The Beneficiaries Of Present Prosperity

THE BENEFICIARIES OF PRESENT PROSPERITY

Republicans in the present campaign are making a great point of the prosperity argument. They are telling the people that as the country was never more prosperous it is wise to let present conditions alone and insure their continuance by retaining the republicans in power. That the country as a whole is prosperous few probably will attempt to deny. Nevertheless there are vast numbers of our people who earn a share of this prosperity who do not get it, and other multitudes who by no means get that portion of it which belongs to them. Now if the republican administration of the nation's affairs is responsible for the prosperity of the nation as a whole, it may be asserted with equal force that that administration is responsible for those laws and conditions which have enabled the great industrial trusts and combines to appropriate so great and so unjust a share of the prosperity of the country.

During the summer just closed there have been strikes in a great variety of industries and there are 200,000 or 300,000 men out on voluntary strike now, and several times as many, probably, idle because of the inability of the industries in which they are engaged to get coal or materials due to strikes.

This would seem to indicate that the wage earners in many industries are dissatisfied with their share of prosperity. The fact is that the wage earners' increase of wages during the period of this wonderful prosperity has by no means kept pace with the increase in the price of the necessities of life. John Mitchell, president of the United Mine Workers of America, in an address in June, said that white the miners received a 10 per cent increase of wages in 1900, the increase in the cost of the necessaries of life has been 30 to 40 per cent, and consequently the actual purchasing power of this increased wage is much less than the amount received prior to 1900.

That these statements are correct is evidenced by figures from Dun's Review, which show the average prices at dates mentioned of 350 articles of consumption arranged on the basis of their importance:

                                              1890          1897         1900           1902

                                              Jan. 1        July 1        Jan. 1         May 1

Breadstuffs                          $13,765     $10,587     $13,254     $19,954

Meats                                      7,620         7,529          7,258       10,868

Dairy and garden                   12,675        8,714         13,702       14,737

Other food                                9,935        7,887           9,200         8,742

Clothing                                  14,845      13,808         17,484       15,527

Metals                                     16,240      11,642         18,085       15,702

Miscellaneous                         15,111      12,286         16,312       16,654

Totals                                     $90,191    $72,455       $95,295   $102,289

These figures show that the cost of living was 6 per cent higher in 1900 than in 1890, 31 per cent higher in 1900 than in 1897, and 41 per cent higher in 1902 than in 1897.

The difficulty of convincing labor under these circumstances, that it has anything to be satisfied with in the present prosperity is perfectly clear therefore. Labor is dissatisfied with present conditions and justly so. The trusts which are due in no small degree to republican legislation favoring special interests, are prosperous in an unnatural and unjust degree. But there is no reason in this for the working man to vote to continue these conditions.

The letter of acceptance of L. T. Durand of the gubernatorial nomination at the hands of the state central committee has the genuine ring of true democracy. It pledges the candidate to the issues of the state platform in language about which there can toe no misunderstanding. And what is better than all else it is known of all men who know L. T. Durand that he possesses the firmness and character to stand by the position he has taken. He will not be called out of bed in the small hours of the morning to put his signature to ripper bills at the request of the Toni Navins, if the people elect him governor. He pledges himself to take the wishes of the people of municipalities before he attaches his name to municipal legislation and this is as it should be. He is in favor of the initiative and referendum also, in order to give the people more direct control over legislation. He is likewise for an effective primary election law which will give the people themselves the power of nominating their candidates for local and state officers. He believes the state should begin at once to prepare itself for the prospective fight with the Michigan Central railroad in the matter of damages for the repeal of its special charter. The letter is all right and shows the candidate to be in line with the party demands in all points of the platform made by the convention.