The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1894-10-02

all; CnaG q GQlnS Is very E1npl9 GnaG
vast areas of fertile and virgin soil are
cultivated now in all parts Of the world
which formerly grew nothing; that
there are more railroads, cheaper
freights and greater facilities of trans
port everywhere, and that all that we
are suffering from may be summed up
in a word, viz: 'overproduction.' Now,
l am never quite sure what is meant
when people talk of overproduction.
They always seem to forget that pari
pdssu with The increase of commodities
there has been an enormous increase
also in the population and in the needs
and requirements of the world. If they
mean by overproduction that the ratio
of the increase of commodities has been
out of all proportion to the increased
requirements of the world, why, then,
l do not believe them. And certainly
no one has ever given the smallest
proof of that very common but that
very loose and very vague assertion.
Have you eve considered what the in
crease of the population of the world is
supposed to be every twenty years. l
saw an estimate upon this point the
other day. According to that estimate
the increase in the population of the
world every twenty years amounted to
no less than 200. 600, 900 of people, and
rather more. Now, just consider what
that means. Why, the whole popula-
ton of England is only about 90, OOO,-
900, and, therefore,, it is much the same
as If some six or seven new Englands
had been added to the world in the last
twenty years. And, if they had been,
you can fancy for yourselves what sort
Of increase in commodities would be
wanted to supply them. This question,
gentlemen, of overproduction was fully
argued and thrashed out on the gold
and silver commission five or six years
ago; and if you think that any further
argument is needed Unjust refer you to
the third part of their report on this
point, where in less than half a dozen
paragraphs you will find the subject
dealt with in a way which has certain
~ not been answered until now. (Hear,
heard But, in connection with this
subject, there is one table of wheat
statistics which was sent to me to
which I must call your attention. 1t is
a table of the total yield of the worlds
wheat crop for 1891, 1899 and 1898,
with the prices for each year; and it
gives 3O4, OO0, 900 quarters for 1891,
300, 900, 900 for 1892 and 288, 600, 900 for
1898, showing a steady decrease in pro
duction. The prices, on the other hand,
are Ais for 1891, 295 for 1892 and 25s
for 1898, showing an enormous fall in
price. So here you have a fall in price
of 40 per cent. in wheat, in spite of a
decrease in production and in spite of
a large increase in population and in
demand. (Applause) Now, gentle
men, I say that to the face of figures
such as these, and I have every reason
to believe that they are fully as trust
worthy as any of the statistics on
which we are accustomed to rely, it is
idle to talk of the fall in prices being
due to nothing but overproductiop.
No, sir, the more you sift, and the
more closely you examine into this
question, you will find that there is
only one thing which is able to suff,
GENTLY account for the enormous and
and unprecedented change which has
occurred in prices during the last
twenty years and that is the change
which has occurred, not in production
nor in commodities, butin the value of
money itself-(hear, hear)-and which,
I believe to be entirely due to the great
monetary revolution which occurred
some fifteen or twenty years ago upon
the continent of Europe, and to the
abandonment of the bimetaliic system
by which it was accompanied at that
time. (Applause.)
THE MONETARY CHANGES.
"And now I must explain as briefly
as I can what those monetary changes
were; what the bimetalic system was,
and what the effects of it's abandon
ment have been on yourselves and on
your industry in particular, as we'll as
on the world at large. Now, some
people are under the impression, I be-
lieve, that bimetaliem, is something
new. 1t is nothing of the kind; it is as
old as the history of the world. Gold
and silver formed the joint money of
the world since the first ages of man.
That is why they are called the pre-
cious metals, and bimetallism itself
onlV CEASED twenty years 400 Let ma