The Lamar register., 1893-08-12
LOGICAL And LUCID ARGUMENTS.
N. p. HILLS SILVER SPEECH.
'aAsteriy Presentation OF the Coinage
Question Before the Bi-MetaIiic
Convention at Chicago.

io'e the recent silver convention held In
Chicago;
The overshadowius topic OF thought and
discussion In this and other gold-standard
countries Is the existing depression OF agri-
culture. trade and manufactures the dimin-
ishins and vanishing profits of productive en-
terpr'se. the lowering wages of laborers and
the Increasing numbers OF those who cannot
hnd employment at all. 1t is a depression
shieh la existed TO greater or less degree
since le'a, with brief reactions, the quick re-
lapses from which have brought these coun-
tries into worse condition than they were
before Even In this country. where the eco
homie circumstances are better than they are
anywhere else, We have passed through per
lods OF labor strikes, attended In some cases
with criminal violence aud In many cases
with bitterness OF feeling, which If not dan
gcrous Is distressing and deplorable
In Western Europe. shere the masses of
the people are always on the verge Of absolute
want, the depression Of business has been
more DISASTROUS In Its effects and 1t requires
All The vigilance, and the standing armies of
strong governments TO suppress soelallstic
outbreaks.
A commercial and industrial depression
consists essentially OF a serious and persistent
decline in the general range OF prices, which
takes away that expectation of profit which
Is the Indispensable stimulus of agricultural
and manufacturing productions. With d.
uIinishrd prD4uctioa there Is less employment
rates Of Interest both fall together
With the steady fall OF prices there are con
stalt losses on stocks Of manufactured goods
and ua raw products, and the position of
debtors and tax-psycrs, who must pay fixed
sums OF money, becomes constantly worse
IL IS well established by recent experience
and the concurrence OF accepted authorities
on such sublcc that decline in the general
range OF prices can arise only from the one
cause Of deficiency Of money. which may
HhssHHf -
IL volume, or from its failure TO expand with
the demand, for H.
II has often been asserted that the present
declining condition OF the general range OF
prices Il attributable not To deficiency Of
money, bat scientific discoveries Inventions of
various kinds and new machinery. which
have lowered the cost Of production, and 10
Improvements In navigation and 10 land car
rage. which have lowered the cost of trans
pagtation- Upon that view Of the case must
limit myself to a few brief observations:
Firs;-All the improvements by which the
production and transportation Of products
have been cheapened in modern times, made
4, rapid prugrcs. during the twenty wears af-
ter the Californian aad Australian gold dis
coycries, yhcu the general range or prices
Vas rising, a. they have during tho last tween
y years when prices have been persstently
falling
seeond-If the present condition of prices
Of gpld-stAndari countries was the result of
forces Of nature by reason of advance In
science. skiil. Inventions and appliances, we
should now be 10 the midst OF an epoch of the
most splendid prosperity. The production
Wiib decreased amount OF human toll of
ANYTHING needed by the human race cannot
injurr any class, but must benefit all classes.
as veil ~ those Who obtain by their daily toll
the sUpoly OF their daily wants as those who
live upon an income from capital which rep
rrscnts the accumulated labJr of the past.
hat ut
10 sold-standsrd countries has plunged them
into an abyss OF industrial misery, which has
had few parallels uithin the past century, Is
a proof that It has not been caused by
ehcapcned cost OF production, which would
have dlnused universal prosperity but by that
most bAneful aud insidious of the mischiefs
which have afflicted mankind shrinking
volume OF money-whieh pcryeris the equity
Of contracts 10 pay moneS, which aggrayates
the burden Of debts aud taxes. which stops
production by dcpriying 1t of il rewards and
which lowers both wages and the amount of
employ which labor can obtain.
Ihlrl-The present depression in prices
and Industries IS confined to the gold-stan-
dard countries and l. Little. II at all, observed
elsewhere. The siiver-stAndard countries are
comparatively prosperous, notwithstanding
the misfortune that many of them are in
yolyed in debt payable abroad in the money
OF guld-standard countries, whereby they suf
fer the hardship and injustice of being COM
what is eguitably due on their obligations
This l. notably true of British India, which,
under the support given TO It's prices at home
By It, silver standard, has been making great
advances In commerce, manufactures and in
dusires of all kinds, although hampered by
an addition of many millions to the real bur
den Of IL annual interest payments to Eng
land, caused by the rise In the value Of gold
Fourth--A significant circumstance tending
to negative the view that gold prices have
fallen in resent years, not from the constric
tloa OF gold but from Improvements In ma
chlntry, processes and appliances, Is the fact
that the fall of prices has not has not been
any greater In the things upon the production
Of which these improvements have the most
effect than IL has In the primary materials
furnished by mining, by agricultural and by
pastoral industry, In which the ruder kinds of
labor arc employed and the Introduction of
new methods proceeds at the lowest rate.
The price of a bushel OF wheat has fallen
from 81 20 in 1873 10 65 cents in 1898. The
price of n pound of cotton has been reduced
from 10 cents In 1873 to cents in 1898 In
lions which have carried them up for short
periods, but taking the twenty years together
the tendency has been constantly and steadi
ly downwurds.
1t has been claimed and Is capable OF easy
demonstration, that the decline of prices
since 1873, is only an expression Of the In
creased price of gold During the whole
nary fall. caused by the suspension OF coinage
in India. the purchasing power OF silver has
remained comparatively steady. The serious
effects of the decline in the general range of
prices has been felt only in gold-paying coun-
tries and affords correct measure of the ap-
probation In the value of gold, or, in other
words, the divergence in the value OF the two
hn. fut Il