^ a. L3+ vrd\ ■mi 111 HI Cornell University Library HD 6983.L34 Increase in cost of living and prices, 1 3 1924 013 903 921 BEFORE THE U. S. RAILWAY LABOR BOARD ICREASE IN COST OF LIVING AND PRICES 1914 to 1920 Presented by W. Jett Lauck ON BEHALF OF W. S. STONE, [d Chief Engineer, Brotherhood of Locomo- tive Engineers. L. E. SHEPPARD, president, Order of Railroad Conductors. S. E. HEBERLING, [ident, Switchmen's Union of North America. LOUIS WEYAND, jig International President, International flrotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Shlp- ailders and. Helpers of America. J. J. HYNES, Inational President, Amalgamated Sheet- fetal Workers' International Alliance. J. P. NOONAN, Inational President, International Brother- hood of Electrical Workers. TIMOTHY SHEA, itant President, Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen. W. G. LEE, Ident, Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen. WM. H. JOHNSTON, national President, International Associa- tion of Machinists. J. W. KLINE, General President. International Brotherhood of Blacksmiths, Drop Forgers and Helpers. MARTIN F. RYAN, General President, Brotherhood Railway Car- men of America. E. J. MANION, President, Order of Railroad Telegraphers. F. GRABLE, Grand President, United Brotherhood of M. of W. Employees and Railroad Shop Laborers. E. J. FITZGERALD, Grand President, Brotherhood of Railway and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express and Station Employees. D. W. HELT, President, Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen of America. TIMOTHY HEALY, President, International Brotherhood of Sta- tionary Firemen and Oilers. B. M. JEWELL, President. Railway Employees Department, American Federation of Labor. Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924013903921 BEFORE THE U. S. RAILWAY LABOR BOARD Increase in Cost of Living and Prices, 1914 to 1920 PRESENTED BY W. JETT LAUCK 2 2A TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapteb 1. Increase in the General Cost of Living, July, 1914, to May, 1920 5 Chapter 2. Retail Prices of Food 15 Chapter 3. Retail Prices of Coal 19 Chaptee 4. Retail Prices of Clothing and Dry Goods 20 Chapter 5. Wholesale Prices 22 INCREASE IN COST OF LIVING AND PRICES, 1914 to 1920 CHAPTER I. Increase in the General Cost op Living July, 1914, to May, 1920. Recent studies of cost of living and prices indicate that the in : crease in the general cost of living between July, 1914, and May, 1920, was approximately 110 per cent for the larger cities of the country and approximately 100 per cent for the country as a whole. The periodic changes, for as short intervals as are available, are shown in the following table, which summarizes reports of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics and the National Indus- trial Conference Board, supplemented by corresponding data for Massachusetts as compiled by the Massachusetts Commission on the Necessaries of Life. ' PER CENT INCREASE IN COST OF LIVING SINCE JULY, 1914. Mass. Commission U. S. Bureau of National Industrial on the Necessaries Labor Statistics. Conference Board. of Life. 18 Country Industrial as a Country as a Whole. Massachusetts Only. Centers. whole. ' 1914 — December .... 2 2 .6 1915 — June-July 2 2 .5 dec. .4 December .... 3 3 1.4 1916— June-July . 9 9 8.7 7.6 December . 17 17 15.0 1917— June-July . 30 29 31.3 26.6 December . 44 41 36.7 1918— June-July . 60 56 52.2 49.3 November . 65.0 61.6 December . 76 72 62.7 1919— March .... 60.5 61.3 June 80 1 75 66.8 July 72.2 68.0 November . 82.2 80.7 December . 101 95(1) 80.9 1920— January . . 90.2 88.1 February . . 93.5 86.9 March .... , . 94.8 89.4 April 96.6 92.3 May mi 1 ) l'o'u 1 ) " (') Estimates; increase between December, 1919, and May, 1920, being estimated at 5 per cent from price increases shown in later sections. 5 2B SOURCES OF THE TABLE. The figures for the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics up to June, 1919, are from the Labor Review for October, 1919. For December, 1919, the figures are based on press statements issued by the Bureau. The figures for the National Industrial Conference Board are from the Board's publications, supplemented by press statements for February, March and April of this year. The figures for the Massachusetts Commission on the Necessaries of Life are from the recent report of that Commission, supplemented by press statements for March and April, 1920. The index numbers as issued by this Commission are all based on the year 1913, equal- ing 100. In order to make these figures comparable with those of the other two studies, the base has been changed to July, 1914, by dividing by the index number for that month. Similarity op Results. The similarity in the results of these studies is apparent, and the similarity becomes even more striking when the methods and scope of the studies are analyzed. Thus, while the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics' investigations are the most thorough and, as a result, probably the most accurate, they have covered the whole period since 1914 only for certain large cities which during the war were shipbuilding centers. As these cities suffered from a very heavy influx of population, with consequent congestion, price ad- vances there were somewhat greater than in most other communities. In the October, 1919, number of the Labor Review, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that