.8 per cent, short of offsetting the increase in prices. Appendix D V ABLATION IN THE COST OP LIVING FOE SIXTY -Six NEW JEBSEY TOWNS, 1912 County City or Town Total Retail Prices of a List of Fifty Articlet l Hunterdon .... Califon . . $10 915 Hunterdon .... Glen Gardner .... 12 579 Moutnouth .... Allenwood .... 12 953 Hudson Jersey City ... 12 997 Morris Flanders 13 035 Warren Phillipsburg .... 13 050 Monmouth .... Marlboro ... 13 260 Morris , Middle Valley .... 13 324 Monmouth .... Freehold .... 13 535 Burlington .... Burlington .... 13 740 Hudson ..... Hoboken .... 13.783 Hudson Harrison . . 13 942 Mercer Trenton .... 13.956 Cumberland .... Millville .... 13.985 Atlantic .... Mays Landing ... .... 14 017 Monmouth .... Matawan .... 14.022 Hunterdon .... Hieh Bridge . .... 14 150 Bergen Garfield .... 14 172 Warren Marksboro . . . .... 14 270 Monmouth .... .... 14.289 Sussex Still water .... 14.351 Sussex Monroe .... 14 351 Gloucester .... 14 367 Somerset Somerville .... 14.462 Morris Dover .... 14.560 Hunterdon .... New Germantown . . . .... 14.561 Essex Newark 14 570 Essex Newark .... 14.634 Monmonth .... .... 14.650 Warren Oxford 14.673 1 Forty-eight articles of food ; soap ; and kerosene oil. 316 APPENDIX D 317 VABIATION IN THE COST OF LIVING FOB SIXTY-SIX NEW JEBSEY TOWNS, 1913 Continued County City or Town Total Retail Pricet of a List of Fifty Artidet Ocpan . New Egypt . .... $14.727 Ocean . .... 14.474 Middlesex . .... 14.755 Wiirren . Belvidere .... 14.798 Chester .... 14.810 Warren .... 14.830 Middlesex . .... 14.851 Warren Port Colden .... 14.854 Sussex . .... 14.873 Atlantic Ifuniniontou ..... .... 14.878 Hunterdon .... 14.897 Union . . . .... 14.900 Cumberland .... 14.900 Morris .... 14.974 Essex Belleville .... 14.980 Burlington ... Mt. Holly .... 15.000 Warren ...... .... 15.019 Gloucester Woodbury . . 15.025 Essex Orange . . 15.171 Salem Salem . . 15 220 Sussex Swartewood . . 15 251 Cape May Cape May 15 270 Morris Boontou 15 457 Warren Hackettstown ... 15 475 Warren Washington .15 550 Ocean Manahawkiu 15 625 Passaio Paterson . . 15 668 Middlesex .... New Brunswick .... .... 15 733 Burlington .... Bordentown .... 15 821 Passaio Passaio .... . 15 880 Middlesex .... Cranbury .... 15 919 Camden Camden ... . . 15 998 Bergen Hackensaok .... 16 089 Mercer Princeton . . 16 147 Essex South Orange .... 16 920 Rutherford . . 17 356 An examination of the table will show that, generally speaking, prices are lowest in the smaller country towns and highest in the 318 APPENDIX D most select residential communities. This can be explained in great part, if not entirely by the difference in store rent, salaries of clerks, store fittings, delivery, and other expenses incidental to store management, which are, as a matter of course always very much greater in the large cities and towns. In these places dealers handle groceries alone, while in the country store all kinds of goods are usually sold in addition to food supplies, and there is therefore a much wider range of merchandise from which the profits of the business may be drawn. 1 Thirty-fifth Annual Report of the Bureau of Statistics of Labor and Industries of New Jersey, Camden : Sinnickson Chew & Sons Company, 1913, p. 151. APPENDIX E 319 U5 00 43 | O OS OS t 1 * CO r-t OS OD t t-- * H 03 *"O O i fe a* U S QS O- 3 CO 00 (N COtH o <* s 1^'^ i-H os o co f dri O* O* CN oi H a^ E ^ * CO 00 tH Jl H ll^i^ OS TH I-I O C* C CO CO CO CO o S '^ fc 1 1 5 o M I u CM OS CO CO iH t^ t* t* CD CO 5 1 ! OS OS OS CS O OS OS OS OS O o H V* CD l^ CO OS T-I 1 H n 333SS 1 II fi g ft *^ i ^5 *^ r- I 320 APPENDIX F I PH m 1 S I PH PH a u O- ^ e- o fe ITEM , t^< yi i> O> lO -^ TH co" *io in co a :-, o ' a -S ^ CO S OOi^*CiCO^^J*C^ COOOOi-iOCOOD QDco-^cocoineof- OJi"HOOi- neoeoco OTHi-io COi-HOOr-IOCOCO o O5 i || &D 5 n . t, K illlllt *4i^ga>0a) APPENDIX F 321 OS -.rz!^^^; o S 8 00<>CCOr-IOTtO> oeo-tiOi-io-^oo W 6C e| s 1^ ifl : bcS APPENDIX F 323 SSS &: US 5* IS 5* 8 ' 52 U3 OS J< 1-1 ' oi 1 - J5 ^H us ,_; 8.83S 58 98 I Di Insuran 8 g.83 CO * 00 U5 co CO 2 J CD S . H* o Sj 5 S-g << u o aS .ll t'!l 'S^S fSliflB fc 3 E 8 324 APPENDIX F ^ 00 TP O O5 * CO CO * OS CO CO CM * CNff*C* t^fMO U5 TH T- O O O O 1- CO O O O O * o co o rH 1 s. & "* 1 a - TH eo trctr T)< rH TH O O O O CD O O O O O CO rH CO s s O) 8 rj co" r- 1 00 F CO OS CO t~ CO t 1 CO O d CO CO COO5C< 'CO ^THt"* >O TH rH O O O O <* CO O O O CO s CD co fc D * s & -* rH 3 C^THTH OOO^SS ' TH 'CO 1 1 o o TH fc O s 8 . . * TH O s o CO OS ^S52 "Sgg^ TH 'g o 00 CO S 1 ^ . "* 1 ( EC ' CO o * co (S s co * o e H O &c Q S d s :::::::::: i : : : X w il .1 05 ' PS^ S i-( 1 O ?bo S ' _**' ^. a s -'Is u % ** CD ^* G -^ 2 *s i, " Q OH ^ ?* 9> *^i t? TO 03 ^ C Q ^ O ff 3 s 5 APPENDIX F 325 s It a x jg -5'. 327 Appendix I THE ANNUAL OUTPUT OF GOLD AND THE PEICE INDEX NUMBEB, 1850 TO 1912 l Year World's Annual Output of Gold Wholesale Prices (Index Numbers) 1850 $ 44,500,000 89.2 1851 67,600,000 98.6 1852 132,800,000 97.9 1853 155,500,000 105.0 1854 127,500,000 105.0 1855 135,100,000 109.2 1856 134,000,000 112.3 1857 134,000,000 114.0 1858 133,000,000 113.2 1859 130,000,000 102.9 1860 127,000,000 100.0 1861 122,000,000 94.1 1862 119,000,000 101.6 1863 119,000,000 91.1 1864 122,000,000 110.7 1865 126,000,000 107.4 1866 127,000,000 134.0 1867 127,000,000 132.2 1868 126,000,000 125.6 1869 125,000,000 112.3 1870 123,000,000 119.0 1871 119,000,000 122.9 1872 113,000,000 121.4 1873 112,000,000 114.5 1874 90,750,000 116.6 1875 97,500,000 114.6 1876 103,700,000 108.7 1877 113,947,200 107.0 1878 119,092,800 103.2 1879 108,778,800 95.0 1880 106,436,800 104.9 1881 103,023,100 108.4 328 APPENDIX I 329 THE ANNUAL OUTPUT OF GOLD AND THE PRICE INDEX NUMBER, 1&50 TO 1912 Continued Year World's Annual Output of Gold Wholesale Prices (Index Numbers) 1882 $101,996,600 109.1 1883 95,392,000 106.6 1884 101,729,600 102.6 1885 108,435,600 93.3 1886 106,163,900 93.4 1887 105,774,900 94.5 1888 110,196,900 96.2 1889 123,489,200 98.5 1890 118,848,700 112.9 1891 130,650,000 111.7 1892 146,651,500 106.1 1893 157,494,800 105.6 1894 181,175,600 96.1 1895 198,763,600 93.6 1896 202,251,600 90.4 1897 236,073,700 89.7 1898 286,879,700 93.4 1899 306,724,100 101.7 1900 254,576,300 110.5 1901 260,992,900 108.5 1902 296,737,600 112.9 1903 327,702,200 113.6 1904 347,377,200 113.0 1905 380,288,700 115.9 1906 402,503,000 122.5 1907 412,966,600 129.5 1908 442,476,900 122.8 1909 454,059,100 126.5 1910 455,259,800 131.6 1911 461,542,100 129.2 1 Figures 1850 to 1889 from "The Gold Supply and Prosperity," B. W. Holt, New York, The Moody Corporation, 1907. pp. 76-79. Gold figures 1800 to 1912 from "Statistical Abstract of the United States, for 1012," p. 797. Wholesale Prices, 1890 to 1912, Bulletin 114, United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, Wash- ington, Government Printing Office, 1913, p. 9. 330 APPENDIX J **' 1 1C rH 00 l> rH ^; rH 00 OS O O* CO * 00 t- 00 O rH f- CO CO rH rH 00 TH OS Ct 00 OS rH CO rH 00 1C O rH rH rH OOOO O O O ^* rH 1C ^* O OS J> 1C C l> ^< CO TT rH rH ^ 1 CO CO C IC'LC OS J> C CO O O CO CD OS O OS 00 t" CO OS 00 O l~- CS OS rH ri 05 i 3 rH 00 OS CC 00 O O CO I s - t^" O OS rH O 00 CO t^ O CO Ci (M t- (M 'J* OS O 00 00 ^^ O ~ & 2 rH H s os oo co os >c CO 1C 1C *< t- o'co'co" n ''ALUES. 1 00 CO OS CO W OS 1C 00 ri t- O5 OS O C* (?1_O5 00 CD CO~ rH^CO^CO" rH ! ^-* *** r* s g fi OS -^ C n 1 CO 1C CO (M O rHrH 1> S g s ^ r-<^ < O rH OS CO lj o t~ CO . . . s . hH ^ a ' 1 S .'..-.?.. . . . a . 1 ' all Property ' Land . . . Buildings . Implements Live Stock Division or St ulsll o o o o o APPENDIX J 331 * 00 -* lO d CO to ^* co co 00 00 TH CO TH CO TH SJS S3 CO O -5 N CO 00 CO 00 T-I co oo in o o * m TH in IS 0. O* co CO !N of w of TH 10 8S TH I 1 TH O O O m co TH os TP m oo o* CO O> Q TT <*< O OS O5 TH O lO co co O O5 0, c V co in *P co in oo co os TH I O 00 O5 O5 00 cc m m oo yt CO CO S oo cog; ^ O CO TH J> 00 i> o co i-Tco" co co -** 1 co CO J> TH co "* o oo DO fc 1 TC O O5 O m 1> T-( t~ O) m (M O (?