Now, the charge per head,
reduced to a common basis of purchasing power, fell as follows:--
Index figure
1817 260
1842 242
1857 191
1895 210
1914 118
In the year 1920 the charge per head was L7.16 and my purchasing power
index figure 629. You will see that the _real_ burden in commodities
moved down much less violently than the _money_ burden, and the relief
was not actually so great as it looks, because prices were far lower in
1914 than they were early in the nineteenth century.
In view of the fact that our debt is approximately ten times that of the
last century, let us ask ourselves the broad question: "Can we look
forward to nothing better than the reduction of our debt by 450
millions in thirty-seven years?"
The nineteenth century was one long contest between two opposing forces.
The increase in the population, together with the power to make wealth,
were together enormously effective in decreasing the burden. Against
them was the ultimate tendency to lower prices, and the former of these
two forces slowly won the day.
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