Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1892-09-14

HrSC quarter covered by the investigation
was s45, 100000. For the second quarter I
the year 1890 it was SIS, ,250, GOO, and desire
to call attention here to the fact that dur
ing the second quarter of the year 1890, be
fore the passage of the Mckinley act, the
cost of living fell considerably below what
it was at the end cf the first quarter. The
third quarter, which closed Oct. /, 1890,
the very day on which the Mckinley act
was approved, the increase was s12, ,000, 600;
but during the next quarter, Immediately
following the passage of the act, the in
crease was SIS, 100000. The next quarter
the cost OF living was still going up, ard
the increase was $50, $50 900; but the next,
the cost having begun to decline somewhat
from the point it had reached, it was S53,-
10000, making, in the aggregate, the in
creased cost of living to the people of the
United States during the period covered
by this investigation S2Ss, 10000
Mr.. George-How long?
Mr.. Carlisle-For twenty-four months
excluding September, 1889, and the three
which were taken as basis. The in
creased cost of living to the people of the
United States during the twenty-four
months was s2Ss, $50, 900; but during the
last quarter covered by this investigation,
taking the three months together, there
was slight decline of 15-1O0ths of per
cent. in the cost of living, amounting to
s3, $50 600, which have deducted from the
gross sum, showing net increase in the
cost of living of S2S5, 600, 900, the largest
proportion of which, or S1S5 100000, oc-
CURED after the passage of the Mckinley
act, and large part of the 100000, 900 in
crease which occurred before that time is
directly attributable to the fact that the
bill was pending in congress with almost
absolute knowledge on the part of the peo-
pie that it would pass and become law.
Now. Mr. President, how does this COM
pare with the statement made by the sen
ator from Rhode Island, that there was
such decline in the cost of living during
that period as to represent a saving Of
S325, 100000 per annum to the people of the
United States? Here is $685. 100000 added
to the cost of living during that period,
which the people have paid; and, no mat
ter what decline may have come at it's
close, not one cent of it will ever be reim-
bursed to those who were compelled to ex
pend it for the necessaries of life That
money is gone from them-gone forever
and even though prices may continue to
decline without fuctuation' after the ex.
piration of the investigation, it does not
follow that such eecline or a greater one
would not have taken place if the McKin-
ley act had never been passed On the
contrary, if the Mckinley act had never
been passed there would have been a
greater decline undoubtedly, and this
enormous additional expenditure of $685.
O00,O0O would not have been extorted from
the people. Mr. Grosvenor, a gentleman
whom this committee must indorse, be-
cause it had him employed for some time
to assist in collecting prices, made an in
vestigation covering the eighteen months
just preceding the beginning Of this in
vestigaSion, June l, 1889, which showed
that the prices of commodities in this
country had declined II per cent during
that time.
Mr. George-During what year2
Mr.. Carlisle - During the eighteen
months next preceding the beginning of
this investigation. Fortunately it SO hap
pened that our investigation began the
very day that his investigation closed. and,
while his investigation showed that dur
ing the eighteen months covered by it the
prices of commodities declined in this
country IA per cent, all the senator from
Rhode Island can now show is that after
twenty-four months of unnecessarily high
prices the cost of living On one day at the
very end of the period had declined H-10Oths
of per cent!
Is it not perfectly clear, then, that the
proposition with which ! started out, that
the Mckinley act had interfered with and
arrested this natural tendency toward a
decline in the prices Of commodities, was
correct, and that by its passage the people
of the United States were deprived of
those benefits which the people of all other
civilized countries in the world were re-
alizing on account of modern improve
ments and discoveries and the practical
application of them in their industrial and
commercial pursuits?
But, Mr., President, we also Investigated
the wholesale prices of the same articles
during the same period in several different
cities and in various establishments in
each city, and my statement would not be
complete without giving the result of that
investigation. That investigation shows,
what is the common observation Of every
body, that wholesale prices respond more
promptly to disturbing causes than retail
prices. The reasons for this are obvious.
In the first place the wholesale trade is
located almost exclusively in the great
cities, and is in the hands of comparative
ly few men, while the retail trade is scat
tered all over the country and is in the
hands Of great many men.
The wholesale dealers and the manufac-
turers Of the goods they sell look forward
to coming events, keep themselves in
formed of 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 to disturbing in
fluences, BECAUSE he has his stock ON hand,
purchased at the old prices, and he con-
tinues to sell it substantially at the old
prices until he lays in new stock at the
new prices.
IAN elaborate table on the fluctuations
of wholesale prices was here presented.]
This table shows that during the four
months preceding Oct. l, 1880, wholesale
prices had never risen aboYe the normal or
initial point, except in August. and then
they were only 22-l0Oths Of 1 per cent.
higher. In September they were lower
than the initial price, and they never
receded to that point again until August,
1891, period Of nearly two years. and then
they were only 7-100ths of 1 per cent. be-
low it,
The group of "cloths and clothing' Sc
lected by the committee for the purpose of
investigating wholesale prices contains
s1xty-two articles in general use among
the people, and on the 1st of December,
1889, when the Fifty-f congress assem-
bled, the prices of only five of them had
advanced since the beginning of the Pc
r1od. The prices Of thirteen of them had
fallen, and forty-five of them had neither
advanced nor declined. The tariff act
passed the house of representatives ON the
elst day of May, 1890, and by the 1st of
June following the prices of sixteen of the
articles embraced in this group had in
creased, and any one who will examine the
report Of the committee will see that from
the 1st day Of August, 1890, the articles
embraced in this important group, taking
them all together, never fell to their origi-
nal or initial price until Sept. /, 1891, the
last day of the investigation, and then
they were only 2-100ths of per cent. lower
Increase in Wholesale Prices.
Now, Mr.. President, by the use of this
table, which is a part of the unanimous
report of the committee, and assuming as
before that the annual expenditure for
consumption is S10,000, 100000 and the
monthly expenditure 1888, ,353, ,333, we can
ascertain without difficulty the effect
which the increase in wholesale prices
would have had upon the people of the