Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1896-07-01

Of silver they never put it in connection With
this other fact. Thus it is never revealed by
them that during this long period, when silver
had ssfree access to the minis, = 1t held itself
aloof from other commodltles, impotent alike
g. We note in the third place, that the re-
cent fall in prices did not begin in 1873, but IN
1863 When those who are trying to fois5 upon
as a panacea for all our ills, real and imagln-
airy, seek to establish their position by status
tics of average prices and by giving tne
prices of certain great commodities like wheat
and cotton, why, in the name of candor, do
they not go back at least a few years further
and show that, in relation to some OF the mosb
Important items quoted, the fall in prices be-
tween 1866 and 1873 double discounted any
thing in the way of fall that has taken place
since 1873 that 1t was greater in those elght
wears than in all the years since? Why, for ex-
ample, don't they remind the cotton planter
that the price of middling cotton fell from
LOIS pound in 1864 to less than II cents in
1871? Do they not possess adequate information
on vital points? Or are they willfully suppress
ing portion of the truth, having lively APP
probation of the fact that this simple state
ment would be sufficient to overturn their en-
tire contention?
And now, Mr.. Chairman. having shown by
my colleagues own figures that the fall In
prices about which he and other free silverites
Say 80 much is not the only one or even the
great one of this century; that 1T did not be-
gin in 1878, and hence is not due to the cause
to which they ascribe it; and that "free sill
YER" having demonstrated in the past it's in
competency to affect prices (even if that had
been shown to be desirable), cannot reasonably
things having been proved, Mr.. Chairman, our
side can fairly rest our case and demand the
Judgment of all candid men.
What Caused the Two Great Falls In
Average Prices.
Taking the century as the period for inves-
tigatiQn, and reverting again to my chart
for the course of prices, let US try to discover
the reasons for those mighty changes in the
level of prices.
We note first of all that there have been in
this century two periods of very high prices
and two periods of gradual fall in prices Can
any principle or law be discovered in accord
ance with which these changes in price levels
took placer If SO, it is very pertinent to this
discussion.
Let US see if the two periods of high prices
have anything in common. The first of these
periods extended from 1889 to 1874 with its
highest point at 1909. 1t is very important to
remember that these were the years OF the
Napoleonic wars, which cost Europe so much
in blood and treasure: It is noteworthy, also,
that the second period of very high prices COW
ers the years of great wars the Crimean in the
early fifties, our own mighty conflict in the
early sixties, followed in the later sixties by
the war between Prussia and Austria and In
1870 by the Franco Prussian war.
Now war is great destroyer of property,
while at the same time it takes from the pro.
workmen. 1t is a time of abnormal demand
coincident with abnormally restricted supply,
hence period marked by great wars is always
q period of abnormally high prices.
What, on the other hand, is the natural and
legitimate effect on prices produced by long
period of peaceG
Every person within the sound of my voice
has as one of his proper ambitions the acquire
ment of a competency for his old age. Now,
Mr.. Chairman, what is the rational basis of
such hopeP In it's ultimate analysis it is this:
That each month and each year the. person en-
pertaining such hope shall produce more
than he consumes. This is the basis of increase
in wealth. personal and national
Now price depends chiefly on two things: |,
the relation between demand and supply, and
2, cost Of production. 1t therefore follows that
in long period OF peace, when production
naturally exceeds consumption and when the
wit of man is free to exercise its ingenuity in
ton, prices naturally fall. Thus it has been
through all the ages and thus will it ever be-
Following the Napoleonic wars at the begin
ming of the century, and following the Franco
peace accompanied by the usual fail in aver
age prices.
If peace conditions are normal three Incl
dental results should appear and all of them
have appeared:
l. There should be improvement in the
standard of living. This implies
2. That given amount of labor should bring
larger returns in the comforts of life. and
g. The demand for more and better things to
eat should show itself in sustained prices for
those better foods whose production cannot be
indefinitely.
What Soetbeer's Summary Shows.
Pushing this investigation little further,
let us find out what articles have been most
affected by the fall in prices.
The price tables of DR.. Adolph Soetbeer, the
great German statistician, are justly regarded
as high authority. Let US see what they show
when considered, as he himself sums them up,
by groups The numbers in the following table
are his index mum bers, with 1847- prices as
a base or 100 per cent.