New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-11-30

always superhuman, there are constant mistakes
some irrcmediable and some too far anticipating
the future, and also some robberics, as wheh Il
railroad or rolling mill, destined TO be lorc'''
bankrupt. is constructed with the money Vi u.'
luded investors. Actual loss there is here thiousi u
misdirection OF forces. and so too much cap''"'
and labor are directed into some lines. but 700
httlo into others. The thing which Mr' ".''
entirely fails 10 show is that there EXISTS o'ei'''
duct1on in any other sense. It'll.
But the fall in prices has been remarKap,e'
Why should il not be? The dollar in tile STOCK
ing or the bank represents a days Iapor 'n''P
wears ago. which would produce one bushei VI
whcat With better tools and machinery thr
sorne wheat can be raised with thrce-quarprs o'
n days labor: why should il sell for more 'h"''
three .ouartcrs of the dollar? In illustrators OF
tbs kind Of change Mr. Weiss work is pecnnary
fertile and instructive. He gives many hu"oo"
instances Of actual reduction IN the mpor ,e-
ouircd 10 produce articles, and in many cases 'n'
productiyeness of labor has been increased "''
fold or more, and yet men search oncenV "n'
modern history metaphysics and num'shl"''cS
for exnlanation of tie wonderful fact that prices
have fallen.
Mr. Wells ut times blundcrs sadly when ne
tries TO show that production OF certain ar"o,''
has in quantity far Outrun consumption AS Wv
facts rarely fit that idea he is tempted 10 s'i"'.
tbem Rut slch excess of production, where II
exists is not the controlling fact whch "nS'o"!
stands by able to make cost of 80 cents wi'o'
: calling at q Modern competition sends the
forestaller and monopOlist TO the poorhouSe' III
steod Of the Jail or the stake; he gets beaten pe
cause in the long run The cost OF producing win
rule. in spite. of any rigging OF the narheS'
Proof OF actual over-productlon is not nan ~
abundant or clear in Mr. Weiss book as ne thinN'
H. is But proof Of reduced cost OF pro"uo''o"
and transportation is very full ana GEAR i''
evidence of a great increase in the worids suppl
of wheat is painfully vague But the plooi '',''
"a cents per bushcl have been taken from ''o
cost of getting wheat from the MISSISSIPPI "
New.Yorll is not vague at all. $780,
IT, is remarked by Mr. Wells that Professor
Sauerbccll can give no instance OF cohlinou''S
affected in price solely by the appreciation Ut
cold Mr. Weiss argument that prices il ever
Affected by the volume of either Klhu oI Hho''
! produced or in circulation. are no lohee' ~
affected bocausc the use of metals in purchases has
so largely ceased and various substitutes an"
motbods of cconcmizing money have come to be
emploved TO an almost unlimited extent IS IT,
marl,ablv strong Ii would have been even
s,noroor if Mr. Wells had rot INDUCED common
notion that no genera! measure of the movement
of nrices as n whole was possible, and had not SO
0oharred himself from some very instructive coni-
norieons YeS il must he admitted that, rs
Free Traders habitually knock down a man VI
straw instead of answering Pro'ccuohis'S' N''
Wells fails TO meet the reasoning which mas nios'
weight with sincere advocates OF SILVER c''n'sV
namely that the supplies Of substitutes lof MONEY
and the use of credit and OF means oil ecOhohi"l"s
money are all curlaed. or rendered less SAFE ana
healthy, when the metallic basis, or stah"aru Vi
value is reduced by the diSusc of one metal.
T. is not in the nature of Mr.. Wells 10 be
candid or fair controversialist In discussing the
tariff question he deliberately ignores the reason
INC which has convinced thousands that the
theories he holds are erroneous, namely, mat
under protection this country has advanced more
rapidly in production and in consumption, III lhe
wages and the condition of labor, and IN the
cheapenng Of products not only than any other
country has advanced in the same time but more
than this country has advanced under any 0lher
system. This is simply fatal to Il mans reputa-
ton as an honest reasoner For II cannot DE salu
that Mr. Wells is ignorant of these iacts. IN
dealing with other topics he uses these lactS
freely. so far as they fit his purpose. Yet ID
sbo,yino that progressive civilization has ad-
vanced tie wages and condition OF labor, he uwel'
AZ length upon such results in England, but gives
only glimpse of the far greater changes IN The
same direction in this country. possibly because
readers might make the application for them
selves to the tariff question.
| Instead of candid reasoning, Mr.. Wells sup
| presses a continuous record OF progress, ana
| dwells only upon selected mOrSeS of fact which
tend TO show that protection has involved some
disadvantages. He compares the cost OF iron III
this country and Great Britain, being careful 10
| extend the comparison far enough to include the
American iron famine Of 1870 and 1880, whereas
a omparson for the past four years would snow
somewhat different results. He compares No. 3
Scotch iron with No. / anthracite pig IN this
country, as if they were the same. II is greater
offence that he ignores entirely the enormous IN
nnence of the American demand or lis recent
Withdrawal upon British prices. which every
English trade journal has recognized as by far
the most potent of all Influences for many years.
The British price of Scotch pig, according TO the
record from which Mr.. Wells quotes fragment,
averaged SIG - for the ten years ending January
]. 1850. and 81 % for the next ten years and
s14 Il for the next ten years. and then 500 o.
for the ten years, 1s70-'79 inclusive, when the
American demand was greatest, but only Sl3 81
for the five years ending with 1884, in which
American production for the first time rose above
J. 600 600 tons in year, and only $40 &? for the
four years ending with 1883, in which American
production for the first time rose above 1000, 600
tons Yet Mr.. Wells assumes that the British
price thus depressed by the development OF pro
tected industry here, would have been just rs
low if there had been no American protection, and
treats the difference in price true measure Of
the cost of protection to this country Nay
more: he even asserts that the difference in cost
of the more advanced and finer products of iron
is relatively greater than in cost of pg-iron, as if
he did not know full well that cutlery, machinery,
bridge materials, locomotives, agricultural nipple
ments hardware, and vast number Of tools and
other products Of iron and steel, are constantly
exported in large quantities because cheaper here
than corresponding products in other countries.
1uollc connolly nncan dil and tlnrelnre