Los Angeles herald., 1892-09-18

pare with the statement made by the sem
ator from Rhode Island, that there was
such a decline in the cost of living during
that period as to represent a saving Of
1896, 900, 900 per annum to the people Of the
United Statesp Here is S2S5, 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 its
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. Ihat
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 decline or 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
greater decline undoubtedly, and this
enormous additional expenditure of $685.
100000 would not have been extorted from
the people, Mr.. Grosvenor, 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
vestigation, June 1, 1889, which showed
that the prices of commodities in this
country had declined IA per cent during
that time.
Mr.. George-During what year9
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 hisinvestigation closed, and,
while his investigation showed that dur
ing the eighteen months covered by 1t 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 A-100ths
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
decline in the prices of commodities, was
correct, and that by it's 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 adj
vance, while the retail dealer as general
rule, gives less attention to disturbing in
fluences, because no 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.
An elaborate table on the fluctuations
of wholesale prices was here presented.]
This table shows that during the four