The Clarksburg telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1874-1926, 1896-08-21

-.
was In dread. People VINO ~, ,,,,,,,...
held fast 70 1t It was feared 4 ma ~.
hadtmpre silver than could be llSst,t =. g
par with gold. We were paying oss
s s.s tneh We wanted for silver that We
to sell, ana everything stood stiii. n ~ ~.
be pnwtse enough 10 go into the free M;
unlimited coinage OF silver ffes t,isS.
WIND o. three years ago VIII SVEN into :.
n Thu FAN Of Pr1ee..
The fan Of prices began eight year. M.
fore 1873. This Is the record ana tbs a..
silver men cannot upset the record In
steantuf saying that the faii ii ma mis-.
or silver caused the tall In the mis- ~
general productH. the silver advnssts...
would be more logical n they MA fthst
the TAU in the general prices knostst
down the price OF silver. But that
would knock out the foundation Of Their
argument. - v s.sss.str
SILVER Not GsntraI R.guiator.
The price Of silver does not rerula.s
the price Of other commodities. IfttdI5
all other prices should 30 up when tbs
price Of silver goes up. stay up while The
price OF silver stays MP, and come do,,,,
when the price Of oliver comes dowr.
and they should rise and fali n II.
same degree an silver risea ard fall
Nothing OF this kind happens. ever IA.
happened or ever VIII happen-abso.
lutely nothing. Silver goes mp or down
modities The prizes of silver ala not
vary greatly down to 1879. but The prioes
OF other things did huctunte cnnsidsss.
ably Since then it has had times ~
BRIEF recovery. but Some other thines ala
not reeQyer with Il. It Is also true that
while Certain commodt ties wers hoidIns
.sneir avn silver went on falling lpite
g 8 immense silver pufehapes By che scys
Il Soaas I1inst<stions.
Tortllustrate let JUS take 4 lew prise.
from the official record. In 1879 fne sil-
yer sold at 81 80 per ounce. In isss q
sold at 81 cents an ounce. No mattsr
what the reason was, that was the price.
In lsI2 Less than sixteen ounces OF silver
would guy an ounce OF gold or asmuch a.
nearly twenty-three ounces OF silver N
buy an ounce OF gold or as much a. !, 4
ounce of gold would buy OF general
commodities. That was q heavy deciins
In the price OF silver. The price OF beaf
In 1892 was a little higher than In iS7s
the price OF butter about the came, ana
the price OF eggs was about three cents
higher. In 1891 the Chicago price Of
wheat was about the same as the priee
In lS7l. the price in 1871 being reduced
from the paper money basis 10 the ala
basis a unanimous report OF a corn
mittef of the United States senate. the
correctness OF which Is beyond DISPUTE.
shows that from. 1878 TO 1891 food pro
duets II their general range Game down
though as compared with 1850, when sil-
yer was 81 80 per ounce. these cornfiao-
dities were is per cent higher. Clothing
fell % per cent, implements. Is per cent
There was no common impulse moving
together the prices of all things. and nor
all or. any OF them showed any sympa-
thy direct or indirect with silver. In
1882 something happened at the polls to
play hob with prices and the reward OF
labor. Since then times have been ouf
of joint.
Silver Higher Now, Other Things Lower.
Silver IS higher than It was year arc.
still higher than Il was two Year,
ago. Has silver lifted other things with
l.? From current market reports take
the prices of eight staple articles and
compare them with the prices Of the
same articles a year ago. remembering
that silver 10 higher. Wheat, corn. PEE
troleum, lard, pork, hogs and coffee are
lower, some OF these articles very mu6h
Sower. Cotton. alone II higher. Did the
rise In silver raise the price of cottonf
u &c did why did It not raise the price Of
the seven other articles with It? II
might have done something for wool,
but II DID not II silver Is good for cot
ton 1t Should be good for wheat. corn and
hogs. Not only Is 1t true that all other
commodities do not move up and down
With stlyer-or with the quantity OF sill
yer money-but 1t IL also true that COM
ways move up and down together. Take
single example. At the close Of the
frat six months Of the present year pig
iron was from 80 to 20 cents a ton lower
than Il was a year before. Plates and
bars wore about 50 lower. Steel beams
were 50 higher. steel billets 81 50 per ton
higher. Did silver make biIlets and
beams higher? II so what made pig
iron. plates and bars lower? Silver had
nothing TO do with any of It. So 1t will
be to the end.
Good Times After 1873.
Good times remained with Us until
long after 1879 Our country was very
prosperous down to 1898, a period Of
twenty years after "the crime of 1873"
had $3.50 worth OF real and personal pro-
perty to the head OF population. In 1880
We had 81. 1923. In the ten years from
1870 to 1880 we had gained $50 to the
head. From 1880 TO 1890 we gained s1s7.
The values in 1870 were taken in depre-
ciated dollars. The values OF 1890 repre-
sented l00-cent dollars. The real gain
from 1850 to 1880 was at least twice the
gain from 1870 to 1880. From 1852 to 1852
deposits In national banks and in saw
lngS banks increased more than two
thousand million dollars. In the say.
inEs banks alone the deposits increased
eight hundred million dollars. It II not
the money of tho rich that goes into the
savings banks dime by dime, dollar by
dollar. country in which this hap
pens Ii not growing poorer. and the poor
are not growing poorer. Savings IN
building associations increased enor-
mously. ~
Our Most Prosperous Year.
1t Is fact proved by every ofrciai
record, by every trade publication. by
the recollection of everybody who has
memory, that tho year of 1893 was the
most prosperous In the country's his
tory. This in spite OF the fact that the
product Of the wheat fields Of India,
Russia! and the Argentine Republic was
cutting deep Into the market OF the
american wheat grower. and the wool OF
Australia and South America was beat.
Ing down the price OF wool the worla