Show national affairs aff airs by FRANK P LITSCHERT the present am american c rican standard of living surpassing anything in the history of civilization Is 16 now so BO generally applied plied in our country that the average citizen of the united states accepts it absen as a a matter ot of course many causes have been assigned tor for superior living standards in america the youth ot of our country and its boundless resources are given as reasons why we have progressed to 0 o rapidly these are undoubtedly contributing factors our constitutional government with its ite facilities for leaving as much of the progress of 0 the individual as aa possible to individual effort and capabilities has played a big part in our progress our wage standards enabling our workers to purchase and enjoy so many ol of the supposed luxuries ol of life but at the same time permitting us to compete in the worlds markets tor for our share ot of th the a worlds business are the marvel of other countries wages in n america were higher than in europe even in the early days when there was a scarcity 0 of labor and they ere are high now because good wages have become an integral part ot of our economic system As a result when the recent deflation of values in the stock market and slowing down of bustness business was encountered among the first efforts were those ot of the president to see that there was no reduction in the standard of living through reduced wages 0 f 4 4 in a recent address before the world engineering congress at tokyo magnus W alexander president of the national industrial conference board of new york city in touching on this phase of american life well said high wage levels while originally an incidence of labor scarcity and later inter of wartime war time demands and inflation have become beco me a distinct element of american economic life in fact a definite philosophy has haa arisen from the relationships of high wages intensive productivity and national purchasing power it may be said that teat the trend of american bustness business policy today te Is toward creation ot of widespread consumer purchasing power by providing high wages and wage values which in turn tend to raise the standards of living among the maesas thus there Is being established a benevolent circle in place of the vicious circle extending irom from high wages to high consumer purchasing power to increased demand tor for manufactured goods and services and to still greater industrial production all ot of which makes possible intensified fied mass production meth methods resulting in still lower unit costs these in turn lead to lower prices and thereby again raise the purchasing power ot of wages while it Is true that the united states Is constantly seeking to expand its export markets it is also a part ot of the modern modem american business creed that american Indu greatest potential expansion for or the present lies iles in an expending expanding domestic consumption 0 fr here Is the present american economic system 6 in a nutshell our effort ot of recent years y ears has been to develop this benevolent economic circle and it might be well sa said id in passing that in ill this mc development parti our tariff system has played a big part by protecting the big home market against the products of cheap Europ european emi labor end and permitting the american pro ducer to use his tremendous output tol to t lower production costs by increased voli vol I ume and so BO compete in the markets of i the tha world with his surplus I 1 j 0 Q 0 1 I the results to date have certainly been of such a nature as aa to justify this new american system quoting from mr alexander again the rising scale of livi living standards resulting from the higher real wages la is reflected to in greater leisure for the people at large this Is truly a gift of the machine greater wage income find and leisure manifest themselves significantly in a vastly increased enrollment in sec andary or high schools and in colleges and universities reflecting the increased mcrea aed i amount of parental support available tor for young people desirous of higher educe j tion end and also in the extensive study wort work in evening schools on the pert part kofl of adult persons who must support them 1 selves while they are further educating themselves our system Is not perfect but it Is better than anything else which haa boa been proposed for our |