The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1895-03-28


was II affected by the fall in the value
! of silver. that just year later II sold
| for eighty and half cents, or an aJ-
! vance of 1I6 per cent. What had slight
change In the value OF silver to do with
this extraordinary advance? Does our
correspondent desire us TO believe that
the enormous rise in price was caused by
the decline in the price OF silver, which
has occurred since 1913? was not this
elevation of the price level for corn who'll
| ~ due TO the fact that the crop or 1890
was but two-thirds the volume OF that or
1889, and that In consequence the per
capita supply was reduced by quite thirty
| per cent?
! A careful examination of the facts sur
| rounding the course of prices for cotton
| develops the fact that from 1864, when cot
| ton was selling in New York for eighty
| cents in gold pound, IL fell steadily from
this high war level until 1875 when the
| quantity produced first exceeded the ante
| bellum maximum, and the price again
| reached the level Of 1860; just as we learn
from this examination that I'm 1878 the
| price OF cotton had, from the highest
point already fallen siXty-four cents a
pound, or 200 per cent. more than it has
| fallen since. Was this fall OF sixty-four
| cents prior to 1873 due TO other causes,
while the fall since 1873 is due alone TO
the fall in the value Of silver2
From 1879 to 1890 the price fuctuated
between 91-2 and 10 cents as the crop
| happened to be abundant or meagre
| and the average OF the twelve years was
| very close to thu average of the twelve
years ending with 1850, although after
two very short crops I'm 1886 and 1851 the
! price rose in the latter months OF 1884,
| despite the acute money crisis then pre-
! valling to 10 - cents a pound or the
hftrh. f.rfl L l,..s~r
| 1894. If We exclude the prices of the war
| period. say from 1861 TO 1875. This fact,
| and the other related fact that from 1880
to 1898. during all the acute monetary
| crisis of 1881, the prices for wheat, corn
! cotton and oats were extremely high
| showing how little monetary conditions
| Of the most pronounced character affect
the price of any article Of prime neces-
| sity, when the supply is actually detec-
| tive. In considering conditions affecting
the price of cotton, the period ending
| with 1873, when prices resulted from the
peculiar conditions existing a the South
after the war, must be excluded. Doing
this. it is found that the price has varied
only as affected by supply and demand,
ana often moved in the direction opposite
to that taken by silver.
The crop of 1859 was the greatest ever
grown till that time, and aggregated
nearly 10000 bales, but the crop OF 1879
exceeded it by 10000 bales, or - per
cent; and this great crop was immediate
ly followed by enc OF 9OO0c00 bales, or y
per cent. in excess of the crop of 1899.
The crops of 1890 and 1891 aggregated
100000 bales as against l4.2OO,0O0 bales
from the harvests of 1883 and 1888: and
after the harvesting OF the two greater
crops, the price fell more than = per
cent. is this price fall of one-fourth due 10
a fall of 10 per cent in the price for an
ounce of silver. or Is IT due TO an in
crease of 245 per cent in the supply,
while the requirements increased no more
than . or per cent at the most? If
fall of 10 per cent in the price Of sill
yer caused the price Of cotton TO decline
more than - per cent, then the subse-
quent fall Of 80 per cent In the price Tor
silver should have obliterated the las
vestige of cotton values.
Our correspondent instances horses as
afforGing proof of silVers control of
prices AS horses are cheaper now than
at any time within fifty years this fact
is assumed to show that prices for such
animals, as OF all other things which men
have to sell, result from some occult IN
fuence exercised by silver, rather than
from changed relations Of supply. In con-
sidering the prices for horses 1t must
not be forgotten that the demand for war
purposes caused a remarkable rise IN
price during the sixties, and that thus
the stock was so depleted in the seventh
decade that prices were thereby affected
until after 1913.
In 1860, counting mules as horses, there
were tWenty-four for each 100 people in
! tie United States, and the average value
was $50 a head. In 1870 the ratio was as
| twenty-one is 10 one hundred, and the
! price SO. in 1875 numbers had so in
creased that the ratio was as twenty-four
to one hundred, and the gold price
dropped TO $50, or exactly that Of 1850;
just as the ratio was that of 1860; and
this was the price OF 1880, although the
ratio was then in the proportion of TWEEN
ty-fve animals to each one hundred
people From about 1880 to 1875 there
existed a great demand for horses and
mules to be used on street railways, Tor
pleasure horses by those growing in
Opulence, and for foundation stock in
Western horse ranches. as well as from
retail dealers, even in the smaller towns,
VINO were beginning TO deliver their
wares at customers DOORS and the re-
suit was, despite the fall in the price Of
silver, and despite the fact that the
ratio was then as twenty-five to one
hundred units of population, the price
advanced 10 an average Of so. But the
tide soon turned, and as the trolley, the
cable car and the elevated railway dis
placed the horse car, and the supply
increased to twenty-eight animals for
each one hundred people, the price had
fallen by January, 1884, to an average
of $3.50, the price level being now a
third lower than nine years ago. Did
the fall of five cents an ounce in the
price Of silver between 1880 and 1885
cause an advance of - per cent. in the
value of horses? If the advance of %
per cent. between 1850 and 1885 was caused
by a fye-cent fall in the price of silver,
what has caused fall OF "a per cent.
in the price of horses since 1855?
We desire to direct the attention Of
our correspondent to the important pro-
duct. swine, and TO the course Of prices
for this staple In the winter OF lSl2-13
just before the characterization Of silver
the Western packers were offered and
bought 100000 swine for an average OF
s. 10 per one hundred pounds. Three
years later in the winter of lSl5-16, after
the very short corn crop of 1874, those
packers were offered but $4,000 swine,
for which they paid an average of $3.50
per 100 pounds, in gold. After the eX-
piration of another three years, and
after the harvesting of several corn
crops above the average in acreage
yield. the packers were able in the win
ter of 1859, to secure $4,000 swine
at prices averaging $3.50 in gold, per 100
pounds.
At this time silver fell four cents an
ounce, or per cent, against a fall
Of 90 per cent. in the price Tor swine.
Logically, another fall of per cent. in
the price of silver would have enabled