The daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1873-1877, 1874-05-16

daily, hourly, weekly, or even monthly add
II m his wages He cannot readily make
new contracts for his labor, and, unfortu-
nately. it is the only contract he can ever
make. So the premium on gold reaches
his wages last OF all.
Certainly, then, an
CURRENCY is NOT FOR THE |
POOR MAN.
If it is for the benefit of any. it is for the |
rich man and for the Spectator. The |
more rich the man, the more desperate the
Spectator, the more easily he avoids the
losses the more certainly he profits by
fluctuations. Increase the number and
variety of transactions, and you increase
the opportunities to adjust or shift the
burdens OF huctuating currency. The
poor man, who has nothing to sell but his
labor, and who has everything to buy
lodging, food, clothing-fnds his labor re-
ceiving only the premium on gold. This
is bad for him at one end, and it is equally
bad at the other; for, for his support, he
pays, in each case, something beyond the
premium. And, this brings us to the
general principle, that the premium on
gold does not accurately measure the ad-
vance of prices, except in those articles
that we export. In all other articles, prices
rise beyond the gold premium, and this
rise is due to the percentage added on each
exchange, to insure the seller against sub
sequent depreciation of the money In which
he shall be paid.
Naturally the increase in price will be
least in those commodities which pass di.
rectly from producer to consumer, and
greatest in those which are subjected to
most frequent transfers. When Mr.. Low
buys his tea in China, he pays for it in
gold. The Chinese as yet are not intelli-
gent enough to accept the best currency
the world ever saw" When the tea is in
his warehouse freight, duties and ex-
change all paid--he fixes the price. He
adds to cost the usual percentage of profit
and the premium on gold; but he does
not stop here. He sells on time, and be-
fore the time expires gold may rise 2 or 3
per cent. He does not think it will rise so
much but it may, and, as he sees no pro-
priety in running any risk, he adds three
per cent and the jobber gets Mr.. Low S
tea into Chicago at a cost Of per cent.
above the premium on gold, and when my
friend from Kansas stopped over last No
vember and bought his family chests to
send to Wyandotte, the Chicago merchant
said, ''this NJ. G. will not remit before the
5th of next month; by that time some
more Of the S44, 200, 900 will be out and
the premium on gold, instead of being 6,
as it is now, may be 10 or II; will add 5
per cent to guard against loss. So when
this tea reaches the little grangers at Wy
andotte, though gold is up only 10 per
cent, tea is up Is per cent per cent
adde's by the New York importer, and )
per cent added by the Chicago jobber. Sc
in any article, especially manufactured ar,
ticles, where materials have passed
through many hands. we shall have the
price naturally raised far above the gold
E premium.
And this is
WHY THE FARMER, THE WESTERN FARMER
SUFFERS
2 more from deprecated currency than any
one else, except the poor man who ha
only his own labor 20 sell. Why? Be
cause the western farmer gets for his pro
duce only the price of the foreign market
, They raise and sell cotton, pork, beet, corn
wheat, cheese. The price of these in New
Y ork is always the price in Liverpool. les
, the price of transportation, 1t must be so
If the price in Liverpool were more, W.
should export, or raise the home price.
the price in Liverpool were less, we SHOULD
cease to carry produce there and the sur
, plus accommodating in New York woult
force the New York price down to Liver
= pool level. This is the theory and this i
the fact, that Liverpool fixes the price o
our farm products. But say the friend
d, of an irredeemable currency, the farme
gets his price in gold and he gets the ben
eft of the premium; how, then, is h
hurt?' He is hurt because the deprecia
ton of our currency does not measure tn
! increase in the prices of the commoditie
he buys. Say gold is no; say 10 mark
the depreciationof our dollar. and the far
, mer gets gold dollar and changes it int
$l.l0 will his $ll0 buy what it once did
No; rent, clothing, food, tools, horses, te;
coffee, all have advanced beyond the gol
:, premium, and we have seen the reason
, Each dealer added percentage TO guar
against the loss of an uncertain currenc!
-, And what is the
- RESULT TO THE FARMER
= He gets for his produce, in paper none,
- what he got before the war, plus the pr
- MUM on gold but everything he buys /
O. O. buys at an advance greater than the pr
= MUM Wheat in Chicago before the W;
- was $l.l0 per bushel, good sugar 9 cen
% % per pound. Now, in the same marke
70 wheat brings $l25 and the same su.i
y, 80 liz cents The price of the wheat SHOW
!, the premium of gold, the price of the s,
gar shows the premium of gold plus an a,
:, vance of II per cent The importer al
% jobber have not only charged the premiu
- on gold to the consumer, they have al
e taken from him an extravagant rate f
~ shielding them from further loss. )
n Continued on third page