Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1894-06-21
WHEAT AND SILVER.
THE PRICE OF ONE DOES NOT
AFFECT THE OTHER.
Statistics Which Show that the Demone-
tizatiOn Of Silver Is Not the Cause OF
the Decline In Wheat-Groycr Cleveland
as Wealth Destroyer.
Would FOol the Farm ,r.


In as far as the speech made by Mr..
Chaplain, a member OF the Salisbury
ministry, tends to strengthen bel eff in
a rational bimetll lllism, founded upon
and made possible by internati nal
agreement, we'll and good. But in as
far as it helps to deepen the entirely
erroneous Impression that the fall of
wheat prices and the decline in the
market value Of silver are connected
as ca ,se and effect, it is to be deplorcd,
and requires statement of the facts of
the case. Not few sane men in this
country have been led into the silver
camp by this fallacious argument.
They have seen wheat prices declining
until the fa mer's profit has beon eaten
away. They have teen told ag Yin aud
again by the special plealers on the
silver side that the demone tization OF
silver was the cause of this; and al
though there is neither rhyme nor
reason in the argument, their fear that
we may be in. u ing oar agricul,u al
interest and helping Great Brita n
leads them to take every chance, and
yield to policy of financial destruc.
tion If by 80 doing we might, haply,
give lift to agriculture and cut En-
gland off from Il cheap food supply.
II W erroneous the notion is we pro-
pose to show by the facts submitted.
To begin with, Mr.. Chaplain must
not te taken too seriously. He is oae
OF the outs" who want to become the
ms" and we know that people in that
position are not too careful of their
facts or their premises. Mr. Cleveland
was an excellent civil service rceo.mer
when he was a candidate for office. 1t
plea.es Mr.. Balfour and Mr.. Chaplain
to tell the British farmer at this time
that the demonetization OF silver is the
caEe OF his woes. The British
farmers case is de-pera c. The com
petition of America almost drove him
out OF the business: and now, in the
face OF a competition which it puzzles
even America to meet, he is unable to
pay his rents or to make his industry a
living one. 1t pleases member of the
opposition to say that the party in
power has done this. 1t was the Glad
stO-e government that closed the In
dian mints to the free coinage of
silver. and although that was only in
pursuance of a policy from which
neither Conservative nor Liberal has
swervea in the past, it would be very
sat ,sfactory, in the pre- en- of an
early general election, to make t @
British farmer believe that the liver
policy of the party in power was re-
spcnsiblc for the low price of wheat
That is the politics milk in the
cocoanut Now for the facts.
Mr.. Matthew Marshall has written a
great deal of imbecile stuff for the
New York Sun: he has also prepared
an occasional article valuable for its
statistical information, for, while his
theories are Of the widest, his facts
are generally unassailable. We use
the statistics presented in recent
paper as the most conveniently IRE
rared for the absolute disproof of the
asserted dependence of wheat prices
upon the market valGe Of liver The
statement has been refuted over and
over again, but it will bear one more
rating. as long as there are still those
who cling to it. The fact is that there
is neither a real nor an apparent
connection between wheat and sill
yer prices. AS has been said aptlv |
in this case, it is Just as sensible. to
say that the mercury in the Their
mometer is the cause of cold weather.
1t is not true that the prices OF
wheat and silver have varied together,
or even in the same direction 1t is
lot true that an ounce of silver is I!
the equivalent Of bu.hel of wLta.. |
In 1870, by the report Of the Secretary |
Of the Treasury, wheat was worth !
Sl.o5 a bushel: and silver, by the Di- |
rector OF the Mint's report, Sl.l4t per
ounce. In 1884 wheat wa, worth S6 |
cents, and silver $I.OS. That is.
wheat declined 80 cents while silver /!
declined cents. The following table, !
taken from the London Economist is !
conclusive: