Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1896-08-27
Appreciation and Depreciation
Of Money Discussed.
Would Cheaper Money Pay?

Would Cheaper Money Pay?
SIt should never be forgotten that
the contention for gold standard
for gold primary money only is a
a contention for smaller quantity of
money, because the smaller the guam
tity the better for those who are max
ing herculean efforts to permanently
establish the gold Standard
It would be of interest to have the
Populist writer Of the above place his
finger on the political party that is
making contention for a smaller
quantity Of money" The Republi-
can party is pledged against any con-
traction Of the currency expressly so.
It is also pledged against.allowing the
blowers and strikers of the silver
mining barons to flood the country
with an unlimited" amount of cheap
silver in order that they may add
millions to their millions by selling to
the people So cents worth Of silver for
100 cents.
The appreciation Of Goldo is one
of the Populist's pet bugbears. By
that he means that other commodities,
silver included, have. not fallen in
price, but that gold has risen in price.
There is neither sense nor particle
of truth in the assertion. It has been
well stated that: 'sSaying that gold
has appreciated because prices have
fallen is like asserting that the high
water mark on the river has been
raised because the water has fallen"
It is indeed true that an ounce of
gold will buy more clothing, -four,
sugar, meat, vegetables or silver to-
day than it would thirty or forty years
ago. It is the cost of the production
of those articles that has fallen. But
if gold does rise in value, as some
contend, everyone benefits by it in
|; gold standard country sail profit alike !;
for all buy their goods cheaper. Then
because gold will buy more the Popu-
lists cry out that gold is approaching
in price, is bringing down the price Of
all articles, and reducing wages and
that the volume of money must be In
creased by admit ting q c1ea metal
to free coinage in order to raise prices.
If money were cheapened prices
would be advanced to meet the new
imitation. But would there be any
advantage in having more money if
one had to give proportionally more
for all that he required? Would it
pay to have cheaper money, when ex-
perience proves that it would divorce
us financially from all the great ma
tions of Europe, drive all the gold out
of the country and place us upon a
single standard of silver?
This decline in prices has been ac-
companied by a decline in the market
value Of silver so that the claim of the
silverites has some apparent plausi-
bility. But plausibility and assump-
ton are not proof. In the first place
no one has ever named single com
modify that has notably declined in
price within the last thirty years and
attempted to prove that the decline
was due to the appreciation Of gold.
The reason is that it cannot be done.
On the other hand not single COM
modify can be named that has nota-
bly, declined in price in that period in
respect to which clear, abundant and
specific evidence cannot be adduced
in proof that the decline was due to
decreased cost of production or distri-
button, or to changes in supply and
demand occasioned by the issue of a
struggle between supply and demand.
The reason for the remarkable
change is that within the last thirty or
forty years man has attained greater
control over the forces of nature so
that he is able to do far more work in
a given time and produce far more
product for a given amount of human
labor than ever before. Few investi-
gators. place this average saving in
production and distribution at less
than 40 per cent, and in some branch
es OF industry it has certainly amount
ed to 20 or 80 per cent. And the re-
sulting decline in prices would have
been far greater but for the fact that
decreased cost has called forth greater
demand and consumption, which to a
considerable extent has antagonized
the natural tendency to decline.
Abundant evidences Of this are fur
nished by any and all the important
commodities, iron, steel, copper, cot
ton, wool, wheat, provisions and
leather. In 1856 aluminium sold for
$50 per pound. A few years ago it
was down to $3.50. The present
market price is only a few cents. Will
any one pretend chat changes in the
relative 1,rices Of r. udld and silver hl1l.