< UD IO CO" (N OD a> c t- CO O5 W 00 OC M IC O 1C O rH O t ( S r3 o S C5 . " 8 ^ i^ oo co ^ fi o o o o o o o o o o o o pan g K ^< 1C 1C O5 Tfi O3 IH 3 1-1 CO O< lO O O t* 00 S, H 3 00 -^f CO CO O i O C< d t O 1O K ^ ^ gS g a 1 1 co co t o ad~oi r-! 1-1 -^ (M IO * "5 CO O5 CO UO i-i i-( rH H 59 - H^S 3 3 co ic co * co ^co UD 00 l> 00 O5 OJ 00 Tt T< in uo 10 r^ t- w >o t^ 00 OS O rH 91 O O r-> rH rH Ow 09 W Oft iM H O o o o o o o o g 3 ^ -S co co ic r-i 1-1 co co o o o o o o o o o o o o o o Hpui i__ M *& T-. KoTic * t-" O O 00 O3 O r-l co o 1-1 o Ol^t^'^t^COOGi 1 a i' t-OJUit-OOOi-iTH rHrHr-li-lClWOl to c -3 _c . ",89 M 2 >-j~ o" TEKN ( i osocvfooco'co'coi-r OJCNcococoeo'S'eo z B >> 5> 1 t" B 00.2;-, mja !1.*1 a f" lii^l ^ I Irfal? S os^TO co o CD us t^- o >a co co o co"rH r- Totr^ 1 ^i" ssioner of Taj 1 a'o 1 i lliiH o < < .0 a .! o .c .2 '3 3 5 ** p j: o e J1^1 UU s "g "- 6 6 8" E E S C} c >,^^^ii> I 8M8v9vlPt i) O.g y c S c 3 !> 00 OS O i 1 IN - s> H Appendix L AVERAGE WAGE RATES PER MONTH FOR OUTDOOR FARM LABOR, HIRED BY THE YEAR, WITHOUT BOARD, 1866 TO 1909' Year United States North A tlantic South Atlantic North Central South Central West- ern 1866 ... $15.50 $22.04 $10.67 $20.39 $12.57 $40.28 1869 .... 15.50 22.36 10.72 20.01 13.18 46.38 1874 or 1875 17.10 24.09 12.73 21.11 14.55 40.69 1877 or 1878 1878 or 1879 (combined) 16.79 20.42 11.49 20.73 14.88 33.68 1879 or 1880 17.53 21.23 12.25 21.88 15.16 34.77 1880 or 1881 18.52 22.52 12.87 22.81 16.31 36.01 1881 or 1882 19.11 24.21 13.70 24.08 16.52 36.67 1884 or 1885 19.22 23.88 13.79 23.51 15.65 37.19 1887 or 1888 19.67 24.15 13.88 23.67 15.84 35.64 1889 or 1890 19.45 24.72 13.94 22.25 16.10 33.96 1909 .... 25.46 30.89 18.76 30.55 20.27 44.35 1 United States Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Statistics, Bulletin 99, Washington, Government Printing Office, 1912, p. 29. 334 Index AGRICULTURAL labor, wages of, 194. 195 American city population, change in 1790-1910, 45 American life, changing form of, 41-51 ; movement from vil- lages into cities, 43 American living standard, grow- ing higher, 41 ; increase in wants, 35, 36 Anthracite coal industry, wages in, 197, 198 Average prices, 1890-1913, Ap- pendix B; retail, 1898-1913, Appendix B " BACK to nature," possibilities of, 210 Banking, necessity for centralized form of, 28 Boston, increase in land value, 1 86, 187, 191 ; land valuation, 1887-1911, 189; price in- creases, 1890-1910, no Brooklyn, per capita increase in land value, 1 88 Building trades, wage increase in, 199 Buying, education for, 229 ; rules for, 232 CEREAL crops, production of, 129 Cereals, per capita acre yield in United States, 132 Changes in American family life, 48-50 _ Children, services of, 224 Cities, effect of development of, on services, 57 City dweller and the land, 218 City land, taxation of, 291 City land values, effect of New York Subway on, 185 ; in- crease in. Appendix K City man and the land, 222 City markets and efficiency of food distribution, 245 City woman and the land, 222, 223 Civilization, effect of on goods and services, 53 ; pressure of on living standards, 82 ; and increasing prices, 206 Cloths and clothing, price in- creases, 171 Coal, production of, 146 Coal Trust, and the price of coal, 162 Cold storage, part in price regu- lation, 244-245 Combination and profits, 279, 280 Comforts, definition of, 67 Compensated dollar as a medium of exchange, 269, 270, 271 Competition, effects of, 278 ; and progress, 2 10; and small prof- its, 279 ; undesirability of, 210 Conservation, definition of, 248 ; effect of on cost of living, 248- 258 ; essential element in