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

OF swine % per cent, and added s-l,'p,"D
TO the net revenue OF the FARMERS! anu
yet this must be true, II silver dominates
the price of everything that men have TO
sell. II such prices result from Sill
| ver's domination the farmer has rea-
| son to be thankful therefor, and 10
pray that silver shall continue 10 ram
Our invgestigations snow that the price
for swine is directly related to the sup
| ply as proportional TO the consumers Oh
pork products, and that there Is no
traceahle relation between su:n pii0e'
and the price for an ounce OF silver
| While our correspondent assures US
| that the price for an ounce OF SILVER
| has for many years. been the Value Oh
| bushel of wheat, yet he has neglected.
| to inform us in what particular harket
this parity of values has ootdineu, nor
| has he told us for what definite term Oh
| years.
From the very patient consideration
given to this matter it appears that the
| price Of silver mas everywhere tended
downward since 1859, that 1t mad fallen
| six cents an ounce between 1893 and 1913,
and that since 1859 there nave beeh puI
| four movements. of very limited Duration
| In the opposite direction; whlle the price
| of wheat has, in the United states at
least varied yearly, as varied the pHam
| been as many as eight movements up
ward since 1879. some OF them traVerslls
more than one-third of the scale IN
single year. though in but one instance
| prior to 1893 has silver varied as much
| as per cent in any one yen. IT,,
Not having been informed Wl'Fe siiFet
! and wheat have been so constantly kept
| upon the same price leNei' 't"u pc-i'o
| more especially desired to consider Ametl-
can conditions. we take. as aifording an
absolutely fair comparison, the prices
received by the growers in the Iarm
markets of the United States n the close
OF each calendar year We find. tnat as
a result of a meagre harvest IN the lAfo- q"
| crop year. the quantity available Tor eA-
port from that harvest. and from 'he
residue Of previous harVests diminished
. per cent, and that the price rose ~
per cent: that the two succ e2ding crops
were such as TO increase the surplus
available for export by fully 200 per cent,
and that the price fell from Sl.OS bushel
i'm 1877, to IS cents I'm 1873, or y per cent,
although silver fell but three cents an
ounce. The next year, however, wheat
advanced 81 per cent, while silver rose
but two cents an ounce. The follow
ing year. 1SSO-'S1. the expOrtable surplus
! increased. and the price fell II cents
bushel, while the years average price
of silver remained the same. In 158l-&
the quantity of wheat available for eX-
port shrank % per cent, and the price
adval ced . per cent. although the price
for silver was at a standstill. In 1SS2-3
the eXpOrtable surplus increased 46 per
cent, and the price declined y per cent,
as against a fall of about per cent.
in the value of silver. The next year
the amount available from the harvest
and the remainders of previous crops,
from which exports might be drawn.
Shrank Is per cent, and the price rose
per cent, while the price of silver was
again constant. After garnering the i'm
mense crop lSS4-'S5. the greatest ever
grown until 1891. the exportable surplus
augmented by IS per cent, and the price
fell from 81 TO IS cents a bushel, or %
per cent, as against a decline of less
than 3 per cent. in the value of an
ounce Of silver.
ThG harvest of 1856 was from an area
$4,000 acres iess than that Of the pre-
cedng year. and the stocks from which
wheat for export could be drawn dimin-
ish % per cent. Although still eX 'essive,
by reason of the great remainder from
the previous harvest; and the price rose
10 per cent. to tall 10 per cent. in lSS6-'81,
upon an addition of IS per cent. 10 the
surplus available for export. In the
meantime silver fell four cents an ounce
in two years. In 1850 the surplus
vanced from IS 10 SO cents a busnel, or
81 per cent. while silver fell Two cents
an ounce. The next year the quantity
available for shipment increased 81 per
cent, and the price at once fell from %
TO 20 cents a bushel. despite the fact
that in this year the price for an ounce
of silver rose two cents In lS9O-'9l the
quantity of wheat from which exports
could be drawn decreased nearly as
much as 1t had increased the preceding
year. and the price advanced from 20
to 50 cents; and at this iuncture the
price for an ounce of silver advanced
nine cents in consequence IF the passage
of the Sherman act. So enormous was
the quantity Of whea- harvested i'm
1S9l92. and again in 1929 that an i'm
mense store was accumulated. which Is
now slowly disappearing; and since those
harvests, the price has gone down and
down. as has the price Of silver. Was il
wheat that carried silver down. or silver
that carried down the price of wheat?
Wheat has reached a lower level per
bushel than silver per ounce, but then
wheat has brought less in the farm mar
kets than the current value of an ounce
Of silver from as far back as 1868, and the
price promises to be low until existing
extraordinary accumulations shall be alb
sorbed, which may be the case within a
year or eighteen months.
From all that we have been able 10
ascertain in relation TO the course Of
prices for wheat silver, and other pro-
ducts, as well as labor, it appears that
the price for wheat has not only been
dominated but nearly always determined
by our current exporting power; that
the ounce Of silver has not been the
value of a bushel of wheat IN any single
year since 1873; that wheat has moved
up and down in price as much as thirty
seven cents IN a single year, though the
price Of silver has been nearly or quite
constant, or moving in an opposite direc-
ton; that the price of no one trf~- which
men have 10 sell has moved I'm the same
direction, and at the same time varied
as has the price for silver; nor have
the prices for all that men sell declin-
ed
We must confess TO an entire inability
= discover the most remote relation be-
tween the price for an ounce Of silver and
the value of a bvshel Of wheat. or for
that matter Of any other product. though
We have earnestly sought to find such
relation; and If 1t exists 1t must be of
such an occult character that only a
Mahatma can trace it.
Members of the House Of Commons
have heretofore reserved their seats in
the House by leaving their hats in them
during prayer time. The Speaker has in