J«: 5 



'/■///■. AMI niCAN BEE-KEEPER. 



32'; 



dweDii^'i; Jjous: cs in rt>])air is (per an- 

 num^ about. £10,000,000. 



The total of thcso sums is £'456,- 

 000,000 and is the cost of the nation 

 for a year's food, clothing, firing 

 and shelter. In other words, it is 

 the sum paid by the total population 

 to those who have direct access to 

 nature, who labor and garner her 

 products for all. Manufacturing, 

 distributing and retailing add about 

 80 per cent to these values, but the 

 addition does not concern us. 



Four hundred and fifty-six million 

 pounds divided by the population, 

 38,000,000, gives £12 per head, which, 

 therefore, is the value of the iDrod- 

 ucts of nature annually consumed 

 in the United Kingdom by one hu- 

 man being, taking both sexes and 

 all ages and ranks together. In other 

 words, this sum is the annual aver- 

 age cost of a person. Expenditure 

 in the United Kingdom averages £30 

 per head, but £18 of this pays for 

 services, not products — services such 

 as the manufacturing, distributing 

 and retailing referred to above and 

 other services, all of which support 

 persons who have no direct access 

 to the soil and who therefore must 

 pay others for their share of its 

 products. 



Rich and poor men are of the same 

 size. A millionaire's stomach and 

 back are anatomically identical with 

 those of a laboring man. Therefore 

 equal numbers of rich and poor con- 

 sume equal weights of produce in 

 equal times. But this is not the 

 same thing as equal values. We 

 have just seen that the average an 

 nual value is £12, and we may fair- 

 ly take it that the case of the agri- 

 cultural laborer will give us the 

 minimum value. An average Brit- 

 ish family is husband, wife and 

 three children. 



The income of an agricultural la- 

 borer's family (cash and perquisites) 

 can fairlj' bo taken at £50 a year. 

 Of this they will pay about half for 

 services (not products) to nonagri- 



cuiiux..] \v ..iLici's, v^uo UKiy be s.,iuj- 

 mcd up us grocer, drajjer, scnooi- 

 master, buiidcr and policeujan, so 

 that we have £25 left as the cost of 

 the food, Cxothing, firing and shelter 

 of such a. family valued as above. 

 Say husbai^d £7, wife £6, three chil- 

 dren £4 eacn. This is a minimum. 



Much consideration has led me to 

 decide thai as a maximum we may 

 fairly take the imaginary case of a 

 man who laves entirely on the most 

 costly agricultural produce that is 

 garnered in quantity — namely, beef- 

 steaks at sixpence per pound, farm 

 value. At three pounds per day 

 such a man's annual cost for food 

 will be £2, ; £13 more, which w^ould 

 make £40 in all, will cover every- 

 thing else he personally consumes, 

 for he shiires his big house with 

 scores of other people and parts with 

 his clothes to others while they are 

 as good as new. 



We may therefore fairly conclude 

 that the cost of a man in Great Brit- 

 ain is about: 



Per ainiuin. 



Minimum^ £7 



Average l;: 



Maximum 4C 



— Saturday Review. 



Another Matter. 



When Queen Victoria came to the 

 throne, she was much troubled by 

 the fact that both Whigs and Tories 

 claimed her as their own, while she 

 of course was bound to show that 

 she understood the duties of a con- 

 stitutional monarch too well to fa- 

 vor any political party. 



The \v higs would have it that the 

 queen was on their side because, 

 having found them in oflQce, she did 

 not turn them out. To this a Tory 

 rhymester roplie'r 



"The ciueen is with us," Whigs insulting say, 

 "For when she found us in she let us staj'." 

 It may be so, but give me leave to doubt 

 How long she'll keep you when she finds you 

 out. 



— Youth's Companion. 



When Mars Was Inhabited. 



There are many reasons in favor of 

 the supp osition_ that Mars is rnore Ijkelj 



