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Show iw INTERESTING FACTS ON HIGH COST OF LIVING Somo sallont .facta regarding tho Increased In-creased cost of living and freight ralos of interest at this time because of the controver?lc3 In progress all over the United States regarding tho samo subjects have been presented recently In booklet form by Slason Thompson of the bureau of railway news and statistics. Chicago. Mr. Thompson dooB not present any argument argu-ment either for or against tho further reduction of freight rates or the effect of freight rates on the price of commodities. com-modities. Ho simply lets tho figurel be has complied speak for themselves. Taking 100 as the average price of commodities from 1890 to 1899. Mr. Thompson Bhows that a fllaplo artlclo of food such as cornmeal. selling for 100 in 1890, is sold for 1C0 In 1909, an increase of CO per cent in twenty years. Running down the list of tho most common necessities pf Ufo, it Is shown that flour sold for 109 in 1890. while In 1909 154 4 was tho price received re-ceived for It; milk, valued at 100.05 In 1S90 has gone up to 141.1 twenty years later, butter has increased from 99 2 to 134.8 during tho same period, while beans take a run up from 103 3 to 141.2. A list of thirty staples Is given, each and evory one of them showing as great an average Increase. At tho same tirao, while foodstuffs have been soaring, freight rates on which the blame for the high cost of living generally rests havo been taking tak-ing an Interesting fall In 1S90 It cost .918 of n cent to move a ton of freight a mlle that is, the avprage charge per too mllo was nine hundred and forty one thousanuuis oi n cenu in iau;i u. ton of freight could be transported a mllo for "TS.' of a cent per ton mllo. Theso figures contradict effectively the assertion, continually holng made, that tho increase lnj freight charges has cost the markod increase in tho cost of living. Rather, the cost of llvlne has beon prevented from soaring soar-ing higher by the steady reduction in rates. From Mr Thompson's figures tho increaso In tho cost of living has boon steady, growing more and more e-aco year, 'while rates have been as steadily stead-ily decreasing, a slight difference being be-ing noticeable each year In both. |