The herald., 1896-10-10

to whom patriotic political economy il
an Inspiration. The fact that yer!
many Of the leaders of the confederate
16 to doctrine were present, dominant
and triumphant at the Chicago conven'
tion, andsvere also among the prime ar
chitects of the wonderfully expansiv;
successful monetary system OF the con-
federacy is cause for congratulatio1
Instinct taught those practical men In
the days of their confederate fame thai
honest money of unfluctuating pur.
chasing power was the creature OF law
But experience subsequently gave them
a lesson which illustrated the folly 81
being governed in affairsof finance by
either instinct, emotion or oratory
Then they found that the laws of the
confederacy conferred no value upon
either silver or paper, but that the gold
bullion of the United States which the
confederacy appropriated to Its own
use and minted at New Orleans and al
Dahlonega, Ga, into eagles and double
eagles, continued, though in law coun-
terfeits. Of as much purchasing power
as those of the same weight and fineness
coined by the United States on yester-
day.
And yet we are sapiently told that
the coin values are the mere creations OF
law.
The quantity of money in circulation
does not determine prices of products
and commodities. Prices go up or go
down because of inherent qualities in
commodities. The conditions regulat-
ing prices are determined by the forces
engaged in production an redistribution.
Congressman William Jennings
when he said in the house of representa-
tives; you must attribute it to the
inventive genius that has multiplied "A
thousand times, in many instances, the
strength of a single arm, and enables
us to do today with one man what
fifty men could not do fifty years ago.
That is what has brought down prices
in this country and everywhere"
That is a sane statement by a man
whose reasoning powers had not been
shattered by the silver mania.
rThe following facts regarding farm
mortgages are from tables recently COM
piled and heretofore unpublished:
The mortgage Indebtedness of the
farms of the United States is very little
more than one-sixth of the total mort
gage Indebtedness of the country, even
after we exclude from the latter the
mortgage indebtedness of railroads and
other public corporations.
OF farmers owning their farms, H. IS
per cent. or nearly three-fourth, hold
them free If incumbrance. Only 2S2
farms out of every 1000 occupied by their
owners are encountered
OF the 1922 per cent of farmers whose
farms are mortgaged, three-fourths ex-
pended the amount borrowed in the
purchase of Improvements for their
farms.
nv. Morton then went on to show that
the aggregate of farm mortgages is
only about S per cent of the value of the
farms.
The speaker then gave figures to show
that while it takes more farm products
to pay the mortgages made some years
ago, in most instances, the values of
farms have also increased
Mr.. Morton then went on to assert
that none of the series of bills which ul-
timately resulted in the demonstration
of silver were passed by stealth
Money, capital and credit, he de-
clared. We're only valuable when used in
the stimulation of industry. The United
States, he claimed, with her vast num-
Der of banks and almost universal use
requires less actual money than she did
Of checks and drafts in business. re-
twenty-five years ago.