The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1896-12-10
MONEY and VALUES.
THE MYSTERIES OF MONEY AMI
CHICANERY OF LEGISLATION.

Gold an Uncertain standard, Accord
ing to All Reliable Authorities and
to the Facts of History-Incress-
ed in Purchasing Power.
The mysteries Of money are many ant
intricate; and for some years past thu
American people have been brought fsc'
20 face with the crooked mysteries.
Our people have been realizing that
prices have been falling and times getting
harder and harder; that while values hav'
declined, debts, interest and taxes have
not. Farmers know now that It takei
twice as many bushels of wheat to pay
their interest as formerly; and more than
double to pay his taxes, IL these have In
creased. The cotton planter and sugar
raiser fad the same.
There is no disputing the fact that this
period of decline in values began with
the demonetiziug of silver in this and
other countries In 1878. When income:
are reduced, the means wherewith TO pur'
chase and pay are lessened, so that, in.
stead of over. production, 1t is probably
under-consumption.
The gold advocates say that improved
facilities and not demonstration are re-
sponsible for lower prices" This Is
plainly not the case, because for twenty
years prior to 1878, improved facilities,
by inventions and other improvements,
were probably greater than they have
been since and yet prices advanced. I'm
proved facilities did not lower prices
before 1873; why sinceS Demand. rather
than cost OF production, makes prices,
and demand depends upon other things
and money is one Of them, that is,
ability to buy and pay.
The gold men talk about the best
money" harp on honest money,
"sound money" In 1878 and before,
above par with gold. This fact the gold
champions do not explain, do not even
attempt an explanation. AS TO the range
of prices: Doctor Saetbeer's tables Of
prices inolued ia leading commodities,
and he takes 1S49 as basis at 100. BY
1853 prices had risen to l13, in 1868 to
1875, in 1878 to l3S. Sauerbeck averages
prices from 1867 to 1877, and shows
that by 1887 the general range of prices
had fallen to 6S.7, the lowest in the CEN
tury. The London Economist in 1892
gives the fall in prices for two years
before that. These statistics show con-
clusively that prior to the European war
against silver, which this country joined,
prices had been on the rise and since then
ting away from these startling facts.
Such results have not been occurring in
silver countries, that Is, in countries
where silver has not been disturbed |
Farmers and laborlng men who have lived
through this latter period need not be |
told of the financial hardships and how |
they have been increasing. Business
men, including those engaged in manu-
featuring, also know the monetary diff
culties, and that these have continued to
get worse. When prices fall, property, as
a rule, declines in value. Nothing escapes
except debts and taxes, and in fact, taxes
are debts. These facts are not met by the
gold advocates, no attempt even in that
direction. They may claim that it now
costs less to produce silver, as If the same
is not true Of gold. They may say silver
mine owners will make big profits by free
coinage. Is not the same true Of gold
mine ownersY II these men had any
argument it is not likely they would
resort to such silly stuff, for there is
neither argument nor sense therein.
We do not see that the constitution gives
gold nina owners monopoly Of furnish
ing and holding the only thing that will
pay debt. They talk Of the increased
production of gold and promise improve
ment in prices. They have been promis-
Ing Improvement for twenty years past,
while, as we have shown by statistics,
things have been getting worse. The
people are evidently tired of fraud and
iCoePbioh ouu AyibB luo Iltu =
who endorse and defend the crime Of 1878 ,
and have been so full of promises, all
need not expect to be believed
now. A betrayed and plundered people
have lost confdnce In them.
No matter what the production of gold
s, the people will not sea it. The banks
and magnates hoard it all. A great part
1t the gold produced is used in various
ways and is not coined. Prof. Suesse, of
the University of Vienna, has published !
report giving letters from watch factories
and others using gold, aud he shows that
'he arts and sciences, including dentistry
md other uses, consume the annual sup.
ply of gold with a small exception, which
he thinks goes into the war chests of
Europe He estimates that the annual
production Of gold adds nothing to the
Itock of gold for monetary purposes.
They talk about the stability of gold
Prof. Jevons, In his work on MONEY and
he Mechanism of Exchange" says;
There is abundance of proof that the
Ialue Of gold has undergone extensive
ihanges. Between 1887 and 1909 it fell
n the ratio of 100 to "a, or by 46 per
'ent From 1909 to 1s49 1t rose again to '