RISING PRICES AND THE PUBLIC 565 



higher than the low level in 1897. This is according to the figures 

 of the United States Bureau of Labor. According to Bradstreets's 

 the increase was 52 per cent. For our present purposes let us take 

 roughly 50 per cent. Now observe the increase in the different classes 

 of commodities: farm products advanced 110 per cent.; lumber and 

 building materials 69 per cent.; food 54 per cent.; metals and imple- 

 ments 48 per cent.; clothing, fuel and lighting 35 per cent; drugs 

 and chemicals 33 per cent.; house furnishings 24 per cent.; miscel- 

 laneous items 45 per cent. 1 



"We should note that the articles entering into the food and shelter 

 of the ordinary consumer have advanced most, also that these items, 

 i. e., food and shelter, require about two thirds of the ordinary family 

 expenditures — among the working classes as much as three fourths. 

 Therefore, allowing for this fact, our estimate of 50 per cent, is clearly 

 a conservative statement of the higher prices paid by the consumer 

 now compared with 1897. 



Our proposition is that as a result of this increase some classes of 

 incomes have been unduly diminished and others correspondingly in- 

 flated, all to the detriment of the public. The following points should 

 make this proposition clear. 



1. Wages have lagged behind in the upward movement of exchange 

 values and have brought consequent losses to the working classes. 

 Money wages have advanced only about 40 per cent, compared with 

 50 per cent, in prices. Consequently, while the ordinary laborer 

 receives now more dollars than in 1897, he receives considerably less 

 purchasing power, less comforts for himself and his family, less real 

 income. 



But, why this loss ? Merely because changing conditions in supply 

 and demand reveal themselves more readily in prices than in wages. 

 In a shifting exchange level, unless special forces intervene, wages 

 move behind prices, advancing and likewise receding more slowly. 

 Consequently, in an upward swing the wage-earning classes lose in real 

 income, while in a downward swing they gain correspondingly. The 

 explanation is that wages are controlled more by custom and social 

 standards than are prices. When real conditions of supply and demand 

 change, prices usually respond readily enough, still not without the 

 retarding influence of custom. But with wages, custom is a heavy 

 break upon change, allowing proper readjustment only after a consid- 

 erable period. 



The writer believes that under normal conditions of exchange real 

 wages should have advanced in recent years. Disregard price : look at 



1 These calculations are based upon the index numbers of prices published 

 in the Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor, March, 1911. 



