FOOTNOTES:
[31] Now so rare that $25.00 has been paid for a copy in two instances.
[32] Since deceased at the age of 93.
CHAPTER LVII.
SKETCHES OF WESTERN LIFE.
"Occidental, Transcontinental, Oriental" McDonald.
In the early fifties of the 19th century, there appeared on the waters of Puget Sound an eccentric character answering to the name of Joe Lane McDonald. He was a corpulent man of low stature, short bowlegs, a fat neck, a "pug" bulldog nose, with small but very piercing eyes and withal a high forehead that otherwise softened the first unfavorable impression of him.
The writer is relating personal observations of this unique character as he frequently saw him at the new and then thriving town of Steilacoom, then the center of trade for all of Puget Sound and to the Straits of San Juan De Fuca.
McDonald enjoyed the distinction of being among the first, if not the very first, trader among the 6,000 Indians of Puget Sound, for at that early day, 1853-55, there were but few whites to be seen. His sloop, about the size of an ordinary whaleboat, was decked over fore and aft and along each side, leaving an oblong open oval space in the center from which the captain, as he was frequently called, could stand at the helm and manage his sail, and eat a lunch easily reached from a locker nearby.
When once engaged in conversation, the unfavorable impression made by his physical deformities and unkempt condition disappeared, as he was glib of tongue and possessed a world of ideas far in advance of his compeers, and with knowledge to back up his theories. He would declaim almost by the hour portraying the grand future of Puget Sound, the "Occidental, Transcontinental, Oriental Trade", as he put it, that would certainly come in the near future and the grand possibilities for the embryo center of trade, the town of Steilacoom.
"Harping" upon the topic so much, McDonald came to be known more by the sobriquet of "Occidental, Transcontinental, Oriental" McDonald, rather than by his own given name.
The keep of his sloop was as neglected as that of his person, which of itself is saying a good deal. It was a fact that the odor from his boat (not to give it a worse name) could be detected, with favorable wind, a hundred paces away and from McDonald himself uncomfortably so in a close room.
Notwithstanding all this he was an interesting character, and always arrested attention when he spoke, though of course with differing views of his theories advanced.
McDonald clearly pointed out what was going to happen and what has happened, the building of a vast overland and oversea trade far beyond his greatest "flights of fancy," as so many of his pioneer friends were wont to call his teaching.
But the Indian war came, some white people were massacred, some Indians went on the warpath, the remainder of the six thousand went to the reservations and McDonald's occupation was gone, his sloop was taken over for Government use and he himself disappeared, doubtless to reach an early and unmarked grave.
These scenes were enacted now nearly sixty years ago. The then silent waters of Puget Sound, save by the stroke of the paddle upon the waves and the song of the Indians, is now displaced by great steamers navigating these waters; the overseas tonnage is in excess of McDonald's prophecies.
The transcontinental traffic that McDonald so prophetically pointed out is now almost beyond computation and cared for by six great railroad systems; the "Oriental" trade has assumed vast proportions, cared for in part by the regular sailing of 20,000 ton steamers; the coast tonnage has grown far beyond the most optimistic prophecy; the "dream of the star" to the flag has come true for the great State of Washington, as depicted by the poet:
"For the land is a grand and goodly land,
And its fruitful fields are tilled
By the sons who see the flag of the free,
The dream of the star fulfilled."
CHAPTER LVIII.
SKETCHES OF WESTERN LIFE.
"The Prairie Schooner."
Just why the prairie schooner wagon body was built boat shape I have never been able to tell or see anybody else that could. That shape came in very handy when we crossed the plains in the early days, with which to cross the rivers, but we had the same kind on the farm in Indiana, where we had no thought to use them as a boat.
Their real history is, this type of wagon was introduced from England, and for a century this form was used because those that had gone before us had used it, and it took a long time to bring about a change.
These, though, as the Westerner would say, "came in mighty handy," when we came to a big river to cross as we were on the road to Oregon sixty-three years ago.
The Prairie Schooner on the White House Grounds, Washington, D. C., November 29, 1907. White House in Background.
I got into a scrape once in crossing Snake River when I foolishly put my whole running-gear on top of the bed and weighted it down to within an inch of the top; I escaped, as the saying goes, "by the skin of my teeth," but vowed I would never do so again, and I never did. Hundreds crossed over in their wagon beds in 1852, and I never knew of an accident, though when some foolish people started down Snake River they soon got into rapid water, lost all they had, and some their lives.
