French Memories of Eighteenth Century America

here are some who with more philosophy than flippancy declare that we are suffering from the cost of high living, rather than the high cost of living?they say it can be seen on every side. Curiously enough, that is just what the Frenchmen said of our forebears at the end of the eighteenth century. Felix de Beaujour thought "Americans make immoderate use of all the commodities of wealth; no people have more clothes. Elsewhere luxury is only to be found in the upper ranks of society, but here it is everywhere, and it has even penetrated to the cottage of the workingman and the country laborer, so much so that in the United States there is no distinction in dress. The maid is dressed like her mistress, and the poorest workman like the First Magistrate." Even more explicit is Chastellux: "Such is the present good fortune of America that there are no very poor people to be seen and everyone enjoys easy circumstances. If some individuals possess less than others, so unlimited are the resources ready to hand that their minds seem to be occupied with what their future condition will be rather than with realizing their present one. Such is the general equality of condition that those things which everywhere else would be regarded as luxuries are here considered necessities. So it is that the salary of a workingman must not only provide subsistence for his family, but also comfortable furniture for the home, tea and coffee for his wife, and a silk dress to put on every tim...