"The situation in New York City at the end of the year 1863 is typical of the period. Eggs had then reached 25 cents per dozen, from 15 cents in 1861; cheese, 18 cents from 8 cents; potatoes, $2.25 from $1.50 per bushel, and for all the necessities of life there was an advance ranging from 60 to 75 and in some cases even 100 per cent. Wages, on the other hand, lagged behind; the blacksmith's increase was only from $1.75 to $2 per day, that of common laborers from $1 to $1.25, that of bricklayers from $1.25 to $2, and the average increase in all the trades was about 25 per cent., or less than one-half the increase of prices. The winter of 1863--64 and the ensuing months were accordingly a time of unusual industrial unrest, which increased in severity as the discrepancy between wages and prices continued. The dollar was slowly but surely diminishing in value, and labor engaged in a determined struggle to force wages up, capital to keep them down. The advantage lay with the employing classes, but labor in 1864 recovered much of the ground that had been lost in the two previous years, and the war closed with wages much nearer prices than a year earlier. It was generally agreed at the time that prices during the entire war period advanced approximately 100 per cent. and wages from 50 to 60 per cent." WHERE THE COST OF LIVES WEIGHED THE MOST The rapid rise in the cost of living was much more severely felt by the classes of the population dependent upon small or less rigid incomes. In many industries wages increased faster than average living expenses. Figures published by the New York Labor Bureau show that the sum distributed in wages to industrial workers was substantially doubled in the four years of warfare. Investigation conducted by the National Industrial Board of Boston showed that there had been an increase of 50 to 55 per cent. in the budget of the average wage earner from July, 1914, to June, 1918. "The increases for the different items are given as follows: Food 62% Rent 15% Clothing 77% Fuel and light 45% Sundries 50% Average increase (depending on apportionment of these respective items in the family budget) 50% to 55% In explanation of these figures the report goes on to say: