THE HIGH COST OF LIVING.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 10713, 19 November 1912, Page 6

THE HIGH COST OF LIVING.

In discussing tho high cost of living ; in America., I\ir_ F. Munsoy, in his- I magazine Tor October,- says : —"'ln- . creased, wages and shorter hours, and , perhaps lower efficiency For the hours worked, have cut a bigger iignre in th:i high cost el' living than anything else. This higher cost of production lis expressed in every -phase of endeavour and every; phase of living — I expressed alike oil the farm, in the J fat tory in mining, merchandising, j transportation clerical force, and in domestic service'. We cannot get something for nothing; we caii'.iot double the cost of business or residential building and expect to get rents at tho same price. And tho cost of buildings is tremendously increased as tho hours of labour are, door-oas- '■ ed and the wages of labor advanced. ! This ha.-- its bearing, as well, in tho ■material that goes into the building and the transportation of the material, as it does in assembling it, fashioning it into a habitable structure. Taxes are necessarily higher as municipal expenses increase, and this, too, is expressed in tho price of rents in j either business or residential proper-] ties. Tndeed, the effect of higher j wages and shorter hours of work is felt in a'thousand different ways, all of which have to do with tho present | high cost of living. Moreover, high living lias a good deal to do with the high cost of living. Our demands are constantly expanding as we drift further and further away from tho sim- i pie life. We must have hotter homes, with more conveniences, and more luxuries, must dress better and dress our children better, and have more amusements than a dozen years ago. With a, return to the thrift of our forefathers and something of their genius for and love <<!' work, we should no longer feel tho <»rio of'tho biu'h cose of living, and the politician j would have to seek another theme j to boost his business. Tn our extrav- ) agance, in our sweep toward ease and ' idleness, our growing antipathy to ' work, is a real danger to the nation." )