132 
price than the raw products from which 
they are made. 
The same general facts are true with re- 
lation to cereals and all other food prod- 
ucts of the temperate zones. A cause addi- 
tional to the lesser degree of assistance 
from invention may be found in the greater 
scarcity of land suitable for profitable cul- 
tivation and in our own country especially 
the early cultivation of fertile areas was 
conducted with too much regard for im- 
mediate returns and consequently little 
attention was paid to permanent produc- 
tive quality. It is of course plain that 
farm products as well as all articles show 
an increased price by reason of the greater 
cost of wages and of most of the supplies 
which farmers must use. This, however, 
is common to all branches of production. 
The unequal development in different 
lines of production has of late become es- 
pecially noticeable in the case of precious 
metals. Formerly success or failure in 
gold or silver mining was largely a matter 
of chance. Now, however, as a result of 
the discoveries and improvements in engi- 
neering, and much more in chemistry, gold 
or silver mining has assumed the position 
of a settled industry in which ecaleulations 
of the profitableness of treating certain 
ores or digging along ia lode may be made 
with a fair degree of certainty. It may be 
added that improvements in production 
are unequal not only as regards different 
classes of useful articles, but also for dif- 
ferent articles of substantially the same 
class. This is true of various lines of 
manufacture, hardly any two of which have 
been aftected in the same degree. The 
manifest effect of this imequality in the 
ease or difficulty of production is a change 
in their relative value. 
3. There is an inevitable tendency to- 
ward overaction, misdirected energy, waste 
and extravagance in every progressive era. 
SCIENCE 
[N.S. Vou. XXXV. No. 891 
This tendency has its roots in the very 
characteristics of human nature itself. It 
is due in part to the measure of uncer- 
tainty which pertains to all business un- 
dertakings and in part to the ambitions 
and dispositions of men. Whenever a new 
process is invented for satisfying a human 
want or a new market is discovered, it is 
probable that the inviting prospect of gain 
will cause an undue amount of investment 
and effort in that new direction, which re- 
sults in a loss of capital and an over-supply 
of certain articles. The tendency to waste 
and extravagance is even more marked in 
the utilization of new facilities or the pur- 
chase of articles which please the taste or 
fancy. It is a well-known fact that the 
desire for the automobile has caused many 
persons to invest in this new luxury who 
could not afford it. A new style of house, 
or equipage, or of dress, all of which are 
common in a time of increasing wealth 
often lead to the discarding of that which 
under less favorable circumstances would 
be regarded as sufficient and to the pur- 
chase of other articles in accordance with 
present-day tastes or fashions. Social am- 
bitions and the desire for luxury tend in 
the same direction; extravagance grows as 
facilities and attractive articles multiply. 
Along with these factors is the desire for 
ease and luxury which accompanies the 
accumulation of wealth. This is but a re- 
sult of the fact that pleasure is more at- 
tractive than pain; that enjoyment is pre- 
ferred to effort, hence the number of the 
unemployed increases and the amount of 
effort made for satisfying human wants 
diminishes. 
An important factor of the present situa- 
tion affecting the high cost of living is the 
rapidly growing cost of government, na- 
tional, state and municipal. In ease the 
proceeds derived from taxation are applied 
to essential improvements naturally no 
