Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1895-07-18

trOvcrts- Some Diversion IN the Debate
to Settle - Question of Correct Quota
ton Of u Statute.
lCopyIi.ht 1885,. b. Azel F. Hitch.l
The second day of the silver debate
opened with MIR. Herr in possession of the
floor. He Immediately referred to the his
torical statement read by MIR. Harvey the
day before regarding the condition OF the
world from the beginning Of the Chris
tian era to 1880. He said: Let the an
swer be given from good authority. Hal
lam's Middle Ages volume 2, page 800. in
note says: M. Laber MEM de rAcad. des
Inscript., Nouvelle Serie XIV 230) calcr-
lAtcs tho power of silver under Charlie
magne compared with the present day to
have been II to 1. 1t fell afterwards to s
and continued to sink during the middle
ages. The average of prices during the
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries was 6 to
/. The price OF wheat from the eighth to
the fifteenth century thus doubled and the
valu Of silver decreased to one-half. &C.
cording to IIsllam and this renowned
French authority. This is the exact OPP
pJsite OF the statement which Mr.. Harvey
| makes without citing one leading historian
or economist CT statisticiGn Fast CT pre-
sent.
Let us turn to a third authority, one
accepted by men the world over. l cite
from Professor James L. Thorold Rog
or3. the political economist and historian.
He tells us in his Economical lntorpreta-
tion CT History, page zG2, that from l261
| to 1900 the price Of wheat per quarter
averaged ) shiilings 109. pence. and in the
next 40 years averaged shillings IN
pence. The price Of lead was in the first
M -; al f1t
On an average. and in the latter 10i shil-
| ling AZ pence. y more marked advance
occurred in the years 1900 20 $780, years
| uninnuenced BY the silver treasures o:
America, which Adam Smith says did not
affect prices in England before 1870 Rog-
ers' Six Centuries OF Work ard Wages,
page 2i3, gays: Now ii is clear that
prices were rising, though slowly and mod
crately, during the first forty years Of the
| sixteenth century. In the first decade the
money value Of the principal necessaries
| CT life, corn ard wheat, were at the ratio
generally speaking at which they stood for
two centuries. In the last decade, 1880 to
$40, they had risen by 20 to 40 per cent
| Professor Rogers says: The If
| toenth century and the early years Of the
sixteenth we're the golden age of the arti-
san and the laborer. In the Economic
Interpretation Of 'History,' page "a, Rogers
says, In speaking of the status of labor
| crs Of 1875 it is considering the cheap
ness CT the times exceeding liberal. At no
| tine in English history have the earn
| inEs Of laborers interpreted by their pur-
| chasing power been SO considerable as
| those which this act acknowledges At
| that time Rogers shows this purchasing
power of wages was substantially so per
cent higher than the average for the
$50 years 1861 TO l5iG."
Mr.. Harvey-What year was that?
Mir. Horr-That was In the fifteenth
century. that was the time when you say
| everything was going 10 the bow-wows.
| Hurr quoted other authorities in the
same line of argument. and then Harvey
took the Gcor. He said he read from the
| report OF the Monetary Commission Of
| 1876. including the historical quotation
Just referred to by Eorr, mot for the pur-
pose Of entering into an argument on po-
| litcal economy CT the years 400 to 1900.
| but simply to show that all Of my friends
| from New York and elsewhere who have
| accused me Of forgery were wrong. Dr..
| Adam Smith, en- able historian. whose
| work put in Mr.. Horrs hands yesterday,
! confirms all that there is ia that monetary
commission. Page III gives you the table
| CT the rise OF prices that contradicts every
| thing that Mr.. Horr has said here. The
! encyclopedias in your libraries will con-
firm that report CT the monetary commits
sion and contra dict everything that Mt.
| IIorr has said
| Remarking further that he did not eX-
| pect to be diverted to answer irrevelant
matter, he proceeded to recapitulate the
debate Of Tuesday saying: Thus far we
| have considered two questions, gold and
silver as the money OF the constitution and
| the unit CT value in our monetary system
| fixed by the trainers of the constitution,
ard what existed as our monetary unit
from 1892 to 1873. The debate is Of value
thus far in eliminating the doubt that has
existed On these two points in the minds
OF the pee ric--a doubt that has been pro-
duced by Misrepresentation made by those
advocating the gold standard. reading
Of the debate thus far settles these two
questions in favor CT the book We are dis
| cussing.
Gold and silver have been honest
money for centuries, ard under free COIN
age and equal treatment they have been
practically at par with the legal ratio fixed
for their coinage; under these laws both
were money in their own right. each hay
ing equal purchasing power and both
| adapted to use as money. Population and
demand on the money market are growing
every year. and there was no good reason
for debasing one Of these metals, discriIn-
| mating against il. and destroying the de-
| Dland for it that gave to it its value in the
| market"
Horr expressed surprise that Harvey
after taking SO long time yesterday to
prove 70 the people CT the United States
that the year before the discovery Of silver
in the world silver money had become so
scarce that the people were on the verge
| Of starvation, should now accuse ne OF
trying to divert him from the regular worl
before US when it is the very work he him.
| self introduced" He then read from Prof
! George Gunton. author Of Wealth and
Prosperity" page 40. that in 1896 whea,
was firs shillings and Eve pence ha'penny
and III 15ii IL was five shillings and foul
pence. II We take the average for the dec
AIDES in which each of these years occur
which is still better, We will find the re.
suit to be the same. The average price Of
wheat from 1ii1 to 1450 vas five shilling.
and three pence and three farthings; from
1891 to 1900 il was five shillings and three
fartE!nCs and from 1911 to 1870 il was 81,