The country is gradually getting back to times as they were before the war. Over in England they have the greatest confusion at this time because the coal miners have gone on strike and left the mines flooded with water.
The strikers contend that they are not willing to go back to living conditions such as they endured before the war. They contend that the nation must find some way to pay them a price for mining coal that will permit them to live decently as they have been doing now for five years. Over there they have found no way to adjust the difference and so all kinds of confusion exists.
It is a fact that is unpleasant to refer to that up to the recent years about three-fourths of the people on this globe were practically slaves to the other one-fourth. The three-fourths lived and toiled from year to year and for their labor got a bare existence in the way of the simplest food and clothing and shelter. Then the world war came on and labor was at once in such demand that prices that no poor man ever dreamed of getting were offered him on every hand. He at once leaped from the position of a poverty stricken citizen to a man of means and power among his fellows.
And for five years he was permitted to live this life of plenty. Then the war ended and the clamor was raised that the world must get back to old times. Some of us doubt if laboring men will ever be forced to go back to the old times. It appears to us that the men of capital will be compelled in the interest of peace and harmony to find some way to carry on big business and at the same time pay labor a price that will mean more to labor than its board and clothes.
Here in our own section the readjustment is taking place and is interesting from many view points. The standards of living among the town and country people have been raised here in Surry County during the last five years until they are now such that it sounds almost like a fairy tale to think of times now and how they were, say five years ago.
We suspect that the average citizen in Surry county has seen his family expenses double during the past few years. Five years ago his wife brought a $15 coat suit, now she buys a $50 suit; five years ago his sons and daughters bought shoes for $3 the pair, now they pay double that price; five years ago he could go to church in his wagon, but now a splendid automobile is used for the Sunday outing. And so it goes all along the line.
During the war the farmer in this section could sell his farm products at a price that looked like robbery to the men who had to buy. But that is rapidly changing back to times as they were five years ago. Last year a cow hide sold for 30 cents the pound. Now they sell for less than five cents. Plenty of Irish potatoes sold on this market last year for as little as 60 cents a bushel. Some men made money the past year on tobacco, but many made not one penny. One intelligent farmer told us recently of how he made last year a crop of tobacco that brought him a good price per pound and sold for a total of $1,200. But it took every cent of the money to pay the expenses of making the crop and he got nothing for the use of his land.
Men who should know, say that tobacco is certain to be low next year and with wheat at a dollar a bushel in the west and corn at a like level farm products are certain to be down here, from this date on.
In the light of all these facts just how is the Surry citizen to maintain the high level of living that he had established during the past five years, is the supreme problem for every one of us. Somebody told us recently of a family near this town that had saved up a little money and like every one of their neighbors they bought an automobile. They paid $500 for gas and repairs. So the family was out a round $1,000 which no doubt represented the saving of a half dozen years. Now can the family give up the machine and be content to go back to the horse and buggy or will they chaff under the new order of living?
Surry County is literally full of automobiles today. Along the public roads of the county one sees a garage at almost every home and often one sees a fine truck standing under the barn shelter. The past prices of farm products made it possible to buy all these. Now the problem is how to maintain them. We asked a citizen a few days ago how much it cost him a year to use his automobile. He is a man of careful habits, and knows his business. He thought a moment and said it cost him about $400 to say nothing of repair bills which he usually avoided by careful use of his car. Now it is very well known that back before the war the average farm in Surry County did not clear as much as $400 a year. And so figuring along this line it is easy to see that if farm products are to go back to the lower levels of five years ago, that the farms of this county will hardly be able to keep the automobiles in operation.
And so it is the same problem with us that is facing the miners of England, how to maintain the high standard of living that we have set since the world war. The thoughtful man will find a way out, but the country will see many who will not be able to weather the readjustment times.
The lead editorial in The Mount Airy Times, May 19, 1921
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