Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1895-08-21
PRICES Since 1878.
WAGES. FARM LANDS AND MANY
PARM PRODUCTS HIGHER NOW
THAN IN 1873.
DR.. H;U Exposes Some or the Alb
su-d and False Statements OF
the Silver Men.

DR.. W. P. Hill. of st. Lonis, ha
Just written a pamphlet entitled car
gument Against Free Silver Coiuag
at Is to l." which has dnmhfounde'
the free silver people. DR.. Hill is tb
Youngest son of the late Britton A
Hill, n of the ablest champions o
fat money o. the old Green
back party. DR.. Hill was educated
in the best universities in Europe. /
has been hAen generally supposed
that he would follow in the footstep!
OF his father AMI advocate fiat money.
There is but little doubt but that he
made a special study of finance fol
the purpose of securing argument;
against the gold STANDARD. Study
changed his opinions, as is apparent
from the following quotation from
his excellent pamphlet:
But. say the silver men. prices have
gone down since 1873. This is their
great hobby. and they dwell on 1t.
They that a country must have
high prices to be prosperous, and they
propose to r%e-establish nigh prices by
making 80 cents n dollar, so that when
We sell something for S1.00 on the
new basis. though in reality We will
only get 50 cents the same as now,
our feelings will not be so BABY hurt
because the name will have been
changed.
am six feet tall; suppose a new
law should make six inches a foot,
then under the new measurement
would be twelve feet tall. Would that
actually increase my height, or is it
simply the foot that has been short
ened? This reminds me OF Mark
Twain's joke about the Portuguese
money, where the unit Of value, the
refs. is so small that it takes about
5000 refs to paw for a dinner. But
let us see about the decline of prices.
The silver men assert that prices
have gone down, and that therefore
they in the most simple way prove
that gold has gone mp. They con-
veniently forget the thousand and one
factors that enter into a decline in
prices. They forget the laws of sup
ply and demand. That We cannot ex-
pect to get as high a price for our cot
ton when we raise a crop OF almost
To- 900, 900 bales in 1891 as when We
raised only 2,974,351 bales in 1872, or
for our wheat when we raise $780,
2G7,4 bushels in 1894 as when we
raised only 2l9, 997, 100 bushels in
1872.
They conveniently forget the enor-
nous decrease in the cost OF produc-
ton of our manufactured products,
due to the invention and use OF la
bor-saving machinery, the utilization
of by-products, and the decrease in
the cost OF transportation. l have
lately read some statistics compiled
by Edward Atkinson, the statistician,
covering some 200 articles in common
use, and he has shown that in every
instance where a decline in price has
occurred it has been more than Offset
by a decrease in the cost of F:oduc-
ton.
But the silver men cannot even sus-
tain their favorite contention, because
the facts are against them. The prices
of all things have not gone down.
Many things are higher now than
they we're before silver was demone-
tized. Their favorite cry is about the
wages of labor; the contraction OF the
cold standard has caused the wages OF
the laborer 10 decline, and they are
going to raise his wages by paying
him three ifty-cent dollars a day in
stead of the three one-hundrel-cent
dollars a day he gets row. Let us see
about these wages. Take the L. 5.
census figures of 1860, thirteen years
before silver was demonetized, and
those of 1890, seventeen years after.
This is a fair test. Ii gold has en-
HANGED in value, it ought to show it.
self in that time.
Annual wages paid in the factories
Of the United States:
No. Ohm Total Wages Ave.pel
1850. ISL. 2l5 IS 37s.s78. $3.50. SOS:
1890. ... .4.7l1.S3 go. 2,2S2, S23, 265..... 4Si
Increase in the average wages per
capita 95 per cent. {; almost double.
Decrease in the purchasing power
of gold, as far as wages are concerned,
% per cent. The gold dollar only
brought about one-half the labor in
1890 that it would in 1869. Not only
that, but the la5orer got more than
twice as many gold dollars for the
same amount Ofwork, because the hours
of labor in many places have been
shortened from twelve and tento eight
hours "A day.
Now what does the census say about
farm lands?
Ave. Value
Gross Value. per Acre.
1861. oil. : 6.64j. 900. 600. ...Sl6.2-
ISgJ.... .... 1928, 600, 900 ......-... 2l.3l
Increase in the average value pei
acre OF farm lands about 80 per cent.
Take live stock
Ave. per
Gross Value. Head.
1850 .....sl.cs9.O 900. 90 .... ...... S12.2i
iS9J. -.-.-. 2,tl9,J0J.001 .......... l463
Increase in the average value per
head about p per cent.
Take vegetables, butter, cheese,
eggs, poultry, an increase OF about 4
per cent. is noticed.
In relation to all these things the
gold dollar has gone down in value.
What remains OF the contention that
the contraction OF gold has caused
prices to decline?
Our Monetary NeelS.
"What our people need is cool
credit, good money, good principles
and sound business sense. Visionary