People's party paper. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1891-1898, 1892-08-26

value, manifesting itself in general
fall of prices, the rext question Is,
what harm has it done? My answer
is that the resultant injury and injus.
tice have been simply incalculable.
The primary business of the world
consists in producing those things
which are necessary for the susten,
ance and comfort of man. Speaking
generally, it may be said that the
people of the world are divided into
two classes producers and non-pro-
ducers. A fall in the price of the
product, therefore, means an injury
to the producer for the benefit of the
producer.
Again, every debt must be paid
out of the products of labor. II the
price of the product fall it is the
same thing as an increase of the
debt. Hence, fall in prices means
the injury of the debtor class for the
benefit of the creditor class. A fall
in prices diminishes profits, checks
productive enterprise and causes
business stagnation. Regardless of
what any economist may have said
or written, it is a matter of common
every day knowledge that low prices,
depressed markets, and dull times
are inseparable companions.
When the margin of profit is I'M
duly narrowed, money is withdrawn
from the legitimate business of pro-
duction, and naturally floats into
what are called the ''money centers,"
where it becomes, at times, super
abundant and interest ranges low.
One class of money owners seeks
permanent investments, while an
other plunges into those wild, specu-
lative ventures in which few gigan-
tic fortunes are amassed through the
destruction of innumerable small
ones. A diminution of the money
supply makes it easIer for few men
to control it, and widen the gulf be-
tween the rich and the poor. APP
plause.
Accordingly, the period extending
from 1873 down to the present time
has been one of wide spread, almost
universal, complaint among the pro-
ducing classes.
This fact is recognized by nearly
all investigators, and with scarcely
an exception they draw the line
sharply at or abont the year 1878.
In 1885 the Queen of England ap-
pointed a commission to inquire into
the reason for the depression Of IL
dustry in that country. This com
mission consisted Of twenty learned
and distinguished men, of whom
Lord Iddesleigh was the chairman,
and its investigation was Of the most
exhaustive character. The evidence
elected was simply overwhelming
that depression existed to degree
that was without precedent. The
witnesses were practically unanimous.
They were further agreed that it was
the producing classes who were the
most seriously affected through the
general and continuous fall in prices.
In its final report the commission
clearly recognized these facts, as the
following quotations plainly indicate :
Paragraph 3: "Those who may be
said to represent the producer have
mainly dwelt upon the restriction and
even the absence of profit IN their re-
spective businesses. 1t is from this
class, and more especially from the en-
ployers of labor, that the complaints
chiefly proceed. On the other hand
those classes of the population who de-
rive their income from foreign invest
ments, or from property not directly
connected with productive industries,
appear to have little ground of com
plant; on the contrary, they have
prOfted by the remarkably low prices
of many commodities"
Paragraph 55: We have observed
above that the complaint proceeds
chiefly from the classes who are most
Immediately and directly concerned in
production; and there can be no doubt
that of the wealth annually created in
the country, smaller proportion falls
to the share of the employers of labor
than formerly. The view, therefore
which we are disposed to adopt is that
the aggregate wealth of the country is
being distributed differently, and that
a large part Of the prevailing com
plants and the general sense of de-
preston may be accounted for by the
changes which have taken place IN re
cent years in the pp0Itl0nment and
distribution of profits. The reward of
capital and management has become
less; and the employment of labor is
for the time at least, not SO full and
C )ntinuous; 50 that,even where the rate
of wages has not been diminished, the
total amount earned by the labOrer has
been less, owing to irregular and par
tial employment"
Paragraph II: Another element of
great Importance in the situation is the
serious fall of prices to which we have
above referred. There can be but little
doubt that production and commercial
enterprise are stimulated to a greater
extent by rising than by falling prices
Whatever may be the inconvenience
of rise in prices, it certainly encOur-
ages a greater activity in production
aud an extension of credit. When
prices are rising, capital is constantly