The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1865-12-18

A Few Words moro about High Prices.
We had occasion few days since to make
some inquiries into the causes OF the prevail
Ing high prices of almost all articles of pro-
duction, whether the fruits of the earth, of
the sea, or Of the handiwork of man. We in
sisted, we think not without reason, that the
leading, controlling cause Of these high prices
is to be found in the inadequacy of the supply
and of the means Of supply to meet the un-
paralleled demands now made by the wants of
the country, and that so long as the supply is
not equal to the demand, no matter whether
currency be abundant or deficient, prices ,ciu
rule high. The man whose orders for wares
far outrun his utmost ability to produce, can
command, and win naturally secure, high
prices, while the moment his orders fall below
his producing power .and a surplus aaccumu-
lates u )on his hands, he loses the power to
control prices, and must yield to their decline
bankruptcy and ruin stare him in the face
This must be unless he has large surplus capi-
tai, so that he can afford to keep his accumnt
lating wares on hand unsold.
1t may be well for those political economists
who claim that our high prices are the sole
result Off surplus currency, to remember that
at the present time in England, France, and
even in the continental governments whose
circulating medium is made up exclusively of
gold and silver, the same complaint of high
prices prevails that does with us. The prices
may not be absolutely so high as with us, but
they are very high at any rate. The fnan-
cial writers in those countries have their ex-
PLANTATION of this fact. They say that the
vast contribution of the gold and silver mines
of California, Nevada and other regions of the
earth, to the currency of the world, is begin
ming to produce the very results that were
predicted by writers in this country some fif-
teen years ago; that is, the precious metals,
by their abundance, are becoming caeapened;
or what is the same thing, every article whose
price is measured by them, is advancing in
relative value. While bushel Of wheat,
pound of butter, barrel of beef, or Ie'haps
days labor, may purchase as much tea, coffee,
salt, sugar or iron as formerly, a dollar in gold
will not do so, because the gold has become
more plenty in the worlds business marts, and
is therefore actually deprecated in value. is
it unreasonable to suppose this may be the fact;
and If fact, does it not explain why prices
have advanced in those countries which have
been unaffected by our civil war, and the
pressing demands for production prevailing in
this country?
The New York NatiOa has an article upon
"Prices" which contains so many sensible sug-
| gestions, and urges them with so much and
such convincing force, that we cannot do bet
ter than to conclude this article with some
liberal extracts from it:
During the war we were treated nearly ev-
| cry day to long and solemn exhortations from
the newspapers, addressed to the speculators,
warning them to desist from their wicked prac-
tices of running up the price of gold. There
were many writers, and there was large por-
ton of the public, who could not be persuad-
ed that if the spectators could somehow or
other be punished or restrained, the ups and
downs of the gold market would not cease, and
| legal tenders drop down to par, or nearly par.
! Nor was there the slightest use in calling at
\ tention to the fact that it was the uncertainty
| created by the events OF the war that gave
| the spectators all their power of mischief;
| that the real root of the trouble was in the
public mind, which was agitated by hopes and
fears; and that as soon as public events re-
Sulltu OTuludry course, Tile SpeculaLOfS
could no more speculate in gold than live in
an exhausted receiver. The preaching went
on in this case till Congress tried its hand at
punishment in 1864. The great "gold bill'
was introduced which was to drive the specu-
lators back to their dens, and cover the point
ical economists who advised their being let
alone with confusion. The result was that
gold ran up to nearly 800, and the bill, after
having done immense mischief, was repealed
! in twelve days. This put stop to the preach
| ing on this subject The spectators were
henceforward treated with silent contempt;
and, as everybody knew who had ever given a
serious thought either to the laws of trade or
the laws OF human nature, the wretches found
their occupation gone the minute the war was
over. Gold still remained to be bought and
sold. The spectators were as anxious as ev-
er to run it up. But the public mind was no
longer agitated by the storm OF war; the price
ceased to vary to any but very slight de-
gree. "a. .
Peace, however, did not bring any great
diminution in prices. In fact, they have been
rising steadily since very soon after Lees sur
render. .The causes Of this are to be sought
either in the state of the labor market, or in
the proportion borne by the quantity of cur
rency in existence to the quantity required, or
in taxation. To find them in any OF these,
however, would have required a good deal Of
thought and research, so the easier course was
resorted to of abusing the butchers and bak-
| ers and grocers as extortioners. The dearness
OF everything was ascribed to conspiracy
amongst the tradesmen, and people were grave
~ encouraged to form anti-meat and other
sel.edenying clubs for the purpose OF bringing
the Ilarpies to their senses. All this was pure
waste OF paper and ink, though great many
simpletons read it as gospel. AS general
rule, people know themselves when beef and
cloth are dear, without being told by their
/ ala hnfh not
they can afford to buy them; and unless some
great change should take place in human ma
tnre, persons who like beef, and find that their
means enable them to eat 1t, win continue to
do SO as long as the world lasts, newspaper adj
vice to the contrary notwithstanding Provi-
dence has provided means of putting prices
down when they get higher than the sup
ply warrants, far better than any eiub can de,
wise. When meat gets dear, those VINO ieei
its dearness eat less of it or stop eating alto
gether, without waiting for hInt rom the
press: and as these constitute q considerable
nronoytion of the public, the butcher very
soon knows that if there be any room for
4 coming down, down he must come. This
i class tbenefore, could do nomore fol CHEAP ness
I1 S;gninq their names to pledge than they
So without it, Those, on the other hand, who
Ike meat, and can afford TO eat it at any price,
will continue to cat 1t, no matter what editors
J may say.
A movement got up by some ladies whose
zeal outran their knowledge, for the formation
of an anti-foreign goods association, towards
the close of the war ended without results.
Ia the first place, there were not enough
women found to forswear foreign goods, or
any other goods that suited their tastes or
their pockets, to make the smallest impression
| on the market. In the second place the re-
| tailers were fonnd anything but ready to come
4 forwad as patriotic vendors OF native manu-
sactures. Not only were they not inclined to
confine themselves to the sale of American
goods, but they were found rather to be inclin-
ed to sell everything as foreign goods-tne
reason being that, in spite of many luminous