Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1895-06-09


 the United States was using gold as the measure of value just as 1t Is now, except that there WAS no legal tender silver in cir cuiation as there is now, the people were prosperous, and the prices of commodities and the wages of labor were fairly adjust cd with relation to each other At ths time when this investigation was made all the Legislation in regard to silver now spe- officially complained of had been accom- plished, and if prices or wages had fallen there was as much rcason to attribute the reduction to that legislation then as there Is now. Ample timo had been afforded for its effectss If 1t had any, upon prices and wages to be folt, and the fact that the in- vestigation was not made for tho purpose of Influencing legislation upon the silver question adds to the value of its results.
 wages and Cost of Living.
 The results of the investigation estab- fish three facts which have an important bearing upon the present. controversy. Tho first fact established is that the prices of articles of food which are the products of the farms, gardens, orchards and dairles of the country were about per cont high or than they were in the year 1860, long be- fore tho silver legislation now complained of the second is that the fall in the l prices of these farm products since tho l year 1873 has been much less than tho fall in the prices of the commodities tho farm CTS have to buy, and tho third Is, that the reductions in prices have not been uni form, either as to particular articles or groups of articles, and therefore cannot be I attributed to ono and the same cause-to the appreciation of gold, for instance.
 The conclusion is Inevitable that various influences have operated to produce these | changes in prices, some affecting ono group ofartioles and some another and doubtless 1 some affecting all, but to no ono influence I can the whole result be attributed. Cotton and wheat are the commodities most fre- l quently referred to by those who contend that the fall in prices is duo to tho appreei- alton of gold, but thcre is nothing what eyer in tho methods of producing those ar- ticles, or in transporting or selling them. or in tho character of the money received l for them, which would mako the apprecia- l ton of gold affect their prices moro than it 1 would affect the prices Of other cemmodi- ties produced by our people
 In addition to tho various causes which have more or less affected tho prices of all articles, the prices of these two products have been seriously affected by the enor- nous increase in their production since tho year 1672. which wns the last crop year preceding the Legislation in regard to sil. yoF. The production o4 cotton in thh country In f87a-8 was 3, 07a 851 bales, con taining an average of A89 pounds net weight, while tho production in 1693-4 WAS T, 649, SIT bales, containing an average of s74 pounds net weight, or an inerease of nearly 200 per cent in thls country alone, besides the great increase that has taken place in competing countries, and In tB945 the production hero was much larger, being nearly 10, GOO, GOO bales. 40 eording to tho statistics of the agricultural department tho production of wheat in this country in 1879 was 949, 987, 100 bush els, and in. 1894, 460, 267, 4i0 bushels, or nearly twice us much, and there has also been m enormous increase of production in competing countries. But. gentlemen, notwithstanding the great increase in the production of cotton and wheat, here and in othor countries, and the consequent de- cline in their prices, given quantity of either of them will now purchase in our own markets and in the markets abroad a larger sharo of many other useful com modities than 1t would have purchased in 1879 OF 1673 so that in fact, as compared with many other things, the values of cot ton and wheat hayo appreciated.
 Supply and Demand.
 The one thing which has been less af- fected by the changes in tho relation be- tween supply and demand, by improve ments In tho methods of production and distribution and by tho other influences which produce fluctuations in prices of commodities generally, is labor and 1t ia by far the most important single source of income possessed by our people, a much larger amount boing expended every year In the payment of wages than for any oth- or one purpose. Tho cost of labor in the manufacturing and mechanical industries alone during the census year 1889 was s2, e68, 216, 529 which was nearly 9M times the value of all tho wheat and cotton pro- duced in this country, and If we add to this the amounts paid for farm labor for clerical and other work in mercantile es- tablishments for domestic service and for work on railways of all kinds, on water craft on streets and other Improvements in the cities and In the many other ooou- pations which giye employment to our peo- pie, we would have a sum almost if not quito, equal to tho value of all our agricul. turai products. It is evident, therefore that if the alleged depreciation of gold hAOlt6 utkt tAuoDu h IbuQObioh LII pElCtSl wages of labor, the greatest commodity in the market, should have fallen since 1873, but exactly tho reverse Is true. Tho in. vestigations of this subject by the sub. committee covered a period of 52 years and embraced all the occupations in which ouf people were engaged, and the fact, unani- mously found, was that, although IS years had elapsed since the silvor legislation, the wages of labor were higher than in 1879 oi 1873. Wages were found to be nearly 6l per cent higher than in 1860, which was 18 years before the silver legislation, and more than per cent higher than in 1873, when that legislation was adopted
 The argument that the reduction o3 prices Is duo to the appreciation of gold is necessarily based upon the further assump- tions that the legislation in regard to sil yer has produced a scarcity of redemption or metallic money in the world and that prices arc fixed and regulated by the amount of such money in circulation oI available for circulation. Neither of these assumptions Is justified by the facts The policy of maintaining, or rather attempt