price control, 248 ; and the State, 256, 257, 258 Consumer, power of, 232, 233 ; see Buying 336 INDEX Cooperation, advantages of, 53 ; consumers', abroad, 236; con- sumers', United States, 237, 238; and social service in reduction of living costs, 301 ; transition from competition to, 279, 280 Cost of government, 88, 89 ; in France, 89, 90 ; in Massa- chusetts, 89, 90; in United Kingdom, 89, 90 Cost of living, appeal of the home, 32 ; attitude of Democratic party toward, 25-27 ; attitude of political parties toward, 23, 24 ; attitude of Republican party toward, 31 ; burden of statesmanship in reduction of, 295 ; standard decided by civi- lization, 35 ; effect of Demo- cratic policy on, 29 ; effect of producers' co5peration, 246 ; factors increasing the, 201, 202; forces modifying, 117; increase in prices, 1890-1913, Appendix B; increase in wages, 200 ; magnitude of problem, 297, 298 ; movement to the land, 220, 221 ; New Jersey, 1898-1913, Appendix B ; out- look for reduction of, 295-302 ; political issue, 23-30 ; problem of, originates in the home, 33 ; responsibility for high, 122, 1 23 ; social problem, 3 1-40 ; variation in for New Jersey towns, Appendix D Costs of production, 120 ; of paper, Appendix F Cotton, production of, 146 Credit, international adjustment of, 275 ; medium of exchange, 273, 274 ; monopoly of, 285 ; socialization of, 274, 275 Credit money, effect of on prices, 147; use of, 139 Currency law, effects of on prices, 28 ; passage of by Democratic party, 28 DAIRY products, supply of, 128 Democratic administration, steps toward reduction of cost of liv ing, 296 Democratic party, activities oi toward price reduction, 27, 28 ; attitude of toward cost of living problem, 2427 ; effect of high prices upon, 26, 27 ; regulation of trusts, 29 ; responsibility of for reducing living costs, 295 Domestic science, education for, 230; home schools for the teaching of, 236; home train- ing in, 235 ; importance of, 233 ; place of, in school, 23 1 Drug Trust, and the price of drugs, 1890-1912, 161 EARNINGS, and food prices, New Jersey, Appendix C Eastern States, increase in farm land value per acre, 181 Economic forces, and price changes, 117 Education, effect on efficiency of food distribution, 247 ; effect on standard of necessaries, 82 ; for buying, 229, 230; for do- mestic science, 230 ; social (see Social Education) Effort, goods the end of, 97 Exchange medium, compensated dollar, 269-271 ; fiat money, 271,272; increasing efficiency of, 267-276 ; increasing stabil- ity of, by international agree- ment, 276; stabilizing the, 267, 268 Expenditures, for various kinds of food, III; per cent, for cer- tain kinds of food, Appendix E INDEX 337 Extravagance, in modern life, 79, 80 FAMILY, a buyer, not a producer, 50, 5 1 ; characteristics, changes in, 47-50 ; economic solidarity of in nineteenth century, 49 ; industrial in the twentieth cen- tury, 49 ; necessities and lux- uries of, 38 Family life, basis of cost of living problem, 46 Farmer and the land, 225 Farm labor, wages of, 194, 195, Appendix L Farm land, increase in value of, 1900-1910, 179, 180; tax- ation of, 292 ; total value, Ap- pendix J Farm land increases, East and West, 181 ; of geographical divisions in United States, 180 Farm land values, increase in, Appendix J Farm products, price increases, 1890-1912, 170 Fiat money, as a medium of ex- change, 271, 272 Fillebrown, C. B., quoted, 186, 187 Fisher, I., quoted, 114, 140, 141, 143, 149, 151 Floods and conservation of tim- ber land, 252, 253 Folks, Homer, quoted, 185 Food distribution, and commission merchants, 244 ; and the job- ber, 244 ; and specialization, 241, 242 ; direct relation be- tween producer and consumer, 242, 243 Food expenditures, per cent, for certain foods, Appendix E ; proportion of and price changes, III-II2 Food, increasing efficiency of dis- tribution, 240-247; kinds