Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1893-10-18
The Farmer and Finance.

ers to pretend to know anything about
finance, that they should leave that
question to financiers. The idea is car
RED through all the pretense at argu-
ment offered by the monometallist pa
pers, and is too obvious to be passed by
notice. 1t is at the same time
admitted by those papers that there is
wrong, but they pretend to
believe it is caused by the small pur
chase of silver provided for in the Sher-
man law. Yet 1t is well known that
the so called ''financiers" have been
manipulating affairs in the past and if
there is something wrong they are re-
spOnsible. If the farmers and produc
ers of this country, who pay the taxes
and debts Of the country, have nothing
to say on the subject, then no one has
that right. Certainly not few manip-
ulators of finance, whose field is the
world and their harvest interest, taxes
and rent. 1t is not to be supposed that
the farmer Will always turn his back to
his true situation, and after once realiz-
ing it that he will maintain silence
while the same conditions exist.
The effort being made to place this
country on gold basis is one of the
final steps of the money power to con-
troll the worlds finances. The first
step was the purchase of bonds, the next
the exception clause, the next securing
the payment of bonds in coin and the
next the demonetization of silver, leav-
ing the bonds payable in gold. 1t is
now proposed by that merciless money
power to shut off the small purchase of
silver now provided for and place this
country on single gold standard. In
other words the bond holders and gold
holders want the country gwen to them
and retain the natives as slaves.
The degeneracy of American farms
during the past few years under a sys-
tenn Of contracting currency has been
marked, and is reaching alarming pro-
portions. In 1880 1918 per cent. of the
farmers of Kansas were tenants, while
the census of 1890 shows 1926 per cent.
tenants, an increase in ten gears of over
$50 per cent. In the face of such glar
ing facts we are told by the monomet-
allists that there is too much money in
circulation, that the farmers are pros
porous and that silver should be strick-
en- down. At such ratio only few
years will be required to place the ten
ants of Kansas on an even basis with
those of Ireland. These figures stand
out boldly on the pages of census re-
ports, and are not to be laughed away
as calamity hOwl' by a few tawniDg
sycophants who are content TO prOfuSe.
~ shower their oscillations upon the
grinding heels of mammon, yet the
farmer has no right to enter his objec'
ton to such proceedings, he must work
a little harder, talk less and let the IF
nanciers'' attend to the matter. That
class have been attending to it hereto
fore, as the farmer not only knows but
feels.
Silver is and has been the mainstay OF
agriculture. Deprive the white meta
of its money function, as is strongly ad
vocated by the monometaIlists, and The
industry OF agriculture declines. Thi:
fact is backed by actual experience. Ii
this country, since the decentralization
of silver, wheat has gone down so pc
cent. in price and our exports of tina
cereal have been reduced in ten year
from 150,7l2, 500 bushels to 55,13l 81
bushels. All this time an ounce of sill
yer was buying a bushel of wheat il
India, free silver country. The pric,
OF our silver being so low on account o
decentralization, British mlddlemel
would purchase our deprecated meta
for about Is cents an ounce, take 1t t
India, coin it into rupees and bu,
wheat. One ounce of silver purchased
here for IS cents would pay for a bush
ell OF wheat there and it's transporta
ton to Europe, compelling the Amer;
can farmer, if he wished to compete, t
sell his wheat in European markets fo
Is cents per bushel. The cost of trans
portation would not be less than J.
cents, o very low estimate, leaving
wheat so cents per bushel on our whole
sale grain markets. In this way ha
demonstration of silver caused a de
cline in the price of our wheat. In 1877
wheat sold in cur markets at $1.31 pc
bushel and silver at 81 30 per ounce
Now, after twenty years of demOneti
zation, silver is 20 cents ali ounce ant
wheat 40 cents a bushel. Our export!
Of wheat are but one third what the,
were ten years ago, while under tn,
system outlined, the..eXports from Indi;
increased in the same time from 13
1896, 1865 bushels to 60.95l 800. India
therefore, has. quadrupled her eXpor
of wheat in decade, all of which ha
been oul loss. 1t is easily seen by /;
little study of this subject how whea
has kept pace with silver in its decline
The loss to the farmers of the United
States in wheat alone, since 1873, ha.
been 81 300, 900, 900, or more than tn,
entire present money supply of tn,
country and over one-half the tota
amount of gold in the world. Can TIN
farmer for an instant entertain favor
ably the idea Of cutting loose what lit
tie silver legislation we now have an,
placing this country on an EXCLUSIVE
gold basis? Never.
The democratic national platform o
last year upon Which Cleveland wa
elected contained the following plank
We bold TO the use of both gold and silver a
the standard money of the country and to tn
coinage of both gold ana silver without dis
| eliminating against either metal or charge 20
mintage but the dollar unit of coinage of bot
| metals must be of equal intrinsic and ex
changeable value. or be adjusted through in
! ternational agreement or by such safeguard
of legislation as shall insure the Inatutenauc
OF the parity of the two metals and the cons