The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1879-04-12
A Talk with the Farmer.

culture. This is mistaken idea. Farm
products are no lower now than they havl
been for twenty years. Ii is difficult {,
get at the value of grain, to mako com
parison Of prices, because it fuctuates, bu
We venture the assertion that it is wortl
as much now, or nearly so, as at any period
during the war. It is true that the farmer
used to get from 1925 to 1915 per bushe
for wheat, but what kind of money was ii
1t was paper money, and at the time wheat
was so high it took nearly three dollars Of
paper money to buy one of gold. Had the
farmer in those times sold his wheat fol
gold, he would have gotten about the same
as he gets now. The paper, silver and gold
dollar at present are all Of the same value
and it is immaterial which he receives, as
the purchasing power of each is the same
Coffee, sugar, tea, -four and all other
necessities of life, stand in the same cate.
CORY with grain. As the value of the
paper dollar approached that of the gold
dollar, these articles declined, as 1t were,
in price. The farmer who got during the
war nearly three times as much for his
wheat as he gets now, had to pay nearly
three times as much for his groceries and
other supplies as they now can be purchus-
ed for.
All products are subject to fuctuation
in prices. This arises from the supply and
demand, consequent upon good or bad
crops and the natural increase in popula-
ton. But, measured by gold standard,
the bases Of exchange throughout the civ.
ilized world, the fuctuation is very slight;
aud he who has had gold to purchase with
at all times, will find that prices are about
the same now as they have been for twenty
years, and will find little change twenty
years hence, measured by gold standard.
Paper money has no value in itself 1t
is valuable or worthless as the government
or corporation issuing it is able or unable
to redeem it in gold. This is the cause of
the fluctnation in prices. To make it still
palmer, government or bank notes are
upon the same footing as the notes of an
individual. A note put out by man who
is able to pay it will be worth its face
value, and can be used as money. If he
puts out more than he can pay, they de-
preciate in the proportion he is unable to
redeem them. Paper money, however, is
indispensable. There is not enough gold
in the world to meet the demands Of trade,
and paper money, issued upon gold basis,
is just as valuable as gold, and far more
convenient. When not redeemable in
gold it depreciatcs aud unsettles values.
Gold, on the other hand, has an intrinsic
value, which remains fixed, comparatively
speaking, and prices based upon gold also
remain fixed, or are subject to but little
change. Il costs money and labor to mine
and coin gold, and it represents so much
cost and labor. Besides, its utility for
other purposes than a medium ofexchange,
gives it commercial value, while old paper
possesses no commercial worth, other than
that which attaches to old paper. De-
monetize gold, and it would still be in dc.
mand, and command nearly as large u
price in the market as now.
We have thus cndeavored TO show to
the farming community that agricultural
products are not lower now than at other
periods, when measured by real money
gold; and that all the supplies they are
obliged to purchase auctuate in keeping
with the changes in the grain market.
When grain is high, considered hy paper
standard, all they have to purchase is also
high. When grain is low, by the same
standard, all other commodities are low.
The subject could be argued at length,
and every phase of the question examined,
but the same conclusions would result
that is, Paper money may vary greatly in
value, and grain with it but farm products
and other commodities, measured by the
gold standard, the recognized basis of all
values, arc not subject to any great
change.