Birmingham state herald., 1896-02-26
THE TRUE CAUSE.


 As to the matter of overproduction as cause for low prices the Mobile Regis ter, in it's feeble way. observes:
 'The trees have not increased; there has been no overproduction of trees; it It Just as you say about the trees-but you are talking about the price of lum- Der, Captain Johnston, and not the price or trees; and lumber, dear sir, has been so oVerproduced that for a while those who make it lose money on it, and have resolved to stop producing it."
 On the contrary, the reports as to lum- Der production show no increase, and they show very great decrease in val ues. It is not overproduction of lumber and timber that has caused the decline in prices of those articles. The last an- nual statement of the business of Mobile, published by the Register, shows that the supply has not increased materially as regards any kind of manufactured wood, but that prices have declined very greatly. It is not so bad with respect to lumber as it is with cotton. A few years ago the value of the cotton feceiv- ed at Mobile was over BPS 900, 900, and still Mobile receives just about the same num- Der of bales.
 The truth is, and the Register might as we'll recognize the fact. that there is a decadence of rural population and labor, because of the want of profit in farming and log industry.
 In the North American Review for June last. MT. Mulhall, the greatest sta t1stician in the world showed that while the annual urban accumulations of wealth in this country are increasing, the rural accumulations are decreasing. Thus:
 Annual 5nts town 9Sy, and city accuHu-. Annual town and city accumu-
 Idtiol' lo30..... ................. l,12o, 000 Annual rural accumulation, 1851 .$4Ol 00O 900 Annual rural accumulation, 1S90.. 3SS, 000, 900 Decrease per year. ............... s2s, ,ooo, 900
 In further evidence of such decadence we call attention to a recent report of the Pennsylvania department of agricul- ture
 Value of farm land in Pennsyl-
 Nan1a, 1Sb9. ............ .....,...S & 4D7 SIG 099 Value of farm land in Pennsyl-
 .vania, 1860 .".;.. .............. 662, ,o50 7O7 Value of farm land in Pennsyl- .vania, 1sSO...,... ................ 975.6s9 flo Value of farm land in Pennsyl-
 Vallla, lS9O .............. 922, 2i0 233
 Why is it that the farms of PennsylVa- nia have decreased in value $121 900 900 since the demonetization of silver in 1873? It was then that gold began to steadily rise and farms and labor began steadily to fall. It was then that the value of cotton receipts at Mobile began to go down. and have steadily fallen from $2S,- 100000 to $7000,000 Is there not some thing radically wrong when our seaport city loses over s20,O00,0OO upon the same amount of cotton business? The Register says that it is overpro- duction and improved methods in labor that depress prices Let us see: Lowest price of wheat in Chicago Lowest price of wheat in Chicago cents January. 1893 ................. .....72 cents Lowest price of wheat In Chicago,
 January, 1S96 ...,...... ............b6 cents
 Here is a decline of 2SR cents about 33 per cent. in the price of wheat in four years. Now, what important improve ment in farm machinery, in farm meth ods or in transportation has appeared within that time? Not one! Wheat has fallen in price even when the crop was short. What man who desires to be just can dispute the assertion that the price is depressed by the operation of-some force which must be sought for in other directions?
 There has been and continues to be de- pression all over the gold standard coun- tries, while there is no depression. but rather great activity in business, with all silver standard countries, notably Mexico and Japan. We have right, then, to assume that it was the adoption of the sole gold standard in this country that has produced our distress-a distress which time and adaptation to changed conditions have somewhat ameliorated, but have not and cannot remove.