during the war the cost of living increased 12 per cent less rapidly in other communities, and C per cent less rapidly in the country as a whole, than it did in the ship- building centers. If these relationships still hold, as there is reason to believe they do, the figure of 101 per cent for December, 1919, would be reduced to 95 per cent as a fair average for the country as a whole. Increases by Principal Commodity Groups. The increases in living costs have been by no means uniform for the various commodity groups. The following tables show the esti- mates of increases by commodity groups as compiled from reports of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, the National Indus- trial Conference Board and the Massachusetts Commission on the Necessaries of Life. The tables, it will be noted, cover slightly dif- ferent periods, and the commodity groups are not identical, but they constitute the most complete and most recent studies of the subject. INCREASED COST OF LIVING BY COMMODITY GROUPS. 1. U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1914 to 1919. For 18 Industrial Centers. Items. Per cent increase Dec, 1914, to Dec, 1919. 87.8 178.8 28.5 57.7 166.9 86.3 Food Clothing Housing : Fuel and light Furniture and furnishings Miscellaneous Total, weighted according to importance of each item in the family budget | 97.1 2. National Industrial Conference Board, 1914 to 1920. Items. I | Per cent increase I July, 1914, to I April, 1920. Food I 100. Shelter I 50. Clothing I 188. Fuel, heat and light I 51. Sundries I 83. Total, weighted according to importance of each item in the! family budget I 96.6 Massachusetts Commission on the Necessaries of Life, 1913 to 1920, for the State of Massachusetts. Items. Food Shelter Clothing Fuel and light Sundries Total, weighted according to importance of each item in the family budget •' Per cent increase 1913, to April, 1920. 98.2 33.8 205.5 70.8 83.0 96.3 Changes in Cost of Living by Cities. The preceding sections have been concerned primarily with the ascertaining of average increases in the cost of living for the coun- try as a whole. This has meant the averaging of conditions in a large number of communities. While increases in the cost of living oc- curred during the past few years in every community of which there is record, the rate of increase was not everywhere the same. In general, the increases were greater in the East than in the West, and greater in the centers where industrial activity was most stimu- lated by the war. On the other hand, the greatest price increases have not always been in the very largest cities. These variations are well brought out in the cost of living surveys made by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics during the war. These surveys covered a large number of cities, and the results have been partially tabulated and published by individual communi- ties. For only one group of 18 large cities, however, does the infor- mation cover substantially the whole war period from 1914 to Decem- ber, 1919. For 13 other large cities partial information is available for the period December, 1917, to December, 1919, and for a third group of 66 cities, mostly of smaller sizes, detailed information is available for the one-year period, December, 1917, to December, 1918. The summarized data for the two former groups of cities, as tabu- lated from the published figures of the Bureau, are as follows : (a) Survey op Eighteen Shipbuilding Centers, December, 1914, to December, 1919. This survey was undertaken by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics especially for the use of the Shipbuilding Labor Adjust- ment Board of the Emergency Fleet Corporation, and for that rea^ son was limited to shipbuilding centers. It covered 18 large cities of wide geographical distribution and containing between 15 and 20 million people. The following tables show the percentage increase in cost of living for December of each year from 1914 to 1919, as developed in this survey. PERCENTAGE OF INCREASE IN COST OF LIVING IN 18 SHIPBUILDING CENTERS, FROM DECEMBER, 1914, TO DECEMBER, 1915, 1916, 1917, AND 1918, AND TO JUNE 1919 AND DECEMBER, 1919. (Compiled from data published in the Monthly Labor Review of the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). Percentage of increase from December, 1914, to — Cities. December 1915 December 1916 December 1917 December 1918 June 1919 December 1919 Portland, Me.' * .42 1.57 1.97 1.19 *1.37 .61 *.21 1.27 *.40 *.29 3.01 3.51 1.42 3.53 *3.05 *1.02 *1.93 *1.66 .43 13.83 15.72 14.91 14.65 18.51 14.73 14.59 14.66 13.82 16.41 19.51 22.25 19.10 24.38 6.14 7.40 7.68 8.30 14.81 37.96 38.13 44.68 43.81 • 51.27 45.15 42.48 41.63 43.16 44.89 41.78 49.85 42.93 51.13 31.23 31.08 28.85 28.63 41.04 72.23 70.60 77.28 73.86 84.68 80.73 74.98 71.52 71.37 75.67 72.16 78.03 71.36 80.91 64.24 69.87 58.03 57.77 72.52 74.25 72.78 79.22 76.21 83.99 87.05 79.76 77.48 76.64 80.22 74.47 84.36 77.23 84.23 69.16 74.01 65.07 65.58 76.76 91.59 Boston, Mass 92.30 New York, NY Philadelphia, Pa Baltimore, Md Norfolk, Va 103.81 96.49 98.40 106.98 Savannah, Ga 98.68 Jacksonville, Fla Mobile, Ala 102.14 94.54 Houston, Tex 101.70 Chicago, 111 100.61 Detroit. Mich 107.87 Cleveland, Ohio Buffalo, N. Y 95.05 102.65 Portland, Ore Seattle, Wash 83.73 97.67 Los Angeles, Calif San Fran'co & Oakland Average (unweighted) . 85.33 87.76 97