The Mt. Sterling advocate. (Mt. Sterling, Ky.) 1890-current, 1895-06-04

| during that year, business was In q nor
nal coalition In all parts of tho country,
no changes had been made In the moneta-
~ systems of the world for many years,
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
culation as there is now, the people We're
prosperous and the prices of commodities
and the wages of labor were fairly ADJUST
ed with relation to each other. At the
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 reason to attribute the
reduction to that legislation then as there
is now. Ample time had been afforded for
it's effects, If it had any, upon prices and
wages to be felt, and the fact that the in
vestigation was not made for the 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-
lish three facts which have an important
bearing upon the present controversy. The
first fact established is that the prices of
articles of food which are the products OF
the farms gardens, orchards and diaries
of the country were about per cent high
er than they were in the year 1860, long be-
fore the silver legislation now complained
of; the second is, that the fall in the
prices Of these farm products since tho
year 1878 has been much less than the fall
in the prices of the commodities the farm
ers have to buy, and the third is, that the
reductions in prices have not been uni
form, either as to particular articles or
groups of articles, and therefore cannot DO
attributed to one 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 one group
of articles and some another and doubtless
some affecting all, but TO no one influence
can the whole result be attributed. Cotton
and wheat are the commodities most fire.
quently referred to by those who contend
that the fall in prices is due to the appreci-
alton of gold but there is nothing what
ever in tho methods of producing those ar
ticles, or in transporting or selling them,
or in the character of the money received
for them, which would make the apprecia-
ton Of gold affect their prices more than it
would affect the prices of other commodi
ties produced by our people.
In addition TO the various causes which
have more or less affected the prices Of all
articles, the prices of these two products
have been seriously affected by the enor-
nous increase in their production since
the year 1872, which was the last crop year
the legislation in regard to sill
yer. The production of cotton in this
country in 1928 was 2, ga, 351 bales, con-
tanning an average of 439 pounds net
weight, while the production in 1894
was $40 S17 bales, containing an average
of 474 pounds net weight, or an increase
Of nearly 200 per cent in this country
alone, besides the great increase that has
taken place in competing countries, and
In 1S04-5 the production here was much
larger, being nearly 10, 900, 900 bales. Ac-
cording to the statistics of the agricultural
department., the production of wheat in
this country in 1872 was 249, 997, 100 bush
3ls, and in 1894, 400, 267, 416 bushels, or
nearly twice as much, and there has also
been an enormous increase of production
N competing countries. But, gentlemen,
the great increase in the
production of cotton and wheat, here and
N other 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
larger share of many other useful COM
than it would have purchased in
1872 or 1878, so that, in fact, as compared
with many other things, the values of cot
ton and wheat have appreciated.
Supply and Demand.
The one thing which has been less af-
1Ny,l1 ,1,., 4 l.
.wcen supply and demand, by improve
ncnts in the methods of production and
and by the other influences
which produce fluctuations in prices of
generally, is labor, and it is
~ far the most important single source of
2como possessed by our people, much
arger amount being expended every year
n the payment of wages than for any 9th |
II one purpose. The cost of labor in the
manufacturing and mechanical industries
alone during the census year 1889 was S2,- |
1913, 216, $50, which was nearly 2H times
he value of all the wheat and cotton pro-
luced in this country, and if we add to |
his the amounts paid for farm labor, for
clerical and other work in mercantile es-
for domestic service and for
work on railways of all kinds, on water !
raft, on streets and other improvements |
n the cities, and in the many other occu-
,ations which give employment to our peo-
de, we would have q sum almost, if not |
quite, equal to the value of all our agricul- |
ural products. 1t is evident, therefore, !
hat if the alleged depreciation of gold |
lone has caused a reduction of prices, tho |
wages of labor, the greatest commodity in |
he market, should have fallen since 1878, |
,ut exactly the reverse is true. The in
of this subject by the sub |
covered a period of so years and |
all the occupations in which our |
,eople were engaged, and the fact unanl-
nously found, was that, although Is years
lad elapsed since the silver legislation, the |
wages of labor were higher than in 1872 or
S73 Wages were found to be nearly 81 |
yer cent higher than in 1860, which was
8 years before the silver legislation, and
more than per cent higher than in 1873,
when that legislation was adopted.
The argument that the reduction of |
,rices is due to the appreciation of gold is
based upon the further assump-
ions that the legislation in regard to sill
'er has produced scarcity of redemption
IT metallic money in the world, and that
'rices are fixed and regulated by the
AMOUNT of such money in circulation or
valuable for circulation. Neither of these
is justified by the facts The
policy of maintaining, or rather attempt
ng to maintain, the so called double
tandard never succeeded in keeping so
arge an amount of full legal tender silver