Just to be a "doing" as the saying goes, and to see how it would look, I concluded to cross a river in my wagon box on this last trip when I drove to Washington, and let the moving picture men take it. It was the Loop Fork of the Platte River and about three-quarters of a mile wide. I have the film and some days I showed it in the Washington State Building at the Panama Exposition at San Francisco and every day the oxen themselves could be seen.
Before I got through I was somewhat like the little boy that went out a hunting and got lost, who said he was sorry he come. We ran onto a sand bar and had to get out on to the quicksand to push off, and then, to cap the climax, the current carried us down past our landing and we had to tow up by main strength and awkwardness, so I concluded there wasn't so much fun in it as there might be and that I didn't want any more like experiences when past eighty years. We got a good picture, though, for when we got into the scrape we forgot to act and got "the real thing."
Dave and Dandy (mounted), with the Prairie Schooner in the Transportation Building, Panama-Pacific Exposition.
I have often been amused when asked how I got the oxen over, just as though they thought I could put a two thousand pound live ox into a wagon box. I didn't take these in the picture at all, but came back to the same side of the river from which we started. Not so in '52. We had to cross with the oxen also, and sometimes it was no small job, in fact, more than to cross the outfit and wagon. I was generally able to get all mine to swim over in a bunch, but I knew some that had to tow over each animal separate, and some were drowned on the way. Some streams had quicksand bottoms, and woe betide the wagon that once got stuck. To guard against this many wagons were hitched together (a team though to each wagon) and it was a long, strong pull and a pull altogether. We had to keep moving, else there would be serious trouble.
Some places the sand would disappear so suddenly the wheels would come down with a jolt like as if passing over a rough corduroy road.
Verily the pioneers did have all sorts of experiences.
CHAPTER LIX.
HIGH COST OF LIVING.
I am going to tell you the story of a public market of Cincinnati, Ohio, nearly a hundred years ago, or more accurately speaking of incidents in which the farmer dispensed with the service of middlemen; where the producer and the consumer met and dealt face to face upon the sidewalks of that embryo city in the long ago.
I am reminded of the incidents referred to by a stroll through the public markets of Seattle. The "middleman", those who bought of the producer and sold to consumers, or those who established a place of deposit and for a commission would sell the products of producer to the retail merchants, who in turn would sell to the consumer, have been berated and charged with the crime of contributing to the high cost of living, hence the public markets were established to the end that producers and consumers might meet on common ground and drive their own bargains. Here is what I found in the Seattle markets:
Eggs from China; grapes from California and Spain; nuts from Brazil, California, Texas and Italy; lemons from California, and Italy; bananas from South America; tomatoes from Cuba; peanuts from Japan and Virginia; oranges from California and Florida; grapefruit from Florida; beef from Australia; butter from New Zealand; cranberries from New Jersey; cocoanuts from South America; oysters from Maryland, and so on down a long list, of various minor products not necessary here to name, to illustrate the point, or rather two points, first that the producers and consumers could not come together and must be served by the "middleman"; and, second, that we are ransacking the world, even to the antipodes, for the products of the earth, in a great measure to satisfy the cravings of abnormal appetites incident to high living.
Any one, at a glance, can see this marshaling of products from the ends of the earth and transporting them for thousands of miles must increase the cost of living and must of necessity call for the offices of the hated "middlemen" with their resultant profits. Even the local products were sold to a great extent by dealers (middlemen) and but few producers were seen in the market. Things are different now from the prevailing condition of a hundred years ago, or even eighty-five years ago, when I was born. The application of steam power for propelling boats was unknown then, or known only as an experiment, and hence there were no steamships to cross the ocean and bring their cargoes of perishable freight; no cables to tap and with a flash to convey an order to the uttermost corners of the earth; no international postal service to carry and deliver written messages; in a word, no facilities to aid in and thus to increase the cost of living; hence, that generation of a hundred years ago, led the simple life. I am not here canvassing the question as to which is the better—simply record the fact. I will venture the opinion, however, the pioneers enjoyed their living with their keen appetites, incident to their out-of-door life, as much as the most tempting collection can give to the abnormal hunger following a gorge of dainties after a day of idleness.
It is well to note, however, the fact that not all the gatherings from foreign lands tend to increase the price of a particular article. Sometimes the opposite results and the cost is reduced, but the general rule is that the imported articles are simply luxuries and should be chargeable to the cost of high living rather than to the high cost of living.
When the tariff was recently revised and protection withdrawn or duties reduced on agricultural articles produced in the United States, with trumpets from the housetops it was proclaimed the cost of living would be reduced. No such result has followed, as in fact it has advanced.
