The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1877-11-11
The Fall In Prices.

That property of all kinds is selling for
less money than before the breakdown OF
B73 il undcuiablc. Land and railroad stocks,
particularly, have suffered n depreciation
which bears hard on Spectators who bought
thcm at high prices with other peoples
money, and are now called upon to pay 1t
back. How badly they feel appears from the
tamor they are making for more paper cur
rcncy, which. they fancy, will send prices
MP again, and save them from loss II not
give them profit. II Is in behalf Of this
rlass Of men, and of the great railroad cor
porations, whose aggregate debts amount
10 thousand. of millions of dollars. that
Ben. THOMAS EwING and his associates are
working 80 zcalou-ly to defeat the rcsump-
tfon II specie payments They assume that
The whole country Is III the same -crapc that
they are in, and point to the current prices
Of property as evidence Of the fact.
To men who hold property and are out of
hebt 1t makes no difference what It's price IL
In money, provided the money prices Of
pthcr property correspond herewith. A
bushcl of wheat at one dollar buys as much
bugar at ten cents pound AZ Il hushel of
wheat at two dollars buys OF sugar at
twenty cents a pound. So land or stocks Mt
soluble their present prices might practi-
cally be- worth no more, except to pay debts
with, than they are now. They might be
represented by larger figures on their own
ers' books, but II when he came To exchange
them for other things, those things were
also to be doubled in price, he would get
no greater quantity of them than he would
now. The only people. therefore. who have
anything to hope for in the renewal Of the
general imitation that prevailed before 1875
are those Who have bought property with
borrowed money and still owe for it.
Moreover, property, when compared, not
with the prices it brought Ave years ago.
but with those it brought before the war,
has not fallen, hut risen. Lots in this city,
for example. can lie sold at this moment for
moro money under the hammer than they
could have been sold for al private ale dur
Ing tn" great speculation Of The spring of 1850
II seems terrible fall when n lot goes from
$4,000 down to -. 900, but if We will only re-
fleet that that same lot went up to $4,000
from $4,000 II really shows a respectable
Improvement. In the same way stores and
dwellings. over the low rents Of which there
IL so much lamontation are bringing from
fifty t. one hundred per cent. more than
they did in 1860 In certain localities, in
deed whore exceptional causes, such as q
departure Of trade, or changes Of fashion
have been at work, this may not he the ease /;
but as a general thing the fact Is as we have
stated IT, Railroad stocks are said to be to-
prccatcd, and 50 they are ii we consider
pnly the selling price per share, but If,
again. We look M the immensely increased
number Of shares which represent the same
actual investment we shall find great in
crease. The stock If the New York Central
Railroad. for example, If its nominal capital
were put back whore 1t was IN 1860, would
be worth, at the resent market rate, about
s235 per share 1t used to sell before the
war at from So TO s00per share. Erie on it's
So 00,0OO capital. bankrupt and in the hands
of "a receiver as il is, sells for Sll per share,
OF an aggregate Of S77O0oo0 In 1850,
when its capital was $ll 100000 the stock
sold all the way from 50 10 so per share,
Or an aggregate very much less than it
brings now. Pennsylvania Railroad stock IL
said 10 he deprecated at so for the so
shares, but this Is on watered capital OF
$1,000 600 representing only S2j,00,00O Of
actual cost. The same thing i true of all the
other great railroads Of the country, and
even of the coal companies. What il called
terrible depreciation Is onlya depreciation
as compared with an equally terrible inlla-
tion, and that we are returning to II soborer
standard Of value is nothing to cry over
The question now before the people Is,
whether we shall go on and by rcsum,ng
specie payments put some sort OF check on
the wild speculation cngrnderod by an inn
mems" volume Of ire lcrmablc paper money
bring ourselves into sound commercial rela-
tions with the rest 81 the world, redeem oui
national credit and lay he foundation for a
healthy prosperity, on whether we shall e
back again into the region Of clouds an'
whrlwnds. Gem EwING and his flicudt
advocate the latter course; the honest citi
2ens of the country arc .or the former II
ycmains to be scon which will prevail.
Must We Change the Constitution IL
Order tO Cover Hin IA Fraud ,