Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1892-09-23

e.. frsf iap the Increased cost uf living
otft sni tl.tv shat u was during the
thIri quarter - that ttnr the quarter
sht.h was taken a. che basis - the inves-
fIfsIi.u VAS ti17iuur For the first
tiHsft,f - th. year ls.o the cost uf living
.ttr aul tI.tt WhRt IL was during the
Hfsi quarter covered 10y the investigation
v 81. e. r" 'sH f"r ~" SECOND quarter ~
tte t,ef l~Hl it Vas en-. ~ pU. aud desire
e.. tail attention here 10 the fact that dur
iHs thr s.,uul quarter ~ the year 1890, he
f,f,. thr passage - the Mckinley act, the
s.st ~ living fcli considerably hclow what
ii sa- NJ tL. ,nd - the first quarter The
ttlri quarirr which closed oct. |. ls9O
tir srtt dsy un which the Mckinley act
" ts approved. the Increase was tl2 O0, 600;
lut duftr4 ihr nrVt quarter. Immediately
fHlinNiua thv passage - the net, the in
rr.asr ess g.. ..1nu The next quarter
thr rlsi - tsiug Was still going up. and
ths lu,rrasr 50 ,s go s1nunu. hut the next,
ths r.-t having begun tudrclinc somewhat
ffiu che pniut II had achcd. it was s53,-
T.l 80 making ln the aggregate, the in
efra.ssl cust ~ ! wing 1" the people Of the
tultri states during the prri"d covered
~ thia iu,r.ti gntion t1'gS. ,jOnn
Mf ifNfffNs How iuuEF
NJ tArlisie. For twenty four months.
sst iudlng srptrmhcr. lNsp aud the three
wll,h wtre taken ~ basis The in
creased r,,si uf living 10 the people Of the
Z uit.i states during the twcnty-four
mntth- was t9~ ,in. pno. hut during the
issi quarter covered hy this investigation.
taking the thrrr months together, there
wsz slight dr,lihr of - lOOths Of per
cent iu the coss ~ living. amounting to
- tinWu which ! hn,r deducted from the
Ers.s sum showing u net increase In the
tusi ~ living - t3S,.nDUn. the largest
proportion ~ which. ar tlI,0O.GO, oc
suffrI after the passage ~ the Mckinley
~ l--s-.=. i-.st - ~. tlnn nnn nn ia
rfrass hlCh occurred before that time II
dirrrtiy attributable 10 the fact that the
hii was psudinR Ia congress with almost
absolute snow ledge on the part of the peO-
pie that 10 would pass and become law.
Nuw NJ President. how does this com
pare " ith the statement made by the sen
atur frm Kh~lc Island. that there was
such = decline Ia the cost ~ living during
that periul ~ To- represent "A saving Il
t2h $50 go isr nunum to the people Of the
tultri stat.s' Here j. taS5 go. .OO added
tn che ru~t - living during that period
which thr people have paid. and. no mat
tsr What decline may have come at its
rlo-s uui uun o.ut 10 IL will ever be reim-
turs'd tu u-e " ho were compelled To ex
I~ui u fuf the neCessRr!rs ~ life. That
uuueY T. gunH from them gone forever
nud even thuuEh prices may continue TO
duslin- Nithnu, huctuRtion after the tx.
pifatiun ~ the investigation. IL does not
follow that such decline or "a greater one
y uuld not have taken place II the Mckin.
irY act bad never been passed. On the
contrary n thu Mckinley act had never
i,een passed there would have been a
greater decline undoubtedly. and this
enormous additional expenditure 81 s2s5,-
Wsi. Wu would not have brrn extorted from
the people MIR Gru-Vcuor. n gentleman
whom this committee must indorse. be-
cause u had lin employed for Some time
." assist IN collecting prices. made an In
vrs,igailuu covering the eighteen months
just preceding the beginning Of this in
vest isatiun. June /. 1889. which showed
that the prices ~ commodities in this
country had declined II per cent during
that time
NF George During what yeari
Mr. Carlisle During the eighteen
WfHNtNA HfAt tnN Oh
this investigation Fortunately II so hap
Pcnsd that our investigation began the
very day that HIS invc-tigats on closed, and,
white bis invest iRRtion showed that dur
ina the eighteen months covered by II the
price. ~ commodities declined In this
country u per cent. all the senator from
Hh@ls Island can now show Is that after
twenty four months of unnecessarily high
prices the cost ~ living on one day at the
ssry snd ~ the period had declined ~ lO0ths
- per cent
J. u not perfectly clear, then. that the
proposition with which | started ont, that
the Mckinley act hal interfered with and
srrvsted this natural tendency toward n
decline IN the prices ~ commodities, was
euFf-ct, and that by It's passage the people
q the United States were deprived Of
those honefits which the people Of all other
elvilifr'i countries la the world were re-
alising un account - modern improve
msnts and discoveries and the practical
application 81 them IN their industrial and
run,msrriai pursuitsi
Hat. Mr. President. we also investigated
the ~ hnlesals prices of the same articles
dnFlng the anne period In several different
eltlra and IN various establishments in
each city. and my statement would not be
complete without giving the result of that
Investigation. That investigation shows.
y hat is the common observation OF every
body, that v wholesale prices respond More
promptly to disturbing causes than retail
pFices The reasons for this are obvious
in ,he hrst place the Wholesale trade is
ln~ais'i almost exclusively in the great
eities and IL IN the hands Of comparative.
y = frw men. while the retail trade Is scat
trf'i sll over the country and is in the
hands q great many men.
The Wholesale dealers and the manufac.
tuFers ~ the gouls they sell look forward
n coming events. keep themselves In.
f'Fmsd ~ movements In congress and else.
where, and take advantage Of them In ad.
vance while the retail dealer, as a general
rule. gives less attention 10 disturbing in.
huencrs, because he has his stock on hand,
purchased ~ the old prices. and he con.
tinurs to sell II substantially at the old
pfifrH until be layH In n new stock at the
new prirrs
Nn elaborate table on the fluctuations
~ " hulrsalr pricrs was here Eresented.l
Tits tshl. shows that during the four
munths preceding oct. Z, lsS9. wholesale
Afif NHfA AfNff Tisfn hbtiNt tue normal
Initial point, except In August, and then
thsy we're only % l01ths of per cent.
higher Ia September they were lower
than 'he initial price, and they never
Fe,~is'i to that point again until August.
iNii period - nearly two years, and then
they were only : i0oths of per cent. be-
low a.
Tho group ~ cloths and clothing" So.
lsrt"d l1 th" committee for the purpose Of
Investigating Wholesale prices contains
sisty iva article, In general use among
the people. hni un the i>t Of December,
is~p. When the Fi'ty- first congress Assem-.
hisd the prices ~ only FIVE Of them had
d,an'rd since the beginning OF the DE.
Fiul The prices ~ thirteen Of them had
fallen and forty Ave 81 them had neither
ais anreh nor declined. The tariff act
passsd the house of representatives on the
sist day - May. isl0. and by the Ist Of
june following the prices Of sixteen of the
article. embraced IN this group had in.
creased aud any one who will examine the
fstvft - the committee will see that from
the ist day ~ August. 1880, the articles
sn,iHarci ln this important group taking
them all together. never fell to their origi.
bal ~ initial price until Sept |, 1891. the
last DAY u tho Investigation. and then