Take the article of beef for instance. The duty was removed, the great packing firms at once established agencies in all foreign meat producing countries, the foreign markets advanced a notch, the meat baron of the United States took up the remainder of the duty reduction, the government lost the revenue, meat at the block continued as high as ever to the consumer, the meat producing industry of our country was discouraged and the high cost of living remained. This foreign meat produced on cheap lands and with cheap labor is a constant menace to our own meat producing industry and will deter many from increasing their bands of cattle, so that we may see prices in the future advance instead of declining, because of the reduced home production.
Take the item of eggs. The duty was removed and immediately shipments came from China, where labor is twenty cents a day or less, where eggs can be produced at half the cost as here, but the consumer does not as yet reap any benefit, for the shipper fixes the price at what the market will bear; but, and here is the point, there is the menace to deter our home producers from reaching out to produce more eggs, knowing there will come a time when prices will seek a common level, governed by the shipments from China, our producers will be discouraged and go out of the business and up will go the price of eggs higher than ever.
The duty was lowered from six cents a pound to two and a half on butter; foreign canned milk is displacing our home production and the dairy interest begins to feel the depressing influence of the danger that hovers over it. Let the prices drop to a point that would cease to be profitable, our dairies would be depleted and the foreign products take possession and take all the market would bear. And so we find it in other agricultural products, to be considered hereafter.
The point bearing on the high cost of living is that we need to encourage and not discourage home production and labor and to get the producer and consumer closer together; also with our railroads, we should insist that they look inward and stop the waste before being granted an increase of rates, so with our consumers, before they outlaw the producers and kill the goose that lays the golden egg, they had better look inward and see if the remedy is not at least in part with themselves.
Let us now look into the scenes of the Cincinnati market of pioneer days. I will describe only one phase of it, as handed down to me by my mother, who was one of the actors. My grandfather Baker was a farmer and lived twenty-five miles away from Cincinnati as the road ran. He had settled a few miles east of Hamilton, Ohio, in 1801 or 1802, where my mother was born and near where I was born. In ten years time he had his flock of sheep, his cows, pigs, horses, colts and abundance of pasture on the land he had cleared. I never could understand why in all these years he didn't have a wagon, but such was the case. He never would go in debt for anything. When my mother was twelve years old she began making the trips on horseback with her father to the market at Cincinnati. They carried everything they had to sell on the horses they rode, or perhaps a loose horse or a two-year-old colt might be taken along. They carried butter, eggs, chickens (dressed and sometimes alive), smoked meat and sometimes fresh. Sometimes they would make lye hominy and then again sauerkraut; then again when hog killing time came around, sausage and head cheese would be added, and so we see quite a variety would make up their stock to offer on the market. Nor was this all. The family of four children were all girls. They were taught to card the wool raised on the farm, spin the yarn and weave the cloth all by hand in the cabin adjoining the living room and sometimes in the living room. I can remember the hum of the spinning-wheel and the "slam" of the loom as the filling of cloth was sent "home", also the rattle of grandmother's knitting-needles to be heard often clear across the room, which is a precious memory. To the stock of products as enumerated would often be added a "bolt" of cloth, or perhaps a blanket or two or a few pairs of stockings and often a large bundle of "cuts" of yarn which always found a ready purchaser—wanted by the ladies of the city for their knitting parties.
The youngsters will ask, "What is a 'cut' of yarn?" I will tell you as near as I know. The yarn when spun was "reeled" off from the spool of the wheel into skeins of even lengths of yarn that could be used in the chain or warp for the cloth to be woven or wound off into balls for the knitting. These "cuts" were the skein, of even length of thread neatly twisted, doubled into shape as long as your hand and size of your wrist and securely fastened to remain in this shape. Sometimes the yarn would be "dyed" a butternut color and again would be taken to market in natural colors either white or black; sometimes a black sheep's wool would serve to make up the variety by doubling and twisting a black's and white's together.
The trip to Cincinnati would often be made by moon-light, so timed as to arrive at "peep of day" to be ready for the buyers that were sure to come to meet the country folks, for this was a real country market where no middlemen appeared, and for that matter were not allowed. My grandfather's "stuff", as they called it, would be displayed either on the sidewalk or in the street nearby where his horses were munching their grain or a bit of hay, and by 9:00 o'clock they would be off on their road home, to arrive by nightfall, hungry and tired, with the money safe in his deerskin sack.
