Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1896-10-23
A VICIOUS DELus1oN.
Promise of Free silverites of an Advance
on Farm Products.

The capital delusion of the free sill
YER victim is that there will be an ad-
vance in the market value of farm pro-
duets Immediately upon the adoption of
the free and unlimited coinage of silver.
The silver price, they believe, will corre-
spond with the premium on gold. This
is no more vicious IL dclusion than that
of Bryan that. if anyone has acquired
money or property he has acquired it
by stealing or robbery, the possession of
wealth being prima facie evidence of
the guilt of man of theft.
So far. as the first delusion is con-
cerned, the free silver champion always
insists that the farmer will he the chief
cs may whistle for benefits. The farm
err is the fellow who will he certainly
favored. The American farmer is rep
resented by the Bryanitcs as Il .pauper of
twenty-five years. standing. the. victim
silver" None of these ''victims'' is even
able to tell how he was stricken down
with silver. but they have all been taught
to. attribute their disabilities to low
prices said to have been thrust upon
the country concmrrcntly with the
striking down of silver" in 1873.
Every postulate of Organism is an
economic and financial untruth. Prices
do not. depend upon the quantity of
money in circulation. nor is it true that
the act of 1873 struck out of the circula-
tion half the, money in USE. 1t didn't
c!mlation in this country. and so far as
silver is concerned. the country. within
twenty years after the "strilling down
of silver had fifty or sixty times as
much silver as it had had in the eighty
years previous. In 1873 there was in
circulation in this country money and its
representatives agsregating SOL .SSl 500,
and i'll 1895 we had 81. .GO1. .!,;S. .4TT.3. In
1873 there were only about S.000.0OO sill
Yer dollars in existence: On July l,
1896. there We're si7S.G52.sGS silver in
circulation. Potential facts sguarcly
Bryan keeps OH saying that. with free
coinage silver will jump to S1.29 an
ounce. 1t may he worth that in silver.
What does that amount to? No act of
of gold; however. The act Of 1880 didn't
pnsh silver up to S1.29. In 1890 it was
S1O4G33 an ounce. and when the act was
repealed it was $.7S031 an ounce. Gov
ernmcnt fiat cannot make values. If it
could raise silver to s1;29 there would
dollar" to 'hclp the farmer" All Bry-
antics in fact want to see the present
1oo;ccnt dollar Knocked out and the prop
withdrawn and every man with his
wages worth ~ cents OH the dollar
for the farmer what would be accom-
plishcd for him? In 1860. taking the
index figure 100 to Indicate all prices,
i'll 1860 wheat was 1lO.5: corn, 1924
oats. 1860; and; the general average of
agricultural products was 1916. How
did the farmer fare? His clothes in.
creased the same time to 1902: fuel to
237.S: price Of farm implements to 1914.
| Under such big advances in prices where
was the benefit to the farmer from the
increase of farm product prices? The
lowest prices for farm products were
reached before the 'crimc of 1S73v was
pcrpetrated and since then few products
have shown an apprcciable decline, while
the lower cost of production. the inven-
tion of labor-savins machinery. the great
reduction of frcights and taxes have been
contributory. to the farmers advantage.
BRYAN and his friends say cheap com
Does the farmer think them so? Do
wagc-carners think cheap clothes, cheap
fuel. cheap food, cheap tools a big
man who pronounccs these things a curse
is either fool or knaNp.-AIinaeapol
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