Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 34, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 August 1896 — THE PEOPLE'S MONEY [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

THE PEOPLE'S MONEY

WHY PRICES FALL. The mutual demand of the farmer for the products of the mill and of the factory hand for the products of the farm U much restricted, not because the farmer is well clad or the factory hand well fed, not because the farmer has an overabundance of clothes or the factory hand an overabundance of food, but because each Is unable to command the money with which to purchase that which the other could produce In ample abundance, and which he deslree to consume. The farmer getting such low prices for his products that his labor yields him little over and above the cost of producing and marketing his crops cannot command the money with which to purchase that which he needs, and he is perforce obliged to piece out old raiment in place of purchasing new. Thus, the demand for manufactured goods Is lessened, prices of such goods fall, and production Is curtailed. And with curtailed production come, of necessity, enforced idleness and ultimately wage reductions to the wage-earner, for the wage-earner, thrown oat of work. Is impelled, Irresistibly, sooner or later, to seek work by underbidding

his fellow workman. So the Impoverishment of the farmer must be reflected In curtailed demand and lessened production In manufactured goods, and consequent enforced idleness and lower wages to factory hands. Thus, we find the farmer Impoverished and buying less of manufactured goods, and the wage-earner, equally impoverished, obliged to economize in his purchases of the products of the farm. Bo we find curtailed demand for commodities In general. Indeed, for everything save gold there is a curtailed demand, and the only exceptions to the resulting and general fall in prices are where the supply of some article has been restricted, either as the result of natural causes or arbitrary restrictions on the production of such products as are monopolized. But for gold the demand is greater than ever. Those striving to secure gold or Its equivalent in exchange for their products are ever and anon offering a larger quantity of products of their labor to obtain this precious gold, that grows more valuable, greater and greater in purchasing power, from day to day. So, from day i.o day, gold goes up as prices go down. Yet still the demand for gold for export is unslackened. Our products are lower than ever before, yet not low enough to attract that foreign buying of our products, that great export of our commodities In excess of Imports, as will suffice to pay our indebtedness abroad, aside from that incurred on account of purchases of merchandise, and thus make unnecessary the export of gold.—Philadelphia North American.

Gold Will Come Back. The advocates of the single gold standard claim that the free coinage of silver will drive our gold to Europe. The reverse is true. It will bring gold from Europe. England can buy ten pounds of cotton or a bushel of wheat in silver-standard countries for an ounce of silver. Because our mints are closed to silver we are forced to sell England their silver at her own terms— about 70 cents an ounce now. If we sell wheat or cotton to England we must take the price of an ounce of silver for it. If the silver goes up, wheat and cotton go up. If silver goes down, wheat and cotton go down. Under free coinage an ounce of silver is worth $1.20. Under free coinage England would have to pay that price for our silver, and wheat, cotton, wool and all farm products would rise proportionately. We buy millions of dollars’ worth of goods of England. We sell her our silver and our surplus farm products. When we receive fair prices ror our silver and products, there is a large balance coming to us each year after paying for what we buy of her and the interest on what we owe her. And that makes us prosperous and fills our banks with gold. But when England can buy our sliver cheap—as she can now—we have to sell our products ■ heap and we do not realize enough from them to pay our Interest and for the goods we buy. So we make up the balance with gold.—Oswego Palladium. A Gold Btandard Besson. And they tell us that there is plenty of money, and that to restore prosperity nil that is necessary is to stick to the gold standard and let things go on as they are. With all branches of manufacture and trade blighted by the prevailing scarcity of money, it seems almost incredible that a great many of

: the American people are willing to let I prevailing methods continue rather I than try a change. The evils wrought by the blind adhesion to the gold standard are many, and those who carefully read the papers have before them daily lessons of the distress due to this cause. Two months ago a pottery at Wellsville. Ohio, one of the largest In the State, was forced to close because It could not secure the money to pay its hands. One month’s wages was due the workmen, and with no money in sight the employes refused to trust to luck. The firm had orders ahead, and thousands of dollars standing out, but It could secure neither the old bills nor advances upon new orders. To-day the wages due those workmen still remain unpaid; hundreds of families are destitute, and a prosperous business has been ruined. Why? Because to meet the greed of Wall street, to enable a few to prosper at the downfall of many, a financial policy Is maintained which enables money sharks lo corner the outlets of cash, and to force the merchant and manufacturer to try to float a successful business upon Interest-bearing paper. With the

single gold standard the country Is at the mercy of the money lending classes, nnd It is upon the poor that the taxation falls the heaviest.

Carlisle in 1878, I shall not enter into an examination of the causes which have combined to depreciate the relative value of sliver and to appreciate the value of gold since 1873, but I am one of those who believe ihat they are transient nnd temporary in their nature, and that when they have passed away, or have been removed by the separate or united actions of the nations most deeply interested in the subject, the old ratio of actual and relative value will be re-establish-ed on a firmer foundation than ever. I know that the world’s stock of precious metals is none too large, and I see no ifttson to apprehend that It will ever become so. Mankind will be fortunate, indeed, if the annual production of gold and silver coin shall keep pace with the annual Increase of population, commerce and Industry. According to my view of the subject, the conspiracy which seems to have been formed here and In Europe to destroy by legislation and otherwise from three-sevenths to one-half the metallic money of the world is the most gigantic crime of this or any other age.—John G. Carlisle, Feb. 21, 1878.

When Silver Is Restored. If the price of produce went up with the free coinage of silver it would help the workingman by an increase of wages. No times were ever better than when the prices for everything were nearly double what they are to-day. The demand for cheap goods is directly a demand for cheap labor, and when prices go up in one the other speedily follows. If wages depended upon the voluntary action of the employer there would be little wages paid. When wages come down the cry is always no profits, cheaper goods in the market. The value of an article Is determined by the demand for it, and when silver is restored its price will rise to the right place.—Philadelphia Item. What Beared the Price? The closing of the United States runts to the silver dollar in 1873, followed by like action in Germany and the Latin Union, had a depressing effect upon silver, which was increased hv false and exaggerated reports re-, garding the amount of silver in the Comstock mines of Nevada and in other mines in Colorado, South America and Australia. The owners of money, and of paper calling for money; took advantage of these reports in urging the adoption of the single gold standard. The net result was the steady appreciation of gold, and the steady hearing down of silver, until the commercial ratio at this time is close to 30 to I.—Denver News. The Mexican Dollar. As that Mexican silver dollar will bay as much of every product of human Industry In any market on earth as it would do at the time you speak of except gold, It seems to me that it might occur to any sane man, or at least to every honest man, that it is not because the Mexican silver dollar is now worth less, but that the gold dollar with which you measure it is worth twice as much. This is a condition, and not a theory.—L. E. Perkins, ia the National Bimetallist.