It is needless to add that this household was thrifty and accumulated money. Later in life it was currently reported that he had a barrel of money (silver), and I can readily believe the story, as he spent but little and was always accumulating. I know that more than a peck of this silver came over to Indianapolis to assist in buying the farm where I received my education in farming on the daily routine of farm work experience.
And so we can see that the so-called high cost of living is chargeable to the cost of "high living", to the abandonment of the simple life, to the change in habits of the later generation, not counting the extravagant wants now so prevalent that was unknown in pioneer days.
CHAPTER LX.
THE COST OF HIGH LIVING.
On the 16th day of December, 1873, the last spike was driven to complete the Northern Pacific Railway between Kalama and Tacoma.
This was then, and is yet, considered a great event in the history of the Northwest country, not because of completing railroad connection between the two towns, but because of the binding together with bands of steel the two great arteries of traffic, the Columbia River and Puget Sound.
Kalama, situated on the right bank of the Columbia forty miles below Portland, was then simply a construction town of railroad laborers, and has remained as a village to this day. Tacoma, which then could boast of four hundred inhabitants—mill hands, terminal seekers and railroad laborers—has now fully one hundred thousand permanent inhabitants, engaged in the usual avocations of industry incident to civilized life.
On the 16th day of December, 1913, the Tacoma Commercial Club celebrated "The Fortieth Anniversary of Train Operation to Tacoma," in the form of a railroad "Jubilee Dinner." In consideration of my having been a passenger on that first train, and "possibly the only survivor of that passenger list", the writer received a cordial invitation to be the guest of the club, which was accepted. He occupied a chair at the banquet table, sat as a mute spectator, and listened to the speeches that followed the banquet, and saw the many devices arranged for entertaining the company.
It would appear unseemly for the writer, as a guest, to criticize his host, the Commercial Club, for the manner of his entertainment, particularly considering the cordiality of the invitation. "We hope that you can be here, but if you cannot there will be at least one vacant chair at the banquet table, and it will be held in memory of Ezra Meeker, the pioneer of the Puget Sound country", this following expressions of concern as to my health. So, whatever criticism may follow will be as a friend of a friend and not in a facetious spirit. Let us now consider the banquet, so intimately connected with the subject of the high cost of living, or perhaps in this case might I not better say, "cost of high living", or for what might be more appropriately known as the woeful waste cost of living. Covers were laid for 344 in the large banquet hall, and every seat was occupied. In addition a large number were fed in overflow, improvised dining halls, the participants coming into the main hall to hear the speeches after the feast was over. Seven courses came upon the board, including wine in profusion. Fully one-third of the viands of these seven courses was sent off the table and to the garbage cans, destined to soon reach the incinerator or sewers of the city, and later the deep sea waters of Puget Sound, save one item, the wine, all of which was consumed. As I sat and mused, to me it seemed a pity the wine did not follow the waste into the sea. The tables and hall were profusely decorated with flowers. In one corner of the hall soft strains of sweet music would issue from a band half hidden from view. Alternately with these, in a more central position, gifted singers would entertain the assemblage with appropriate songs.
In one angle of the room was a booth, "The Round House" of one of the transcontinental lines; at another point, "The Terminals", and so on through with the four transcontinental railroad lines centering in Tacoma, with "conductors" as ushers, dining and sleeping car porters as waiters, each appropriately decorated to point the line to which they belonged.
As I sat and mused between courses, it gradually dawned upon my mind that this was in fact as well as in name a "railroad jubilee dinner" and celebration, and not an assemblage to commemorate pioneer deeds as pioneer days; that the "Anniversary" date had been seized upon to attract the widest possible attendance to accomplish another purpose—that the object of the meeting was to obtain a hearing for a "square deal" for the railroads, in a word, to build up a public sentiment favoring the increase of freight rates. This fact became more manifest and more apparent as the program was unfolded in the introduction of five railroad magnates as the principal speakers of the evening, followed by the young governors of the States of Oregon and Washington, but not a pioneer was called or heard. In fact, less than half a dozen of the pioneers of forty years ago were present—a whole generation had passed in these eventful years since 1873.
We come now to the consideration of the high cost of living as outlined by the railroad magnates in their plea for an advance in freight rates. The high cost of living had advanced wages; the cost of operating the railroad was greater, while the rates from time to time had been lowered until the receipts had almost reached the vanishing point where dividends might be declared; and to the point where more capital could not be enlisted for betterment and extension of the lines to keep pace with the vast increase of traffic. The burden of these speeches for an hour and a half was for a higher freight rate and a plea for a more friendly feeling on the part of the general public towards the railroads.
I had expected to hear something said about some method of reducing the cost of living, but nothing whatever was said on that point; or of economizing in the cost of operating the railroads, but on that point the speakers were silent. These five speakers were together probably drawing a hundred thousand dollars annual salary, but no hint was given of expecting to take less. However, many of the points were well taken, and ably stated by the speakers, and received the serious consideration of the four hundred business men who were present, and of thousands that read the account of the proceedings published in the current issues of the newspapers of the day. I mused. If because of the high cost of living wages advanced, and because wages advanced freight rates advanced, how long would it be until another advance for all hands round would be demanded? This in turn brings to the front the question of whither are we tending? Some honestly, while others with better knowledge insolently, charged the "Robber Tariff" as the cause of the high cost of living. The tariff has been revised downward and yet the cost of living advances. The demand for labor has lessened and bread lines for the unemployed threatened, and with it the cost of low living has become a vital question.
Referring again to the banquet room and to the woeful waste going into the sewers of Tacoma, may we not pause for the moment to ask, How many of these banquet rooms, great and small, hotels, kitchens of the idle rich as well as the improvident poor, are pouring like waste into the sewers and the deep sea in the United States? If all were collected in one great sewer, the volume would stagger the imagination. One authority would have it the volume would equal that of the water pouring through the channel of the Ohio River. Whatever the volume, all will realize that could this wilful waste of food be stopped, that food would become more abundant, the general public better fed while the cost of living would be lowered. The American people have this sin to answer for, and the question will remain with them until answered and atonement made.
May we not properly ask the railroad magnates to look inwardly and see if some methods of economy can not be introduced in their management that will reduce the cost of operating while not lessening the efficiency of the services. Not one word was said by the speakers on this point. I do not allege that much can be accomplished in this direction, but I do say that it is incumbent upon railroad managers to search the way and come before the American people with clean hands and they will be met with hearty response for the square deal. Some of the speakers emphasized the fact that once the people eagerly welcomed the railroads until they got them, and then turned against them apparently as enemies. The speakers seemingly forgot the time when the railroad managers had become arrogant and acted, some of them, somewhat as expressed by that inelegant phrase, "the public be damned", and treated the railroads wholly as private property the same as a farm or a factory or the home. One might easily read between the lines of some of the speeches that this doctrine of ownership without restriction as to the duties due the public was still lurking in minds of the men making them.
These speeches and kindred efforts, however, will do a good work, will clear the way for a better understanding, and will in the end accomplish the coming together of the people and railroads. More than once in the banquet speeches, government ownership was spoken of as the result of present tendencies, and one might almost say welcomed by the speakers, anyway, flippantly spoken of as a possible if not probable event. I could not help but feel that there was a vein of insincerity running through these expressed opinions, and that the words were intended for effect to hasten the day of reconciliation as between the public and the railroads. To my mind such expressions coming from such a source were ill advised. One can scarcely imagine a so-called railroad man that in his heart would welcome government ownership of railroads in this great nation of freedom. These lines are penned by the hand of one born before the advent of railroads in the United States. Perhaps, to be exact, we might note that at that time (December 29, 1830) twenty-eight miles of a so-called railroad (a tramway) were in operation in the coal mining district. Now we are told there are over two hundred and sixty thousand miles, requiring a tremendous army to operate and maintain. The day the policy of government ownership of railroads in the United States is adopted, that day will see the germ planted that will eventually grow to open the way for the "man on horseback" and the subversion of a free government. The reader may conclude this belief comes from the pessimistic mind of an old man, and not worthy of serious attention. The writer will cheerfully submit to be called elderly, but will emphatically disclaim being a pessimist and will claim this thought expressed as to government ownership of the railroads deserves very serious consideration as fraught with great danger. But this is a digression and now let us get back to the subject of the high cost of living.
A few weeks ago much was written and published about the high cost of eggs. Finally the ladies of Seattle hired a theater and more than a thousand of them assembled to listen to speeches made and to vote for resolutions presented denouncing alleged speculation in eggs by the cold storage people, forgetting the fact there was no surplus and that the law of supply and demand governed. As before written, I hesitated to criticise mine hosts, the Commercial Club, and how shall I dare brave the danger of the displeasure of this particular thousand ladies and of millions more of the same mind to be found in other parts of the land? Notwithstanding all these resolutions and denunciations, the hens refused to cackle and the price of eggs advanced. If these same ladies had, during the season of abundance and reasonable prices of eggs, provided themselves with suitable earthen jars and a small quantity of water glass they might have had a supply in their own larders so near in quality that only a connoisseur could tell the difference, just as healthful and at moderate price, and thus contribute one factor to keep down the high cost of living. God bless the fifteen million housewives of our nation. It is with diffidence I venture, even in a mild criticism, and so let me assume the role to question and leave conclusions to the ladies themselves. How many of these ne'er-do-well housewives look closely to the garbage cans? I would ask, what percentage of the food that comes on to the table is carried off and not eaten—in a word, wasted? If this waste, even to a small degree, was stopped, the effect would be instantly felt, not only in each particular household, but likewise in the larger way to cut off a portion of the demand in the markets, and this would tend to lessen the general cost of living.
