The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1896-02-02
IN A NUTSHELL
A Complete Answer to Senator Mitchelrs
Free Silver Speech.


The oregUnian.
/ The new school OF political economy
which teaches that the price Of our ex-
I portable products in the worlds market
can be raised by domestic legislation has
porpagandists everywhere. While sgd
ney Dell is enlightening the voters by
I letters in the newspapers, Senator Nit
chell is evangeizing the senate by
speeches on the floor. His remedy for
the growing debt TO Europe which drains
out Of the country more gold every year
than We mine Is two-fold: First. our
shipping laws must be amended. our
merchant marine must be encouraged
and built up, and We must become our
own carriers; and. second, we must legis-
late to increase the value of our export
commodities so as to enable us to meet.
reduce and, II possible. to wipe cut, The
debt which today makes the people OF
this country virtually the slaves to the
money-lenders OF Great Britain"
When the Republican party returns to
power, 1t doubtless will endeavor TO ap-
ply the first Of these remedies, but Il Is
likely to shrink appalled, from the task
OF increasing. by legislation in Washing
ton. the price Of wheat, cotton. petro-
leum and dressed meat in London. Ham
burg and Paris. The context OF Nit
chell's speech indicates that he believes
this economical thaumaturgy can be
wrought by free coinage OF silver He
seems to think that. II by adopting the
silver standard. we call the value OF a
bushel OF wheat a dollar instead OF ~
cents, or Of bale OF cotton $50 instead
Of SIS. foreigners will pay double amounts
of their own money Of unchanged value
for these articles. Senator Mitchell Is (
mistaken. Foreigners will humor US,
perhaps. by paying our domestic price
for these articles. but they will pay It .
in our own money. which we shall be .
glad to sell them at 90 per cent discount I
since their money will buy twice as much .
OF everything we desire as the same nomi- 4
nal amount Of our own.
II is a curious thing that, while Sena-
tor Mitchell seems to think adoption OF .
the silver standard and destruction OF .
half the purchasing power Of our dollar 4
would increase the price Of our exports 4
In countries not affected by our leglsla-
ton, he seems to believe that the price .
Of labor and products at home would be .
unaffected by it. Pointing to the sup
posed analogy Of India, China and Japan. I
he seems to argue that we could pay for
labor and raw material at old prices in
deprecated currency, and sell abroad for
new prices in gold currency and make an
enormous profit. He says: "The silver
yen Of Japan and the tael of China 70
just as far in paying wages, in tilling the
ground, In the manufacture Of and in
operating machinery, In herding sheep,
in growing cattle, in manufacturing
cloth, as ever they did at any time here
tofore; whereas gold In the single gold
standard gold-using countries has appre-
ciated, as measured in silver, 100 per
cent"
II this Is true, and tine statement Is
often repeated unchallenged, It means
simply that laborers and producers OF
raw material on their own land are paid
just half as much value as formerly by
the middleman or manufacturer. who
sells the product Of their labor for FUN
value abroad ard pockets the difference
1t is well known that some such condition
exists In Mexico, where poems and work.
men IN factories starve on silver wages
while planters and manufacturers gfow
rich on gold prices for their exported
products Probably they are found In
Asia also. But II Senator Mitchell gun
poses that these conditions would be ac-
cepted and endured by the farmers ana
of the United States. he
makes a strange mistake for so shrewd
A politician.