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Show CLAIMS VS. FACTS 1 Democratic Press Makes Claims '.H Not Supported by Facts. H Cost of Living In England Is as H High as in the U. S, H The claim Is often made that while H wages arc higher in tho United States H the cost of living is correspondingly H cheaper In Great Britain. That this H statement is erroneous can be proved JH by olllclal statistics obtained slmul- IH tancously In both countries. In 18li! M the Senate Committee on Finance ll made an extensive rcpoit on "Retail Prices and Wages" hi leading cities of H the United States and Europe at dlf- H fercnt periods from June, 1801, to H September, 18!)!). Among the cities ,.H considered In this report wcro St. Il Louis, Mo., and Manchester, England, flH cities for which wage comparisons M have just been made. A comparison ''H of the prices of articles of Identically H the same description, obtained at tho H same time, namely, June, 1807, and jH September, 1809, in both cities, shows ,H that Instead of tho necessary com- JJH modttlcs of life being higher In the '.jH United States than In England, they .H arc, on tho contrary, as a rule, much H lower. Most of the necessary food . jH products, such as bread, eggs, lard, ';H bacon, roast beef, hams, mutton, milk, 'M starch, and canned vegetables, were '.' much lower In St. Louis than in Man- M Chester, while tho prices of tho few re- . maining food products averaged about vilH the same In both countries. With regard to clothing and cloth ? goods, wc find that men's hosiery, cot- 'M ton shirts, sheetings, shirtings, and 1 cotton and woolen dress goods of the ;H same description and quality, were jH cheaper in St. Louis than in Man- H Chester; that carpets, flannels, and 'IH cotton underwear averaged about the "jH same, and that only in the case of men's hats was there any decided dlf- 'M ference In favor of the Manchester ,tH purchaser. -JH Housohold articles, such as earthen- ,)H ware, glassware, and cutlery, were H nearly the same price In St. Louis sis H in Manchester, with a very slight dlf- .jH ference in some cases In favor of the :H latter city. On the other hand, fumU LH tu re costs from about one-fifth to one- jjH half as much in the United States as jjH in Great Britain, so that for tho cost ;' of one bed-room suit In Manchester fjH one could buy from two to three set )H in St. Louis; and for the cost of one ' jH dining table at Manchester, a whole H dining-room set could bo bought hi St. H Louis. (H But the question may be asked, "If lH the American worklngmen cam so- H much more and pay so much less for H wliat they consume, why are they not jH all wealthy and contended?" Tho an- jH swer may bo found In the statement f of an eminent French scientist. After iH summing up the conditions of labor in lll America as compared with Europe, he lll says that wages in the United States IH are alout double tho wages in Europe; H that objects of ordinary consumption 'IH by working people (excepting dwelling 1H houses) cost less in the cities of the fH United States than in those of Europe; -H that the American workingman lives flH better than the European, that he i'l cuts more substantially, dresses bet- lj tcr, is more comfortably housed und tjJH more often owns his dwelling, spends ?:H more for life Insurance and various ho- -lH cial and beneficial associations, and, 11 in short, has a much higher standard 'H of life than the European working- jH man. iH |