Again, we hear much charged against the "middlemen", as not only conducing to the high cost of living, but as being the real cause; that the producer gets scarcely fifty per cent. of the price paid by the consumer, hence a great wrong is being perpetrated upon a suffering public by a class who are unmercifully denounced for their alleged wrong conduct. Indeed, here is one factor that gives us most trouble, that is, I mean to say the gap between the consumer and the producer, not the middlemen.
As with the ladies and the eggs, where words had no effect, denunciation of middlemen is ineffectual. A sufficient answer to clear the middlemen's skirts is, that as a class they do not build up great fortunes, and in fact a large percentage of them either fail in business or barely make a reasonable living.
It is the system we must look to for the real cause of our trouble and not the instruments carrying out the mandates of the public demand. If we insist upon having the products of the farm in season and out of season, some of which must be transported for long distances, cared for, much of it in refrigerating cars and in cold storage, all of which costs money, of course we must expect an increase in the cost of living. I am not decrying against this so much as simply noting the fact, to point the way to one real cause of our complaint. A more real cause of this great disparity lies with the consumers who demand their supplies delivered in small portions, always wasteful and expensive, put up in attractive, costly packages—all of which must come out of the pockets of the consumers. If the good lady of the household telephones to her grocer to send her a pound of some new named stuff (and which comes in a neat but expensive package), how can she expect to get the same value at the same cost as if bought in original form and at the counters? She must not only pay for the cost of delivering but often for the new name of an old-time material in a different dress. It is the demand of the consuming public that makes possible the waste of small purchasers and incidentally the additional cost of delivery.
There is another phase of this question of high cost of living that has so far received scant attention, which we may properly write as Fast Living. I do not mean this in the sense of the profligate spendthrifts, the joy-riders, the senseless wanderings of the idle rich traveling thousands of miles to drive away the ennui incident to the sin of indolence, although this has an appalling effect upon the vital question under consideration and of the welfare of the nation, and must be treated in another chapter. What I mean now is the legitimate fast living which adds so greatly to the general cost of living. If, for instance, the physician using an automobile can visit twenty patients where before he could only see ten; or the business man utilizing this rapid transit means for quick dispatch of business can transact as much business in a day as otherwise would take a week; travel thousands of miles where before he could make but hundreds, then he becomes a fast liver and with this a high cost liver. If a locomotive hauls a train but twelve miles an hour (the original standard of high speed) manifestly if the speed is increased to sixty miles for the same period of time, the cost of coal must be much more than at the lower speed. And so with the fast liver; his expenditures for a given time will be far greater than if content to move at lower speed. This principle as applied to individuals is equally applicable to communities, and becomes a factor in accounting for the high cost of living. We are as a nation fast livers, and to an extent high livers, and must needs suffer the penalty of higher cost of living than our forbears who led the simple life and practiced frugality as a cardinal virtue.
Another factor we are apt to lose sight of, and it is a large one, that of withdrawing so many from the field of food production and moving them over to the side of consumers. Take the army of automobile builders as one instance; these men, with their dependent families become consumers, while engaged in an occupation that aids measurably in the opportunity for fast living, which, as we have seen, adds to the high cost as compared with the ordinary methods in life. Many such instances might be named, but this one must suffice.
Another far-reaching cause—in fact worldwide—is the vast increase in the volume of gold within recent years and consequent decline in purchasing power, which of course carries with it the high cost of commodities exchanged for it measured in dollars and cents. Space will not permit following this feature of the question further, but it is one of the things that must be reckoned with in reviewing the whole question. This, however, is more apparent than real and is entirely without our control.
And so, in summing up, we can see that high cost of living is with us to stay; that, as compared with the simple life, it is a thing of the past; that so long as we practice fast living we must expect a higher cost; so long as any part of a community insists on high living, the inevitable corollary follows that the average cost is advanced.
