COST OF LIVING.

Colonist, Volume LVI, Issue 13391, 12 February 1914, Page 7

COST OF LIVING.

Tho cost cA living'is becoming th<? leading economic question of the day, not only in our own land, but in almost e*sry country of the world. In • the Uiyted. Kin»;'.io!n whilst so meny important ecotifinnc problems have be--Mme tlie sport of party .politics, out of the most significant economic facts cf the day is likely to bo undervalued, if n ot entirely overlooked. We allude to the steady, rise in the cost of living. Of course we are quite aware that this increased cost is being discussed especially in relation to wages; but it is not always what a mn tarns that shows us his purchasing powers. IJie "Outlook" points out that at Klondyke in the early days gold--! -xt was weigh, ed against commodities that in more favoured districts would, :;?* i:^.'Q h^ n worth their weight in enppors. lhf question really is, Are we lit England, in Europe, in a!l densely populated areas, approaching in a modified form the economic condition of Kloiidyker Th^ other day it was announced, quite casually, that the United States were importing beef. If a new country, such as tho States with its vast area, is importing foodstu-ffs, surely the pkler countries with small areas must fool the pinch. Indeed there is no more pressing need than that of increasing food-production generally; :iiui so" far from the "land': being played out, it seems certain that the producer cf food will scon be commanding a market and prices that would ha\-c staggered the farmer of. even the palmy days of agriculture.—Exchange.