The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1895-01-31

Low PRICES AND FREE TRADE
The things which arc the great objects
Of commerce and business may be said
in a general way To be the products OF
the fields. forests. seas and mines or OF
the manufactures. It IS certain that the
world is eating just as much food as It
did twenty years ago: that it is wearing
just as much clothing and. generally
that it is consuming as much Of general
production as it did then. IT is in fact,
consuming much more. for population Is
greater now than it was then. and great
CT cheapness has increased the ability OF
people TO have what they want. what is
this great cheapening Of the prices OF
articles of consumption due to- a class
of persons, who look at the surface OF
things only. says il Is due 10 a scarcity
of money. But If there was not as much
of an article as people want it would be
high, however much money there might
be. and If there was more Of an article
than people want 1t would be cheap, al
though the supply of money was far less
than It is now. That ought to be OBJ
Vio6s-to every ons. Low prices are due
TO over supply. And what is over supply
due TO? Seventy-fve years ago the ocean
and great rivers were the only means that
mankind had for interchang;ng their
commodities. and over these they could
pass with slow sailing ships only. Now
L.
parts of the world, and the interior Is
covered over with railways. Whatever
there Is on one part OF the earth can be
carried to another part in the time that
they formerly consumed in thinking
about II, and at an expense which is
trning. The improvements i'm the meth
DDS Of transportation and communicating
intelligence that the past seventy-nve
years have made, have almost obnterate1
time and space. The whole world for
the purposes of business and exchanges
is no more than a small neighborhood
was hundred years ago. That is the
first cause of over eupply.
The second cause Is Improvement in the
methods of production. This applies TO
all things-those produced in the fields,
forests and mines. as well as those pro-
duced in the mandatory. The steam
plow and reaper make i'm agriculture
what has been proved in manufacture
one mans labor outrank now many
times what one mans labor was NIFTY
years ago.
Improvements in transportation. then
and improvements in the methods OF pro-
duction have caused the world TO pro-
duce more OF everything than the world
is now prepared to consume. and con-
sequently the prices OF everything go
steadily down. down. down.
II is obvious. then. that If the farmers
want higher prices for what they produce
they must produce less or vary their pro-
duction TO some new thing not much pro-
duced now. which the world wants. If
manufacturers would get higher prices
for what they produce they must pro-
duce less. or produce. also. some new
things.
If. IN America, We could get rid of the
protective tariff laws and have perfectly
free trade. we would be able TO sell
everything we produce for some time at
satisfactory prices. Because the inventive
genius Of our people. given the free scope |
that our free institutions secure it. wouio
then enable us to generally undersell the |
rest Of the world. This. however, would |
probably play out in time. Our country |
IS so vast and so productive that We are |
capable of furnishing the whole world |
with all the food and manufactures that |
II wants, and, when we reached that |
point. we would find ourselves again con-
fronted with the same difficulties that |
beset US now.
The ultimate solution OF the case prob
ably is that as improvements IN machine
ing In factories and go 10 the country 10
live on what their own labor produces |
from the soil. This need not be such a
wretched life. after all. Our greatgrand-
fathers did 1t TO a great extent. ana they
seem 20 have led very happy and con-
tented lives. one hundred years ago the
clothes OF almost every one on a farm
were spun and woven on the place ana
very little OF anything Was bought at the
stores. II the great bulk OF our population
IL destined to return TO that sort OF life. |
we are not prepared to say that 1t Will