The Bessemer indicator., 1893-08-12
LUCID AND LOGICAL.
NJ P. HILLS SILVER SPEECH.
4 Ma.terIy Presentation of tile Coinage
Question Before tho Bl-Metaliio
Convention Mt Chicago.

speech delivered by ex-senator N. p. IIill be-
fore the recent silver convention held In
Chicago:
The oycrshadOwlng topic of thought and
discussion in this and other gold-standard
eountres Is tho existing depression OF agri-
cultutt trade and manufactures, the dlmin-
ishing and vanishing Profits uf productive en-
| terprlsc, the lowering wages 6f irbcfcrs and
the increasing numbers OF those who cani'ct
| find employment at all 1t Is n depression
which has existed to greater or less degree
| since 1873, 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
noniie circumstances are better than they are
| anywhere else, we have passed through per-
ods of labor strikes, attended in some cases
| With criminal violence, and In many cases
with bittert,ess Ut feeling, which " not dan
| gerous /, distressing and deplUrable.
| In Western Europe. where the masses oil
! the people arc slways on the verge OF absolute
want, the depression OF Business hrs been
more disastrous in It's effects, and 1t requires
| all the vigilance, ana the standing armies OF
strong governments to suppress sociallstic
outbreaks.
| A commercial and industrial depression
| consists essentiully Of serious arid persistent
| decline in the general range OF prices, whiGh
| takes away that expectation Of profit which
| is the Indispensable stimulus OF agricultural
and manufacturing productions. With d.
| tinished production there Is less enployiieht
for both capital and labor, and wages and
| rates of interest both fall together.
| With the steady fall Of prices there are con:
stant losses on stocks OF riantifactuted goods
| and on raw products, and the position OF
| debtors and taxpayers, who must pay liked
| sums OF money, becomes constantly worse.
| 1t Is well established by recent experience
and the concurrence OF accepted authorities
| on such subjects that decline in the general
| range OF prices can arise only from the one
| catse of n deficiency nj motley, which Dtay
| happei either from an absolute shrinkagc of
| It's volume, or from Its failure to expand with
| the demands for 1t,
| 1t has often been asserted that the present
| declining condition OF the general range of
| prices Is attributable not to deficiency of
| money, but scientific discoveries infertlhps Of
| tsrioeo Kinds and new machinery, which
| have lowered the cost of production, and to
| improvements In navigation and in land car
| riage, which have lowered the cost of trans
portation. Upon that view of the case | must
| limit myself to n few brief observations:
| First-All the improvements by which the
production and transportation of products
have been cheapencd N hodett ttmee, made
MS rapid progress during the twenty Years af-
| ter the Californian and Australian gold dis
| coveries, when the general range or prices
was rising, rs they have during the last TWEEN
| iy years when prices have been persistcntly
| falling.
| Second--lf the present condition Of prices
| of gOid-standard countries WAS the result of
| the increased command of mankind over the
forces OF nature by reason of advance in
science, skill, inventions and appliances, we
| should now be in the midst of an epoch of the
most splendid prosperity. The production
| with decreased amount of human toll of
anything needed by the human race cannot
| injure any class, but must benefit all classes
as well us those who obtain by their daily toll
| the supply of their daily wants MS thosn who
| live upon an income f-oi.i capital which rep
=
| The fact that the present condition OF prices
| in gold-standard countries has plunged them
| into an abyss of industrial misery, which has
| bad few parallels within the past century, is
y proof that it has not been caused by II
| cheapcncd cost of production, which would
have diirused universal prosperity, but by that
most baneful and insidous OF the mlschefs
which have afflicted mankind-a shrinking
yo'umc OF moncy-which pcreerts the equity
of contracts 70 pay money, which aggravates
| the burden of debts and taxes, which stops
production by depriving 1t of It's rewards aud
which lowers both wages and the amount of
| employment which labor can obtain.