bought, in; rise in price of, 23 Food prices, 1890-1913, Appen- dix B ; and earnings, New Jersey, 1898-1912, Appendix C ; effect of farm land increases on, 184 ; variations in Wash- ington, 112, 113 Food supply, adequacy of, 131, 132, 135 ; and population in- crease, 124, 131, 132; limita- tions on, 125 ; and the meat famine, 129, 130 France, cost of government in, 89, 90 Franchises and monopoly profits, 282, 283 Fuel and light, price changes in. 114 GENERAL prices, fallacy of, 151 Glass Trust and price of glass products, 1890-1912, 161 Gold, annual output of, 146 ; an- nual output of and the price index, Appendix I ; as a stand- ard of value, 137, 138 ; as the medium of exchange, 267 ; ef- fect of on prices, 141 ; increase in supply of, 144 ; stock of, Appendix H ; total supply of, 153 Gold production, 1850-1912, Ap- pendix I ; increase in, 144, 145 Gold supply, effect on prices, 154 ; government regulation of, 268, 269; increase in, 136; offsets to, 145 ; of the world, 146 Goods philosophy of life, 97 Government, change in attitude toward, 299, 300, 301 ; cost of, 88, 89 ; part of in regulation of monopoly power, 287, 288 ; part of in regulating service and prices, 299, 300 338 INDEX Growth of cities, effect of growth of industry on, 45 HEALTH and labor efficiency, 262 High cost of living, attempts to personalize blame for, 204 ; complexity of, 116; responsi- bility of producer for, 204 Hobson, J. A., quoted, 147 Holt, B. W., quoted, 138, 139, 140, 153 Home, and the teaching of do- mestic science, 235 ; changes in, 234, 238 ; functions of, 234 Home schools and domestic sci- ence, 236 IMPORT duties, reduction of, 27 Income and wants, relation of, 212 Income, burden of services upon, 64 ; effect of industrial revolu- tion on, 240, 241 Income tax, effectiveness of, 292, 293 Increase in cost of production, complexity of factors, 165, 166; and cost of product, 165 ; ef- fect of transportation rates on, 1 66; interest, 166 Increase in land values, Boston, 1 86, 187 ; city, East and West, 190, 191 ; effect on cost of liv- ing, 1 66 Increase in Massachusetts yearly earnings, 198 Increase in total population, 1790- 1910, Appendix G Increase in wages, and the cost of living, 200 Increase of wants, effect of on happiness, 36 Increased cost of living, causes of and remedies for, 296, 297 Increased efficiency of labor, defi- nition of, 259 Increasing cost of living, mean- ing of, 36, 37 ; wants, increase in. 37 Increasing gold supply, 136 Increasing prices, causes of, 116 Individualism, its part in indus- try, 298, 301 Industrial combination, and the cost of living, 155 Industrial monopoly, control of profits, 286 ; effect on prices, 285, 286 Industrial revolution, overthrow of handcraft industries, 43 ; secondary sources of income, 240, 241 Industry, changing form of, 44 ; effect of inventions on, 43 Inheritance tax, use of, 292, 293 JENKS, J. W., quoted, 156, 157 LABOR costs, increase in, 193-200 Labor efficiency and health, 261 ; and premature death, 262, 263 ; and scientific management, 264, 265 ; and specialization, 263, 264 ; and wages, 265 ; ef- fect of education and skill on, 260, 261; possibility of, 259 Labor, increase in cost of, 1866- Land, and the city dweller, 218; place of in production, 176 ; movement to the, 217, 218, 219; taxation of, 290, 291; ownership and monopoly power, 281, 282 Land products, effect of conser- vation on prices of, 242, 249 Land values, increase in city, Appendix K ; increase in Bos- ton, Appendix K ; increase in Brooklyn, Appendix K ; in- crease in Dallas, Appendix K ; increase in Houston, Appen- INDEX 339 dix K ; increase in Newark, Appendix K ; increase in New York City, Appendix K ; in- crease in Trenton, Appendix K Layton, W. T., quoted, 148 Living, American standard of, 33 ; each social group its own meaning of, 34 ; meaning of, 33-35 J purpose of, 37 Living standards, diversity