Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1892-06-23
The West and the Gold Standard.

The West and the Gold Standard.
There is unquestionably great deal
of hostility among the agricultural
states of the northwest, to the single
standard gold basis Of trade. The i'm
preston among the people OF the sec
ton named is that it robs them.
If they could understand how it robs
them they could stop the robbery.
The single standard gold basis con-
sists first of all in the purchase OF gold
in Europe with our surplus agricultur-
III products, instead of the purchase Of
goods for importation to the agricultu-
raj states. That is, instead Of eNchang-
ing the surplus products Of our farms
directly for foreign manufactured az
ticles, we buy foreign gold with those
products, bring it into this country and
pay it out for home made goods at the
increased prices which the prohibitory
tariff enables the home manufacturer
to exact for them.
There is hardly enough gold in Eur
ope to cash the checks and other paper
used in exchanging wheat, cotton, pro-
| visionsCand other food products for
goods. But there is not enough gold
Europe for export. Therefore, when
we offer our agricultural surplus in
Europe in bids for gold to bring to New
York or New England, the more of our
products we export the higher gold is
forced in Europe. And as we thus
force gold higher and higher in Europe
all our surplus exported there to trade
for gold goes lower and lower there,
followed of course and necessarily by
lower prices at home. So as long as we
are compelled by our tariff system to
exchange our surplus products for Eu-
ropean manufactures, the more our
bountiful harvests enable us to export
the worse off we should be, even though
half Europe be starving for our pro-
duets.
We are not allowed to buy European
goods with our products except under
the heavy penalties for trying to bring
them past the Republican custom house.
1t is against the Republican law for us
to sell our supplies and products in
Europe for anything but gold. When
we do it we are heavily fined by the
Mckinley bill.
Suppose that club is formed in the
agricultural states Of the Northwest to
send cargo Of wheat and provisions
to Liverpool to exchange for goods.
Let us suppose that this club buys TO-
600 yards of worsted goods, costing in
Liverpool 15c yard; 1890 pounds of
wooden cloth, costing 81 800; 1000 doz.
of cutlery costing 81 a dozen; $1,000
worth of tableware and 81 .QG3 worui. of |
wooden hosiery and underwear, costing
in Liverpool S2c a pound.
The total Liverpool cost of this re-
turn cargo is then:
Worsted dress goods. 500
Cutlery 900
Hosiery and underwear 1000
Total Liverpool cost of return cargo. 900
The Mckinley bill fines for buying
these goods instead of gold would be
as follows:
On $1,000 worth OF dress goods Us per cent; 81 $40
On $500 worth OF WOODEN cloth l72 per
cent? ,3s
On $1,000 worth of cutlery (O0 per CENT?. 1000
On 81 ,oCO worth Of tableware (55 per CENT?. $50
On $1,000 worth of hosiery and underwear
1o3 per $3.50
Total Mckinley fines on $1,000 worth of
gOodc........... ,0O2
Now, the trainers Of the Mckinley
tariff did not expect that the agricultu-
raj states would pay S7.002 to bring in
Sc, 900 worth of goods, making that &c.
600 worth cost ,0O2 without freights
added. What they did expect, what
they did demand and what does actu-
ally happen, is that instead of buying
the cheap goods we should buy the dear
gold.
In this way we are forced to bid the
price Of gold higher and higher in Eu-
rope. Of course, when we are bidding
gold up with our wheat and provisions
we are bidding wheat and provisions
down. The Mckinley conspirators
were not fools. They knew that. But
it made no difference to them. The
trusts, the usurers, the leagued feudal
corporation which enjoy the protection
of the Republican party and its laws,
demanded that we should be fined if
we dared to buy European goods in
stead of European gold with our sur
plus products. So the Mckinley bills
trainers put on the fines just as they
demanded. So we are forced to sell on
the European gold basis, with the GER
tainty that we ourselves are forced to
bid gold higher and higher in Europe
the more we produce above our own