The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1895-08-15
LIVELY FIGURES THAT WILL
CAUsE A TIRED FEELING TO
CREEP OVER SILVERITES.
THE PRICES OF WHEAT FOR
MANY YEARS.
Judge Clark for the Supreme Court-Bet
ter Times Ahead-Silyer Dollars Not
Wanted by Sensible People, hut
Nebraska's Insane Unanimous
for the White Metal.

SLY old politician is Judge Reagan. Ihe
figures given by him in his Fort Worth
speech have peculiar interest to all men
who wish to study the ways thlt are pc
culiar and the tricks that are slick OF the
willy office seeker In his address lie puts
the average price of wheat for 1877 at
Al gold, when prices were greenOacks
worth about 50 CENTS ON the dollar. Ine
truth about it is that in August, 49,,
wheat reached S1.61, but by November
if dropped to S1.01 in greenblcks. Did
silver have anything to do with the big de-
cline? Had the judge gone back to Feb
rnary. 1866, he would have found Ihat
wheat in the United States was worth
only II cents in greenbacks, or about
As cents god. In November of that same
year wheat sold at $2.03 greeobacks. 1t
continued to advance until May, lSO.
when it reached $3.50, and that year the
writer and Judge Reagan paid SIG to SlS
specie for barrel of -four i'm Texas. July,
1868, wheat dropped to $500, and in No
yember of that year it got down to
.S1.O4 10. In 1869 prices dropped to
76 IL and ranged upwards 20 STAG i'm
August. In April, 1870, prices reached
1914, and two month after they popped
up to S1.31 II. This was before the
crime of 1878, judge, and during ali these
years silver remained about stationary,
and of course had nothing to do with the
remarkable fluctuations noted. After the
alleged "crime' i'm 1875 wheat ranged
from So IA to $1O3 IL. In 1878 prices
dropped to II cents. In 1882 prices
ranged 81 is TO $1.40. This made wheat
as high in gold as it was in 1867. In
1883 prices ranged from 80 to 81. 49, II;
in 1890 from "A IA to $1.0S IA; 1891
from So to $1.16 all gold, and higher than
gold prices for any year prior 80 1873,
except two. Wheat last Saturday sold
in Chicago at 81 to CT ID, and that is
higher on a gold basis THAN it sold during
the year 1865. Its about as high as wheat
sold in gold November, 1872. The above
figures, which are accurate, demonstrate
rhat the price of silver haas nothing what
ever ITO do with the price of wheat. What
do you think about it, Judge?
Now as to the judges figures on sugar.
He mments the decline of 10 CENTS jul
1.-The price of sugar from 1872 to 1893.
Really, judge, don't you know that all
sugar produced in America is by wealthy
planters. If you know anything Gbout SUI
gar at all you know that improved Cultiva-
tiOn and improved machinery aud conSe-
uuent Increased production, together with
the removal of the tariff reduced tire price
of sugar until 1893 it reached ~ cents as
stated by you. 1t has been stated that
the planters are wealthy men, and at f..
cents. Judge, their profits are enormous.
They clear anywhere from $4,000 TO $780,
900 a year. You ought to examine the
official report of your State sugar farm
and see what the profit is. Do You want
the laboring people and the poor of 1.-THE
country Ito 90 back to paying lit cents
for sugar. thereby trebling the enormous
profits of the rch planters? 1t looks that
way.
Now for cotton again. Judge Reagan
puts the price of cotton in 1872 at 1913
cents and in 1892 at So cents, and he
puts the blame on silver. The American
crop of cotton in 1872 was 2,074,3J1 bales
with very little cGton received elsewhere
In 1892 the crop was 9,03S, 707 bales with
several million bales raised in Egypt and
other countries. Look at these figures and
then consider the reduction in bagging
and ties and the improved gins and cul-
tivGtors. and see if THE decline IN prices
was not natural and reasonable.
Excepting cotton and putting prices ON
n gold basis. the farmers of the United
States received more money for their
crops i'm 1892 than thpy did in 1872 But.
ter and eggs, which are worth more than
the cotton crop. corn, hay, oats, rye, bar
LEY, beef CATTLE. fruits and vegetables
We're worth more i'm gold in 1892 than in
| 1872. The above figures emphasize the
remark, "NO one ever eXped s the Judge to
be accurate either in his figures or his
dpductiOnS