of, 34 Loans and discounts, Appendix H Lumber and building materials, price increases, 172 Luxuries and necessaries, dis- tinction between, 68 Luxuries, and the neighbors, 92 ; and the well-to-do, 69 ; ap- prisal of, 69 ; definition of, 67 ; growth of, a menace, 71 ; pro- duction of, 69, 70 ; profits from, 6 1 ; reasons for, 68, 71, 72 ; rising standard of, 69 ; statistics of production, Ap- pendix A ; use of as a bar to necessaries, 70 Luxury, social burden of, 77 MACHINERY, development of and productive labor, 63 ; monop- oly of, 286, 287 Mail order house, part of in re- ducing cost of living, 246, 247 Making a living, changes in methods, 42 Making work, fallacy of, 76 Malthus, T., quoted, 131, 132; predictions of, 132 ; ultimate philosophy, 133 Manufacturing industries, in- crease in wages, 199 Massachusetts Commission on Cost of Living, quoted, 164, 200 Massachusetts, cost of govern- ment in, 89, 90; increase in yearly earnings, 198 ; statis- tics of yearly earnings, 198 McMaster, J. B., quoted, 86, 87 Meat animals, decrease in num- ber of, 127, 130 Meat famine, menace of, 129 Meat supply, and the increase in population, 125, 126 Metals and implements, price changes in, 173 Middleman, effect of on cost of living, 246, 247 Mileage of railroads, 146 Mineral land, taxation of, 292 Mineral resources, conservation of, 250 Money and credit, international adjustment of, 275 Money and prices, 138 Money, total in circulation, 1912, 39 Monopoly, of machinery of pro- duction in United States, 287 ; and the price of boots and shoes, 162 ; and rising prices, 119; prevalence of in United States, 278 Monopoly prices, how fixed, 25 1 Monopoly profits and the fran- chise, 282, 283 ; and land own- ership, 281, 282; and the patent, 284 ; definition of, 277 ; elimination of, 277-288 NATURAL resources, classes of, 249 Necessaries and luxuries, distinc- tion between, 68 Necessaries and social standards, 84 Necessaries, ascending standard of, 79 ; definition of, 67, 79 ; effect of education on, 82 ; ef- fect of unequal income on, 84 ; in the eighteenth century, 85- 87; production of, 80; rising standards, 90 ; statistics of pro- duction, Appendix A 340 INDEX Neighbors, and a " goods " stand- ard of judgment, 94, 96 ; and competition, 93 Newark, increase in land value, 191 New Jersey Bureau of Statistics, quoted, 113 New Jersey, cost of living, 1898- 1913, Appendix B; price in- creases since 1898, 109; varia- tions in cost of living for sixty- six towns, Appendix D ; prices, percentage of increase, 1898- 1911, no New York City, assessment of land and improvements, 187, 1 88; Bronx total land value increase, 1 88; increase in land values, Appendix K ; effect of subway on, 185 ; Manhattan per capita increase in land value, 1 88 ; Richmond increase in land values, 188; total in- crease in land value, 188, 189 NINETEENTH CENTURY, develop- ment in, 298, 299 ; function of government, 299 Nitrogen starvation, menace of, '33. 134 North Central States, farm land increases, 1900-1910, 183; in- crease in population and acre- age, 182 Notes in circulation, Appendix H Nutrition and the nitrogen sup- piy. '33. 134 PAPER, cost of production of, Ap- pendix F Paper Trust and price of paper products, 161 Patents and monopoly profits, 284 Philanthropy as a luxury, 72, 73 Pig-iron, production of, 146 Platinum, as a medium of ex- change, 268 Population, increase of and the food supply, 124; increase of and the meat supply, 125, 126; increase in total, 1790-1910, Appendix G Price change figures, method of collection in New Jersey, 108 Price changes and economic forces, 117; and proportion of food expenditure, 1 1 2 ; fuel and light, 1 14 ; future of, 1 14, 115; in necessaries, and the $900 family, 103, 104 ; in necessaries of life, 103-115; Massachusetts data, 107 ; New Jersey data, 107, 108 ; reasons for, 105, 1 06 ; universal inter- est in, 105 ; variation in, 1 10 ; Washington data, 107 ; whole- sale, 113, 114 Price data, difficulty in obtaining, 106, 107 Price increase, causes of, 1 16 ; raw materials, effect on cost of living, 167 ; New Jersey, 1898- 1913, Appendix B ; ratio of, 1890-1913, Appendix B; vital to workingman, 104, 105 Price increases, a conquerable obstacle, 206; and the trusts, 155, 156; cloths and clothing, 171 ; farm products, 1890- 1912, 170; inconvenient to well-to-do, 103, 104; lumber and building materials, 172 ; meaning to well-to-do, 39 ; meaning to workingmen's fam- ilies, 39 ; methods of checking, 205 Price index, how obtained by United States Bureau of Labor, 169; and annual output of gold, Appendix I Price movements, of the nine- INDEX 341 teenth century, 149, 150, 152, '53 Price of boots and shoes, and the trust, 162 ; coal, and the Coal Trust, 162 ; drugs, and the Drug Trust, 161 ; glass prod- ucts and the Glass Trust, 161 ; lumber, effect of rise in timber land values on, 178; oil, and the Standard Oil Co., 158, 159 ; paper products and the Paper Trust, 161 ; proof spirits and the trust, 162 ; steel, and the Steel Trust, 160 ; sugar, and the Sugar Trust, 159 ; tobacco, and the Tobacco Trust, 160 Price reduction, a slow process, 207 Prices, 1890-1913, Appendix B ; 1898-1913, Appendix B; ad- justment of wage scale to, 23 ; and money, 138 ; effect of cold storage on, 245 ; effect of con- servation of timber land on, 252 ; effect of currency law on, 28 ; effect of increase in raw material on, 163 ; effect of in- creased labor costs on, 193, 194 ; effect of market price bulletin on, 245, 246 ; effect of producers' cooperation, 246 ; effect of substitution of natural resources on, 250, 25 1 ; effect of upon Democratic party, 26, 27 ; principles for the reduction of, 206 ; rapid increase in, 25 ; regulation of terminals and markets, 245 ; rise in, and in- come, 32 ; tariff, and excessive, 26 Production, a prerequisite to con- sumption, 78 ; costs of, Ap- pendix F ; costs of and rising prices, I2O, 121 ; dairy prod- ucts, 1 28 ; redirection of, 70 ; three important factors in, 166 Production of luxuries, 69, 70 Production of necessaries, 80-82 Production of necessaries and luxuries, Appendix A Productive labor, decrease of, 62 Progressive party, attitude of toward cost of living, 24 Property ownership, as a source of income, 77 Prosperity and spending, 73 Public services, an essential to modern life, 61 Purchaser (see Buying and Con- sumer) Purchasing power and the in- creasing gold supply, 139 RAILROAD wages, increase of, 196 Railroads, mileage of, 146 Raw materials, increase in cost of, 165-175 Reduction of cost of living, and Democratic success, 29 Reducing the cost of living fac- tors, 20 1 Regulation of terminals and mar- kets, effect of on prices, 245 Remuneration and labor ef- ficiency, 265 Rent, regulation of, 291, 292 Republican party, attitude of toward cost of living problem, 23, 24 Resource monopoly, effect of on prices, 250, 251 Rise in American city land values universal, 187 Rise in prices and exhaustion of timber supply, 179 Rise in timber land value, effect on price of lumber, 178 Rising prices and production, 1 20, 121 Rising prices, artificially induced, 119; causes of, 117, 118; fac- 342 INDEX tors in, 202, 203 ; forces be- hind, 117; responsibility of, 122, 123; statistics of 1890- 1913, Appendix B Rousseau, philosophy of, 210 Rural life, change in, 47 ; mini- mum of service in, 56 Ruskin, John, quoted, 71 SCIENTIFIC management and la- bor efficiency, 264, 265 Self-service, advantages of, 227 ; impossibility in modern so- ciety, 53 Senate Committee on Wages and Prices, quoted, 199 Servant problem, among the well- to-do, 58 ; an element in living standards, 54 ; and factory work, 59 ; and servility, 57 ; effect of city life upon, 57 Servants, abolition of, 59 ; and servility, 224, 225 ; burden of, 59; dominance of, 59; effect upon happiness, 63 Services, an element in civiliza- tion, 52; and group life, 64; as a burden upon income, 64 ; as comforts and luxuries, 65 ; effects of the servant problem, 58; increasing demand for, 52; increase in service occupations, 61 ; limitations of custom, 54 ; minimum in rural life, 56 ; pub- lic, 60; relied on by the well- to-do, 55 Servility and servants, 224, 225 Show, the sinecure home, 97 Simple life, and the cost of living, 209 Simple life, effect of neighbors on, 209; possibilities of, 215, 216 Smith, M. E., quoted, 142 Social education and the home, 239 Social education, purpose of, 228 Social emulation, increasing strug- gle, 101 Social snobbery, forces opposing, 54 Soil fertility, conservation of, 253 Specialization and labor efficiency, 263, 264 Spending, a class activity, 73 ; as a means of circulating money, 73; definition of, 73 ; for com- forts and luxuries, 74 ; or pros- perity, 73; to "make work," 7576 Standard of living, American, 34, 35 ; American desire to excel, 35 ; increase in comforts and luxuries, 67 ; increase of neces- saries, 79; influence of science advance on, 35, 36; in the eighteenth century, 85-87 ; pressure of civilization on, 82 ; set by the neighbors, 92, 93 ; tendency to rise, 36 ; universal wants, 37 Standard of value, need of, 136 Standard Oil Company, 158, 159 State, evolution of the modern, 87 Steam vessels, tonnage of, 146 Steel Trust, and the price of steel, 1 60 Substitution of resources, effect on prices, 250, 25 1 Sugar Trust, and price of sugar, '59 TARIFF, and excessive prices, 26 ; reduction in, 25 Tariff Bill, passage of by Dem- ocratic party, 27, 28 Taxation, and reduction of mon- opoly power, 289 ; of city land, 29 1 ; of farm land, 292 ; of mineral land, 292 ; object of, 293, 294; readjustment of. INDEX 343 289-294 ; regulation of rent, 291, 292; of timber land, 292 ' Things " as an object of en- deavor, 214 Timber land, conservation of, 251, 252; reforestation and elimina- tion of waste, 252 Timber land values, phenomenal increase in, 177, 178 Timber land, taxation of, 292 Tobacco Trust, and price of tobacco, 1 60 Trenton, increase in land value, 191 Trust, definition of, 158 Trusts, and prices, 163 UNITED KINGDOM, cost of gov- ernment in, 89, 90 United States, increase in labor costs, 1866-1909, 195 ; price in- creases, 1890-1911, no; total farm land increases, 180 VALUES, Boston land, Appendix K; Brooklyn land, Appendix K ; Dallas land, Appendix K ; Houston land, Appendix K; land, city, Appendix K ; land, farm, Appendix J ; Newark land, Appendix K; Seattle land, Appendix K ; Trenton land, Appendix K WAGES and prices, New Jersey, 1898-1912, Appendix C Wages, anthracite coal industry, 197, 198; increase in agricul- tural labor, 195 ; increase in and cost of living, 200; in- crease in building trades, 199 ; increase in manufacturing in- dustries, 199; increase in rail- road industry, 196; of farm labor, Appendix L Wants and income, balance of, 212 Wants, control of, 212; persist- ence of, 213; restriction of, 213 Washington Bureau of Labor, quoted, 1 12 Washington price increases, 1900- 1910, 1 10, 113 Water power, government devel- opment of, 255 Water resources, and the elimi- nation of monopoly, 254 Water resources, conservation of, 254 Well-to-do, and luxuries, 69 Well-to-do, and the servant prob- lem, 58 Western farm land values, ab- normal increase in, 180 Western states, increase in farm land value per acre, 181 Wholesale prices, 1890-1912, price index United States Bureau of Labor, 168 Woodruff, C. E., quoted, 133 Woolen Trust, increase in price of clothing, 162 Workingmen's families, expendi- tures of, 38, 39 Work, " making work " argu- ment, 75 World's development, statistics of, 146 World starvation, possibility of, Date Due PRINTED IN U.S.A. CAT. NO. 24 161 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY