Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1895-10-11
JOSEPH BATTELL
THE SILVER QUESTION.
Continued from last weeh.l


tration of the impetus given by demoneti-
cation to production in silver-using cOun-
tries. With the fall in silver the world
turned to these countries for its wheat and
cotton, because in them the silver price re-
manned the same, while the silver to buy
them, through the workings Of John Sher-
mans law, passed by an ignorant or cor
rupt American congress, could be bought
at half price. And thus the price of wheat
and cotton was regulated by that Of silver,
with "a resulting loss to the American
farmer of one half in the price of his crop.
In one of the two very excellent
speeches of the Hon. Joseph c. Sibley of
Pennsylvania, in the last congress,
speeches that might well be read by
every American citizen, this subject is
referred to as follows
The highest production of silver i'm
any year has been S73 ,OOOOOO. We will
say it is S75, 100000. But we produce
10000 900 bushels of wheat a wear,
which, since the decentralization of silver,
has fallen from % to 81 cents per
4
lost from 60 to 80 cents bushel on
wheat. The price has gone down because
England can come here and take 20 cents
worth of silver and measure it against Il
bushel of wheat in India Just as well as
she could do when it was worth 81 % be-
fore we demonetized it by legislation, and
degraded and disgraced it by our silly
and wicked follieS. Now, then, Mr..
Speaker, we have Il loss of 30 cents "A
bushel on wheat want to make my
statement modest. We have Il loss of 30
cents Il bushel on l50,0OO.000 bushels of
wheat year, which makes loss to the
American farmer of S22j, 100000.
| am not here talking for the silver
mine owners of Idaho, Colorado. Nevada.
Montana. and Utah. They are only a
small factor in this question. | am look
ing to the producers of wheat and corn,
cotton and tobacco and all the wealth of
the nation. We have lost S225, 900, 900
each year in the value of wheat. Why, if
we had bought that 1j,0OO.O 900 ounces of
silver and sunk in the depths Of the sea,
so that England could not have got it at
20 cents an ounce. the American wheat
grower would have been Il gamer of
S225 600. 900 annually. We produce 2,0O0,-
GOO. 600 bushels of corn, and corn has fall
en- 2G cents a bushel. Wheat is the great
staple, the great leader, and corn is but
a follower of wheat among the cereals
Now. then, | will say that we lost 20
cents bushel on corn; and so Our Amer
lean growers of corn have lost Si00, 000.-
600 annually upon their crop of corn, so
that if they had bought all this silver and
sunk it the cOrn-growers would have
been 1925, 100000 to the gold. We pro-
duce 3.2l2, ZOO, 600 pounds of cotton an
nually, and in 1873 your cotton sold at
% cents pound. To-day it is bringing
: and $ cents. You have lost II cents a
pound on every pound of cotton; and if
the cOttOn-prOducers had bought all the
silver and sunk it in the depths of the
ocean they would have been each year
S2l0,000 900 ahead on the transaction. In
these three leaOing articles of production
in the Union Il will not 90 through more
of them) the loss to the producer each
year has been 500 0O0. 900 more than the
value of the silver that it void have been
necessary to have purchased.
In a pamphlet entitled Facts About
Silver" issued 1894 by the American BIZ
metallic League at Washington. ID. c.,
with short preface by Hon. A. j. Warner.
president of that league, a gentleman of
high character and large abilities, the
effect of the rise of gold on farm pro-
duets is thus stated:
TIE EFFECT OF TIE RISE OF GOLD Oh
FARM PRODUCTS.
Sc. In 1873 corn WAS worth to the
farmer 40 cents IA bushel, and yielded a
return of ll.4l AN acre.
In 1893 corn brought the farmer not
more than - cents a bushel, and yielded
return of Sj.l0 an acre. The yield
per acre and price both being low.
81. In 1873 the home value of wheat
was SLID; average yield. l2.7 bushels.
and worth Sl4.59 per acre. In 1893 the
home value was sob: yield per acre.
ll,3 bushels; value per acre, sos. The
quantity per capita was less in 1893 than
in 1873, and the worlds supply relatively
less.
IS. Oats in 1873 were worth sob in
1898, 5000 and yielded to the farmer
Sc 2G anacre instead of Sl0.37 i'm 1873.
80. In 1872 mulch Gown were worth
SOB each. In 1898 not over $50 each.
The number of cows in 1872 was one to a
| lttle less than four of population. In
| 1893 the number was one to little more
than four of population. so that, rea-
! lively to population, the number of
COWS had decreased and their value at
the same time had fallen 40 per cent.
CHANGE IN TIE VALUE OF LAND.
%. Great as has been the fall i'm ag-
ricultura products, the fall in the price
of farm lands has been greater still,
Notwithstanding the fact that the area
of arabic land, relatively to population,
is rapidly decreasing; and nowhere has
the value of land fallen more than in old
settled parts of the country.
Is THE CHANGE IN THE LAND AND COM
MODITIEs OR IN TIE MONEY?
: 81. There must be some cause for
this change in The relation of money to
land and commodities. Is the change in
the goods or in the measure-in the land
and commodities or in the money?
! %. 1t Is plainly in the money.
Since the decentralization of silver the
worlds standard money has been shrink
ing in volume relatively to population
and wealth and its value has correspond
| inOlV increased.