The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-03-27
a aue.tion for the siIrerite..

4 Question for the siIverites.
one Of the stock assertions Of the silver
ties. and the one that has had the most
influence with the farmers. is that the
low prices Of wheat and cotton are due
TO the characterization Of silver They
have never been able TO show why the
decentralization Of silver did not cause
the prices OF corn and pork to fall In
deed. they are exceedingly careful TO
avoid any reference to corn and pork in
their discussions OF the silver question
They are not as frank as they ought to
be.
But what have they TO say about the
recent rise in the prices of wheat and
cotton? They certainly cannot claim
that the rise was caused by the pros
pect of an international agreement in
respect to silver. because that prospect
is not much. If any. brighter than it
was before Germany decided to call an
international monetary conference. It
is probable that If a silverite were asked
To- explain the rise in the prices Of
wheat and cotton he would have no ex-
PLANTATION to give.
But there is no difficulty in finding an
explanation. and a very reasonable one.
for both the fall and the rise of the
prices Of these articles. The fall in prices
was due to overproduction. The supply
Of both cotton and wheat was greater
than the demand. The production in
creased faster than the CONSUMPTION.
Perhaps there would not have been such
a marked difference between production
and consumption If it had not been for the
hard times. The stagnation in all the in
dustries and in all kinds Of business
made it impossible for the people to buy
as freely as they had been accustomed TO
do.
There is another thing that has been
overlooked to some extent in this coun-
try I'm discussing the fall in prices of
wheat and cotton. and that is the very
great increase In the production of wheat
in India and the Argentine Republic. and
the Increased production of cotton in Rus
STA and India within the last few years.
This country no longer has monopoly of
the production of these articles.
II is just as plain why the prices OF
wheat and cotton are now rising. The
information is that the wheat production
Of India and the Argentine Republic. and
the cotton production OF Russia, India
and this country will be very much less
this year The low prices have led to the
reduction Of the wheat and cotton acre
age
From the foregoing 1t appears that sill
yer has had nothing to do with either
the rise or fall Of prices In fact, the
price of silver. like the price of other
commodities. is affected by production.
Within the last year or two the produc-
ton of silver has fallen off considerably,
and. consequently, the price of that metal
is rising. We have had an illustration
recently in this city Of how production
affects the price of an article During
the hight of the naval stores season,
when the understanding was that the
production was enormous, the price Of
spirits of turpentne fell to about % cents
a gallon. When the market became bare
and the outlook for the new crop was
not of the best the price Of that article
rose to 80 cents gallon.
1t is remarkable that the sllverites have
no explanation to offer of the rise in
the prices Of wheat. cotton and naval
stores. Can it be that they understand
that the decentralization of silver has
nothing to do with prices, but will not ad-
NIT 1t?