Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1894-02-21


appreciated, Why is It that It now requires
four bushels of wheat to pay the yearly SUD-
scrintion 10 the FREE Press, when 1t once
took one. and the dollar which he gets ana
the dollar which We get when either oil Us
get t) will not pay cents more taxes: wages;
rents. gas bills or salaries, &c.-farp'er'
A4rOcats.
Bread is conceded to be the staff Of life,
but we hardly think it practicable to make
wheat the standard Of values. Why wheat
Is ffty cents a bushel now and two dollars at
another time, or ranging anywhere between,
NAV be accounted for in several ways. The
editor of the Adrocats cannot be persuaded
that supply aud demand" has anything TO
DO with ia; and yet time and again has a
war cloud in European skies, no bigger than
mans hand. put expectancy lot bloody
wars. whereby fields would be depleted OF
labOrers and a consequent demand upon the
granaries Of the New World result in ad
vanced prices of cerealsl on tiptoe in TIN"
country. Just now the wheat market IS
watched by dealers throughout the world ;
the decentralization is widespread and the
contributing causes many-chief among
them. doubtless, the immense yields in the
Argentine Republic. India and Russia, and
the difference in price in favor OF those
countries It is absurd to say that supply
and demand" have nothing to do with the
price Of wheat aud other cereals, when i'm
mediately upon the receipt Of advices that
the crops of some OF the foreign countries
we're nearly exhausted and that the shortage
must be supplied by the United States, there
was an Advance in prices. Spectators some
times create an artificial scarcity and thus
control prices. However, what we dePlore
is that labor Of any kind should be, at any
time. unremunerative.
The price Of The FREE Press is the same
now that it was when one bushel of wheat
would pay for il; il is the same now that II
was when we got forty dozen eggs, or tween
~ pounds Of butter, or a load Of wood for
it, Why is it that il takes two subscriptions
TO pay for load of wood, forty dozen eggs,
or ten pounds of butter9 We hope our
contemporary will not be so ungenerous ~
70 say that HE FREE Press has degenera-
ted or 80 uuc0mplImeutary Ia the lay
members-the MacDutfs OF ante betlun days
AS 10 remark that eggs were not as good
then as they are now.
We acknowledge that "the dollar we get
does not pay cent more taxes" bat We
presume our neighbor will cOncede that il
paws lust as much taxes as ever, and II Il
doesn't pay more has money appreciated
s-
The subscription price Of both The FREE
PRESS and the Adr0cQte are on a basis OF Il
fair profit, aud are not out of the way, yet
If the editor of THE FREE PRESS WAS com
RELIED TO issue his paper and sell it Tor less.
than il cost him, as the farmer has 70 do
with his wheat, how long would our old
friend continue business st the old stand :?
Farmers AdrOcate.
Well, we might continue the publication
of the paper at the old stand, but we, would,
maybe. do as our neighbor says he will do
on the 1st Of April, "move out on the farm
to get living out of tiff we had one
In publishing THE FREE PRESS we do much
as the farmer does just now in raising wheat.
we could not afford to publish the paper
for the subscription payments, only. They
might pay the actual cost Of publication.
but the advertising patronage, etc, must
support US. So the farmer. At the present
deplorable ruling price Of wheat he cannot
afford to cultivate wheat, only; but all the
other products of the farm may secure him
a comfortable living. There isn't man in
the mercantile business that does not sell
some lines of goods at the bare cost, or less,
To keep up his stock and To retain the pat
rouage OF the general public and thereby
d. remuuerative trade.
We heard one Of the most successful
farmers of the county say that his practice
was TO annually plant due proportions Of
cereals, etc. and trust to the general average
product aud prices to prosper him. But,
he said, if the potato crop happened to fail
and high prices ruled IS to what was pro
duced, 1t too often happened that at the
succeeding planting everybody added to
his acreage OF potatoes and then followed
over production aud consequently low prices.
But il is hardly worth while for Us to men
ton the subject of supply and demand"
TO the editor OF the AdrOcate, as he does not
believe prices are affected thereby, though
every mau who ever bought eggs for his
Chris tmas nOg knows something about it
though after his nog he may be ObiiviOus
The editor OF The FREE Press seems to
think he scored big point when he qnOler
the AdrOcats on the sale of horses ut Mr.. K
A. Alexauder's sale. He seems to think
that 500 to $40 was absolutely sold vel"
price, aud showed appreciation of good
stock, we'll advertised We meant exactly
what we said. Horses indeed sold well,
that we heard of. The farmer who bought
a horse for $40, with inter ST, Will have To
take about l4S bushels OF wheat To pay for
that horse when his note becomes due
While $40 buys a Sl4S horse. it also buys
las bushels of wheat. If this l. not arpre-
citation of money and depreciation of stock
and products, what is it?-Adv0eate
Il was the Advocate that thought 500 and
SO good prices for horses sold at Mr.. Alex
auder's sale. We didn't know or think
,,,tb;,e, ,hout - He vet cOntends borses