| Third-The present depression In prices
and industries is confined to the gold-stan-
| dard countries and is little, II at all, observed
elsewhere. The sivcr-standard countries are
| comparatively prosperous, Notwithstanding
| the misfortune that Many of them are in
| volycd In debt payable abroad In the money
| OF gold-standard countries whereby they suf-
|
| PEELED TO pay large percentage In excess of
| what is eduitnblt die on their obligations.
| This Is notably true of British India, which,
| under the support given to Its prices at home
| by its silver standard, has been making great
| advances in commerce, manufactures and In
| dustrcs OF NIL kinus, although hammered by
(, I'm addition ef many millions ii the real bur
| Hen of rs shnual interest payments to Eng
land, caused by the rise in the ~, ...,,,. az eod
! FOURTH r,gnircant circumstance tending
| to negative the view that gold prices have
fallen In recent yenrs, not from the ,cppstric-
ton Of gold bit from improvements in ma
I,hir,tyi froocsccs 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
elect than 1t has In the primary materials
furnished by mining, by agricultural and by
pastoral industry, in which the rnder Kinds Of
labor arc cn,plc'ed aud the introduction OF
ncw, methods proceeds at the lowest rate.
The price of a bushel Of wheat has fallen
| from Sl.30 in 1873 10 " cents T.. 1858 The
price Of Il pound Z. cotton has been reduced
fro". lo cents in 1873 to cents in 1893. In
! both of these staples there have been reac-
tions which have carried them up for short
periods. but taking the twenty years together
the tendency has been coustautly and stendi-
| ly doWnwards.
1t has been claimed and - capable Of sasy
DEMONSTRATION; that tic decline Of prices
since 1878, is only an expression of the In
| ctcascu price Oh ROlu. during the whole
! period since 1873 until the recent extrnordt-
nary fall, caused by the suspension of coinage
| in India, the purchasing nt'rct oil silver has
| remained comparatively steady. The serious
| siltcts of the decline in the gcnetal range of
| prices has been felt only in gull-paying coun-
! tries, and affords n correcs measure of the np-
| probation in the value of gold, or, In other
words, the divergence in the value OF the two
. metals has maintained an approximately
| steady ratio to the increase of thr talhe bf
! gold.
! Tho United States Monetary commission
| declared in lS71 that "gold had risen In all
countries, while silver had fallen In none"
The experience of nearly sixteen years since
| the declarations of the Monetary comm lssion
were made has more than Verified them. The
| value or purchasing power of silver has not
| 6hiy been sustained, but 1t has been increased
| AS respects any such danger MS that of Dr.
! probation, silver has vnaicaied IS tlte to be
4 sound monetary '"ersuYe OF values, and as
: resnec,s ,he opposite danger of appreciation,
i IT. has proved to be q more stable measure
| than gold is or Is ever likely to be-
| NeVerthclcss The divergence between the
| values OF the two metals Is now greater than
ii was when the United States Monetary com
mission made their report, and no absolute
/ bound can be set to the degree OF diver. cncc
| which may be reached hereafter, especially II
| this country, the foremost In the world, si,all
lend itself to the schemes of the partisans OF
gold. The causes tending to raise 1t arc In
| iuil view aud arc very powerful, being the in-
creaslng consumption OF gold In the arts,
| which cuts off any new supply for monetary
purposes, and the rnpidity of the expansion
o! the demand for money in the commercial
| gold standard countries, and all the while
there is possibility that the ndroit and ever
active leaders of the gold conspiracy may
| persuade some OF the gold standard countries
to discard the silver heretofore coined
E 1t is plain that the divergence between the
! two metals has arisen from the great rise in
1 the value of gold, and that 1t will become
still more marked If the value of gold rises
higher, and that the only means OF correcting
| the divergence is to lessen the employment Of
| gold and enlarge the employment of silver In
/ gold standard countries. In the actual pre-
| ucamcut of atfatra tho pnlIcy wbtol, ,ht.