People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1893-08-04

the United States doubles in peri"d
of about 81 years. There is no pros
pect Of an increase in the supply of
gold, while its use in the arts and
dentistry increases every year. With
the single gold standard, what other
result is possible than for gold to 60
on increasing in value from year to
year and prices continue to fall?
1t is noticed that wheat seems to
have suffered more from this depres-
sion than any other product, unless it
be cotton, and the Ne1DS desires the
VOICE to explain the cause of it.
The reason for this is that silver
bullion has been admitted to free
coinage into rupees in India on the
ratio of Is to l, or Sl.37 an ounce.
Prices in India have not materially
changed since 1873, andin a country of
such extent, where habits are fixed as
they are there, changes, if at all,
must be very slow: consequently, as
silver bullion falls, it takes less gold
to get the silver to convert into ru-
peeS to pay for wheat or cotton. In
other words, the same number of ru-
PEGS will buy a given quantity of cot
ton or wheat in India, regardless of
the gold cost of the rupees; hence, as
silver goes down, the gold cost of
wheat and cotton in India is reduced.
and as our surplus wheat and cotton
goes to Liverpool in direct COMPETE
ton with the wheat and cotton of
India, it must go down as the gold
cost of the same products in India 90
down.
In other words, as long as import
erS could come here and buy sill
yer at 20 cents per ounce and take
each ounce to India and have it coined
into $l.37 which would 60 as far in
India toward buying wheat as the
same amount of money would 60 here,
the American farmer was placed I'M
der the necessity of selling his wheat
on the basis of giving $1.37 worth of
wheat for 70 cents, less the cost of
transportation, import duties and
mintage. And the same is true of
cotton.
Now this seems plain enough and is
certainly impregnable. 1t is admit
ted on all hands. In addition 10 the
Wellington Monitor and Kansas City
Journal, whom we have already had
on the witness stand, we want to in
troduce another Republican witness.
Colonel William L. Trenholm, presi-
dent of the American Surety Com
pany and ex-cOmptrOller of the cur
rency, who in a recent visit to India
made special study of the currency
of that country. In a recent inter-
view he said:
"AS long as the price Of silver was
constantly declining in England and
the estimated value of the rupee in
India remained fixed in the minds Of
the people there was very consider
able profit in exporting silver bullion
from England to India, in having it
coined, and one of the effects of this
was to greatly stimulate the exports
of the products of India to Great Brit
ain. The effect of this was felt in
the United States through the medi-
um Of the English markets for wheat
and cotton, because as the wheat and
cotton of this country which were
sold in England came into cOmpeti-
tiOn there with wheat and cotton
that came from India, the larger the
Indian supplies and the more cheaply
they were obtained, the more restrict
ed was the demand for our products
and lower prices were realized"
Now that the Indian government
has stopped the coinage of silver on
private account, we may, as soon as
the unsteady money market gets quiz
eted down a little, expect to see wheat
and cotton resume their position on a
level with other commodities. But
all being under the ban of the perni-
cious gold standard will remain I'M
der the heel of oppression until they
are set free.