The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1895-09-11
INTERESTING TABLES.
LOSSES INFLICTED ON PRO-
DUCERS BY FALLING
PRICES.
(The Philadelphia American,

The appreciation of gold has done
the debtor classes great injustice, but
as great as have been the losses
brought upon by the community by
the ruin and disasters that have over
taken all debtors. the blighting of the
unavoidable losses suffered by all pro-
ducers have been infinitely greater.
It is true that the producing elias ses
are of necessity debtor classes, but
aside from the losses they have suf-
fered as debtors, they have suffered
much greater losses as producers.
The producer, even when not a bor-
rover, has suffered losses, and these
been debtor.
The effect Of the appreciation of
gold on producers, simply as producers
and not as debtors, has not received
the attention that it should. The
gold-moncmetallists ignore it, and the
friends of silver are too often content
to rest their case on the injustice and
losses that the debtor classes have
suffered. The fall in prices caused by
the appreciation Of gold has doubled
the burden of all debts and has de-
stroyed the profits of all those en-
gagged in productive enterprises. If
the producers were large borrowers
they have been ruined; if not, they
have pocketed their losses; but in
either case all incentive to production
has been destroyed. In this lies the
greatest injury caused by an appreci-
ating standard. Profits being absorb
ed by the idle and creditor classes,
production falls off and retrogression
takes the place of progress.
No producer can prosper in the face
of falling prices, for the profits of his
industry are absorbed by the losses &C.
casioned by the steady depreciation of
his stock. For example. take the iron
manufacturer who paid $15 per ton
for pig iron in July, 1893. expecting to
sell the finished product as bar iron at
$3S OS per gross ton, or as steel billetS
at $2l.37 per ton, the ruling prices at
which bar iron and steel billets were
selling at the time he bought his pig
iron. -Four months pass, the ar iron
and steel bllets are ready for market,
but. caused by the appreciation of
gold, prices have fallen in the neigh
borhoOd of 10 per cent Pig iron rules
at $13.75, steel billets at SIT 81 and bar
iron at 1854. The manufacturer
must, of course, sell the bar iron and
steel billets produced from the pig
iron that cost him SIS per ton at the
same price as he could if he had paid
only 1913 per ton. His expected
profits have been cut into by more
than 10 per cent. Again, he bought
pig iron in November, 1893, at 1875
per ton, thinking that the bottom had
Deen reached at last, but when the
product was ready for market in
March, 1894, pig iron had still further
fallen, selling at $13, steel billets sold
at $l5 46and bar iron at 1872 4S per ton.
Thus again he found himself a loser
bNover 10 per cent by depreciation,
ana through no fault OF his own; and
then to this depreciation of stock he
was forced to add aa equal deprecia-
tion in the value OF his mill, etc. It
is no wonder that the iron manufac-
turers have been discouraged and the
industry paralyzed The fall in prices
has affected textile and all other
manufacturers in the same manner.
This picture is not drawn from i'm
agination and the prices taken are
actual and not imaginary. For COM
parison we print the following table
of aVerapn mOnthlV nrcaS