The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-10-26
POPOCRATS AND WHEAT
ASSERTIONS AND ILLUSTRATIONS
SHOWN TO BE INCORRECT.
Some airing and Ridiculous Inaccu-
raefes Brought Out by an Investi-
CATION of Statistics.

/ House speech, before he was nominated for
| Governor, Mr.. Shively spent u great deal of
| his time on an illustration concerning
| spring and winter wheat. The same illus
/ tration was afterwards used by one of our
| leading silver advocates in his Tomlinson
| Hall speech, as follows:
suppose my friend the chairman, had
IL corner on all the winter wheat and had
| a corner on all the spring wheat. Winter
and spring wheat can both be used for
| bread-white or brown-cakes, crackers and
a variety of other things. Now, while the
| Governor is busy about other matters ana
not keeping an eye on me, slip around to
Congress, and, under the claim that l have
| discovered that winter wheat aces not make
| a healthy white bread, ] get q sanitary
| law passed that prevents the use of winter
wheat for white bread. Tell me what Will
| be the effect on the value of his winter
| wheat and my spring wheat in the market"
| This Illustration is not in point when APP
Piled to silver, for the reason that our leg
| islation of 1873 and 1878 did not prevent
| the use'' OF silver, but, on the contrary, it
greatly increased the same. This is proved
| by the reports of the minis of the United
States, which show that from the time of
the establishment of the mints in 1892 down
| to 1873 there had only been coined sos. s3S
| standard silver dollars. and since the crime
of 1873 there have been coined nearly $780,
! 100000 silver dollars The coinage and use of
| silver in this country was greatly increased
| by our silver legislation, yet Mr.. Shively
| md his followers have deceived thousands
of our citizens into believing that our sill
| yer legislation resulted in a decreased
| coinage and use of silver. 1t was the de-
monetization of silver in the European ma
| lions that had been heretofore coming sill
yer freely that resulted in the decreased
demand for silver, and it was this, together
With the increased production, that caused
. bo ~, fI,n ,,rin nf il,yay i-
absolutely no truth in the charge that it
was our legislation that caused the de-
cline in the value of silver. They are very
careful not to give any figures and facts
in support of the supposed Illustration.
Let me take another wheat illustration
that is being used by the silver monometal-
lists in this State. Q say silver mono
metallist for the reason that the local free
silver organ, well most everybody
else now admits that the free coinage of
silver and gold at the ratio of 16 to l.
when the commercial ratio is 50 to !, will
result in silver monometallism.) In support
OF their attempts to prove the alleged in
CT easing value of gold dollars and the con-
sequent fall in prices, because. of the so
called decentralization Of silver, they give an
illustration in which, just prior to 1873,
farmer was supposed to have purchased a
farm for 100000 mourning debt of $1,000;
that the farmer felt secure in making this
debt, because the farm would produce clear
dred bushels Of wheat each year to apply
on his debt, and they a assume that hat
b nea a tb w pate the debt eoud ne
paid off in five years. Then they picture
the farmer trying to pay the debt with a
decrease in the price of wheat from % cents
to so cents a bushel each year. and after
each payment the debt in bushels of wheat
was larger than it was before, until they
get the price of wheat down to so cents per
bushel in five years, at the end of which
period. after having made one payment Of
e 1t,6 fnrrr. AVN ont
would still take 5000 bushels of wheat to
repay the remainder of the debt. In elo-
quent language they picture the poor farm
er as he plows, sows, reaps and markets the
golden grain, only to find the debt growing
larger and Larger as me measured IN Whe end
grovel for little while amid facts and
figures.
ERRONEOUS CALCULATIONS.
A sensible farmer would not calculate
upon selling his wheat for more than the
average price for "a period of three years
prior to the time he incurs the debt. Last
year the Indianapolis Sentinel issued lit
tie work entitled Almanac and Encyclo-
pedia of 1885," Among other useful things
L find in it a table giving the price of
wheat from 1868 to 1893 By this table l
find that the average price of wheat for
the three years preceding 1873 Cthe date of
the great crime which was supposed to
have reduced prices was SLIT 2-3 per bush
debt in 1873 should only have calculated
upon selling his wheat at 81 16 30 instead of
81 a bushel, the Illustration supposes. BY
the same table find that the average price
of wheat in 1873 $11712, showing in
increase instead of decrease, as the ora
tors would have us believe, and showing
that the gold dollar, instead of increasing
was diminished in value. In 1877 the aver
age price was S1.39. For the period of five
years beginning with 1873 and closing with
1877 the average price of wheat was $l.151a
per bushel. Therefore. as a matter of fact.
i,,St OF Of in tp r1rin of
wheat during the period covered by the IL
lustration, we find that the decline was less
than l cent a bushel. Even as late 1881
the average price for the year was sll91a
And it should be remembered that during
these periods eleven of the leading nations
of Europe had demonetized silver and were
acquiring the necessary stock of gold, all
of said nations having demonetized silver
from 1878 to 1878. If the gold dollar was to
become a 200-cent dollar measured by
wheat, it would have done so for the most
part during this period of demonetization
of silver and the gathering of gold by said
European nations, as well as by our own
CAS- matter of fact this increased demand
for gold promptly met by remark
able increase in the production of gold
which prevented any material rise in the
gold having increased from SOC. 900 600 in 1874
to S203 000. 900 in 1881 There came time
afterwards when the price of wheat de-
cned very rapidly, but it was solely be-
cause of the immense overproduction of
wheat in this and other nations. Silver
standard orators never mention this over
production in their speeches. although they
are constantly talking about the price of
wheat. Let me give few of the figures
on this question that are so carefully con-
cealed by the free-Silver orators. In 1872
the wheat exports OF India were 2,eSS, 090
bushels and in 1892 India exported 500.000.G00
bushels In 1873 the Argentine Republic ex-
ported $50 bushels, while in 1855 it ex-
ported So GIG. GOO bushels. The wheat exports
of Russia increased from Jos. 900 bushels
in 1879 TO $50 nn0 ono in 1901 0rtr own troduc-
ton of wheat increased from $50 900, 600 BUSH
els in 1872 to 611 900. 600 bushels in 1891. OF
course. this immense overproduction de-
moraliZed prices.
THE CASE OF COTTON.
Free-silver speakers also talk a good deal
about the decline in the price of cotton,
and from this argue that the gold dollar
has gone up in value. Here again we have
a rapid decrease of price readily accounted
for by immense overproduction. In 1872 we
only produced a.974.351 bales of cotton, and
the production rapidly increased to 5,07S,531
bales in 1879, and to 9o3S.707 bales in 1882
As matter of course the price of cotton
was completely demoralized and declined
rapidly. 1 consider it misleading and al
most dishonest for any one to try TO prove
a 200-cent gold dollar by the price of wheat
or cotton. Yet free-silver orators, from Mr.
Bryan down, constantly do So They are
very careful not to mention the prices of
corn, oats, meat, eggs, lard, coffee, etc
The prices of these articles. as well as
others that might be mentioned. increased
slightly from 1879 to 1884. If we have a zoo