Are we then helpless to combat this upward tendency in the cost of living? By no means; but if we miss the mark in our effort we lessen the chance of success. We must discriminate and not be led astray by false prophets teaching false premises. When demagogues, for political effect, allege that the "Robber Tariff" is the cause, one can easily see the fallacy of the assertion; when honest people inveigh against the middlemen as the cause, instead of joining in the denunciation of a class, they should look inwardly to the system and try to correct the abuse within. If we are wasteful as alleged, then strive to stop the waste; if we are extravagant, then let us stop it; if we are heedless in the method of making our purchases, then let us turn over a new leaf and begin anew and each do his or her part and the combined efforts will have effect. While we will not get back to all the old-time ways of the simple life (and it is not desirable that we should) yet the effort will correct some glaring defects in our present system. While we may not get the cost of living down to the old standard (and again it is not desirable we should), yet all will agree that a combined popular effort would work a wonderful change for the better in the direction of reducing the cost of living.
CHAPTER LXI.
PREPAREDNESS.
In the eighty-five years of a busy life I have witnessed five wars in which this nation has been a party, not counting the numerous Indian wars.
One of these, the Mexican war of 1846, was clearly a war of conquest, brought on by the discordant element of the slave power, then so dominant and I may say domineering in our councils. Then followed the dreadful War of the Rebellion to settle the question whether the United States was a nation or a loose confederation of States.
I am one of the very few left that witnessed the war of aggression that despoiled Mexico of half her territory, which gave us California, extended our Pacific coast line to the 32° 30' parallel and made this nation a great world power, in fact as well as in name.
Who will dare say that great benefit to the cause of civilization and to the human race did not result from this war? Who, again, will dare assert that the Indian wars of the last century did not likewise result in the advancement of the cause of humanity and civilization? And, again, are there any now so bold as to say that the war prosecuted by the United States in suppressing the rebellion did not result in the betterment of all parties engaged in the conflict? The why, as to these results I will not discuss now, but simply state the acknowledged fact, to the end that we may more clearly see that the pacificists' doctrine is a fallacy and utterly impracticable until after the advent of the millennium.
Suppose a thousand pacificists were gathered in a peace meeting and some one introduced a resolution condemning all wars, would they vote for it? If not, why not? If against preparedness—preparedness for defense—it follows they are against preparedness for war and prepared to sing: "I did not raise my boy to be a soldier".
If, on the other hand, it is admitted that some wars are righteous, the query arises, who would fight it? like the boy, when asked by a visitor if he didn't wish that one of his brothers was a sister, promptly responded, "Who'd a been her?"
Seriously, is there a pacificist with American red blood in his veins, who will condemn the war with Spain to put a stop to the atrocities right under our nose, in Cuba, or the wars with Aguinaldo in the Philippines, or with the pirates of Tripoli, or coming right home to the vital spot, the War of the Revolution that resulted in the birth of this nation? There is no middle ground, there can be none, any more than a given body can be moved in opposite directions at the same instant of time.
It follows, then, that we who oppose the pacificists are in favor of preparedness for defense or for war—for the two terms are synonymous. How great and how numerous the ships needed for our navy must of necessity be referred to experts, for the average citizen can not know. How numerous the army and what the formation, must necessarily be left to those who have made the subject a life study.
The average citizen will know the fundamentals and join to curb excesses, though he may not know the specials. He will know that if we are to meet an enemy with guns that will carry five miles it is useless to oppose them with guns that carry but four, though he may not know how to construct the better arm. He will know that a small army, that can be speedily mobilized, is of greater efficiency than a large, unwieldy, scattered force that can not be quickly concentrated at vital points of danger, though he may not know how best to provide the means for speedy concentration.
How narrowly we escaped a third war with Great Britain over the Northwest boundary, now so nearly forgotten by this generation, I personally witnessed on the San Juan Island in the northern waters of Puget Sound. Again, how the Trent affair came so near plunging us into a desperate struggle of arms with this same power, we of this generation can read in history and a few vividly remember, and finally, how the fitting out of privateers in English ports to prey upon our commerce at last became so exasperating the war spirit of this nation rose to a demand that emboldened our ambassador to the court of St. James to utter those immortal words, "But, my Lordship, this is war," and it was.
And then again how near another war with England we came in the Venezuela affair, a direct result of the Monroe Doctrine, we are too prone to forget.
I happened to be in London when Cleveland's famous message was received and witnessed the excitement that followed, that with but a little more indiscretion would have lighted the spark for a worldwide conflagration. Again I am not assuming to say which party was right, or which was wrong, but simply to recite the fact and to point to the fact that preparedness—for England was prepared—did not result in war.
And may I not point to another instance where preparedness did not lead to war, but on the other hand averted war. I refer to the French in Mexico. At the close of the Rebellion this nation was fully prepared for the enforcement of the Monroe Doctrine, and notice to that effect was made manifest and the French troops were accordingly withdrawn without a struggle. Without this preparedness on our part the French troops would have tightened their grip upon Mexico, and we would have been compelled to fight, or else abandon the Monroe Doctrine. If we cannot assert our rights, no other nation will for us. If we are prepared, no nation will challenge us. Which do the American people want? Shall we submit to endure as a nation by sufferance or shall we by the strong arm maintain our rights?
We must, likewise, take note that we have championed the "open door" policy in China, and already one of the signatory parties has violated the compact. Shall we give up our trade with the Orient or shall we assert that we have the right to trade with China on terms with other nations. If we are not prepared how can we uphold a doctrine that disputed the right of European monarchies to seize and appropriate any portion of either Americas and extinguish the right of free government of the western hemisphere?
It is well to remember that this Monroe Doctrine—the doctrine that Europe must keep hands off all Americas—is still held by this nation and is still repudiated by all European nations except England.
It is also well to remember that this present war to determine the question of the divine right of kings to rule as the "vice-regents of God" is directly antagonistic to our theory of government "by the people and for the people", which becomes a platitude if we are not prepared to defend it.
Dating back to the dawn of history there has been war in all the centuries. Why, I will not undertake to say, but simply recite the fact—a condition and not a theory—and a fact the American people should bear in mind.
I do not believe preparedness or unpreparedness will avert war, but I do believe to be prepared will avert an appalling calamity in the no distant future for this nation if we neglect to provide the means of defense when attacked.
Preparedness of course lessens the danger of attack, but can not nor will not avert it.
Another factor, the congestion of population of nations or likewise in vast cities breeds danger and eventually war.
CHAPTER LXII.
HOW TO LIVE TO BE A HUNDRED.
Eat to live, not live to eat.
Be temperate in all things.
Live the Simple Life.
Work.
The End.
Across the
Continent
Ezra Meeker, the famous transcontinental tourist, chooses
because of its recognized long-touring ability, easy riding qualities and sound mechanical construction.
The Miles Make No Difference
It makes no difference how far you travel in "Pathfinder the Great"—to the next county or across the continent—for its Pullman-like riding qualities do not leave you dog-tired at the day's end, and the motor purrs as contentedly at bedtime as when first you pushed the starting button in the morning.
You can ride all day long in "Pathfinder the Great," traveling at high speed without realizing any sense of weariness or driving strain. In its perfect balance and low center of gravity lies the secret of this road-smoothing quality.
You have perfect confidence in "Pathfinder the Great" at all times and under every condition; this inspires relaxation, the only condition in which you can really enjoy long distance motoring.
The twelve-cylinder, valve-in-head motor of "Pathfinder the Great" develops abundant power; it carries its full complement of seven passengers in perfect comfort at any speed from two to seventy miles per hour "in high."
All the latest super-standard luxury features are found in "Pathfinder the Great," making the car a masterpiece of beauty, strength and convenience.
Make an Effort to See Pathfinder Twin Six
Here are some of the specifications that logically make "Pathfinder the Great" the Twelve Extraordinary
THE PATHFINDER TWIN SIX has a "V" type valve-in-head motor with cylinders arranged six on a side. Cast in blocks of three, 2⅞ inch bore with 5-inch stroke. The motor develops 77 horse power at 2600 R. P. M. The wheelbase is 130 inches. Tires 35" x 5", non-skid in rear. Upholstering is of best quality straight grain hand-buffed leather. Improved Pathfinder one-man top—can be actually operated by one man. Absolutely positive and simple starting, lighting and ignition, special Pathfinder-Delco (largest type). Springs of vanadium steel—rear springs underslung. This type costs us more but the extra value is seen in the easy riding qualities. Body finish beautiful and enduring. Colors, blue, black, wine and green with white wheels.
Models, seven-passenger touring car, $2,750, and three-passenger "Cloverleaf" roadster, $2,900. Prices f. o. b. Indianapolis.
Pathfinder "Six," America's paramount six cylinder car, has a wheelbase of 122 inches and sells for $1695, f. o. b. Indianapolis.
See the nearest Pathfinder dealer for demonstration, or write for full information.
The Pathfinder Company
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, U. S. A.