Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1896-07-31
SOME MORE HOT STUFF.
To the Editor:

/
ment to the effect that did not tell the
truth in regard to the argument Of Mr..
Towne two years ago. ] did not say at
st. Cloud that Mr.. Towne used charts two
years ago. This Is what I said, viz: That
two years ago on every rostrum In the dis
trict Mr.. Towne took a large number of
manufactured articles the price Of which
had declined during the past "a years and
argued to the people and claimed that
such decline was due directly to the Re
publican party's policy Of protection and
was in the interest of the great masses
Of American citizens. That Mr.. Towne
would commence with steel rails that 1ad
fallen from 31es per ton to $A per ton.
Bar iron that had fallen from 1916 per
ton to $780, IS per ton; nails which had fall
en- from $5.46 per key to $1.0S per key;
window glass which had fallen from $40
box to $1.70 q box; carpets which had
fallen from $1.25 per yard to $0.48 (forty-
eight cents per Yard; calico which had
fallen from IL cents per yard to 5 cents per
yard. Thus did Mr.. Towne take great
number Of such articles and prove con-
clusively that the price had fallen by
virtue of protection and that such fall In
price was directly in the interest Of the
toiling millions of this land. "This de-
cline in prices said Mr.. Towne, lis a
sure indication Of great prosperity"
Not only that but Mr.. Towne took the
average wages of labor and compared
such wages with the wages Of labor at the
time when these goods and articles COM
manded their highest price and he argued
and proved that wages had not fallen to
any great extent in the United States
In this argument upon the price of labor
and wages Mr.. Towne dwelt at great
length upon the purchasing power Of the
wages earned In the year 1892. All this
Mr.. Towne urged upon the people with
logic, with statistics and with all the
power of eloquence that he possessed.
Now Mr.. Towne points to the same arti-
cles, points to the same decline In prices
and says, ''see how prices have declined
which means that gold has appreciated,
that is evidence of great adversely"
Mr.. Towne now argues that the prices OF
these goods have fallen not because of
protection but because of the apprecia-
ton of gold. Mr.. Towne now makes a
chart and he takes all these goods above
mentioned the prices Of which have fallen
because they ought to fall, and which
fall in prices Is highly beneficial to the
toiling millions Of the land-he takes them
and puts along with them other commodi-
ties which have scarcely fallen at all,
adds them together and strikes an aver
age far above what 1t should be and thus
juggles with the figures and deceives the
people. Ut, u.s., ss. 81.
AS the Herald has taken this matter
up want that paper to tell its readers
whether Mr.. Towne was mistaken or not
when two years ago he explained to the
people Of this district how the decline In
prices Of all Of the above mentioned
articles was directly in their interest and
an evidence Of prosperity. want that
paper to state whether the fall In the
price Of steel rails from $1s6 per ton to 81
to the building up Of American manufac-
turtles, which In turn stimulated invention,
the perfection Of improved machinery and
finally in cheapening production. +
want that paper to state whether the fall
in the price Of nails from 1916 per key to
LOS per key, was due to the appreciation
III SoiO OF 0ue " tAe SpAeHOlu genius OK
the Republican party as demonstrated in
its policy Of protection. And by the way
IL The Herald should sneer at the state-
ment .'the splendid genius Of the Repub-
lican party as demonstrated in its policy
Of protection let me say that it il,
the very language used by Mr.. Towne
"Ananias" business long enough to an,
swer these questions when we will find q
few more that will be made somewhat In
teresting during this campaign.
Yours truly.
G. c. MCCARTHY.
Grand Rapids, July 20 1896