The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-04-18
The Wheat ArEument.

Some o. the silverites who are attempt
ing 10 answer the Presidents sound
money letter are saying that debts were
contracted when prices Of products were
FAR higher than they are now. and. hence.
they find 80 difficult. II not impossible
TO pay their debts at present prices Of
products. They also say that the demon
citation o. silver has caused the present
low prices. and. strange as 1t may seem,
they almost always pick out wheat as
the product that has fallen in price Why
is it they have nothing 10 say about corn.
or oats. or potatoes. or eggs. or hay. or
various other products? II they were
anxious to get al the truth, they would
find out whether or not the demonetiza-
ton Of silver has had anything to do with
the decline in the prices Of products other
than wheat.
But. as a matter Of fact, how much
lower are the prices OF wheat and corn
than they were before the alleged crime
Of 1892"
In 1862. No. red. wheat sold as low as
81 cents a bushel in New York. and in
September. 1876 II sold as low as 50 cents
In December. 1854. it sold as low as G9ik
cents. In 1862 the bullion value of a sill
yer dollar was equal to the bullion value
OF a gold dollar. and in 1873 it was cents
greater. and yet. Notwithstanding the sill
yer dollar was worth more than a gold
dollar in 1873, wheat sold at 50 cents a
bushel What is No. red wheat selling al
now? In New York. yesterday. it was
quoted at G2la cents. From this. IT ap-
pears that wheat is now selling only IL
cents bushcl below what it sold for in
1862. 27is cents below what it sold for in
1878, l4la cents below what it sold for in
1878, and within cents of what it sold for
in 1854.
Looking at these prices, can any one
frankly say silver has had anything to
do with the fall in the price Of wheat?
But. it may be asked, if the demonetiza-
ton OF silver has not caused the decline in
the price OF wheat, what has? Clearly
overproduction. The supply has been be-
yond the demand in some years. particu-
larly during the last three or four years.
If the characterization Of silver caused the
decline, how is it that before silver was
demonetlzed, in 1862. wheat sold at "a cents
a bushel?
And now about corn? How is it the sill
verites have nothing to say about that
product which exceeds in volume that
of wheat? In 1862 corn sold as low as
% cents a bushel, and it brought no higher
price that year than Al cents. In 1873, the
year of the decentralization OF silver,
when. as already stated, the silver dollar
was worth 8 cents more than the gold
dollar. corn sold as low as q cents a BUSH
el, and the highest price it bought that
year was 54h cents. These prices were
paid in the New York markets. What is
the price of corn now in New York? Our
market reports this morning show that
corn sold in that city yesterday at 54l5
cents a bushel. which is a higher price
than when silver was not denonetized
and a silver dollar was worth more than
a gold dollar. VIII not some silverite
undertake to explain why it is that the
price of corn is higher now than it was
in 1873? We undertake to say that there
is not one of them that viii attempt to
do so.
The price of cotton is low now. but is
there an intelligent cotton planter who
does not know why it is low? What does
all this talk about reduction of cotton
acreage mean? Does it not mean that the
cotton growers know that more cotton
is being grown than is actually needed
A ten-million bale crop is produced when
and eight-million bale crop would supply
the demand. If this years crop does not
exceed eight million bales the price Of
cotton win go to 10 cents, and that. too
without any reference to silver. 1t will
bring 10 cents in gold, the money upon
which there is no discount in any part
n 10 world