The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1896-10-09
Facts, Arguments, Logic,
Wit and Sarcasm in a
Mastery Manner.
WHY PRICES HAVE DECLINED
The Alleged "crime of Seventy
Three" Has Not Made Our
Goods Any Cheaper.

The Consequences of a Free Silver Vic
tory in November Would Be Panic,
Bankruptcy and Universal Distress
aud Poyerty-Free Coinage at Six
teen to One Means silver Monometal-
Iism-wages VIII Be Cut Down and
HALF of the Peoples Savings Lost.
Hon. Carl Schurz, ex-secretary Of the In
oerior, delivered an address on September
Sth. in Central Music hail. Chicago, on the is
sues Of the campaign, under the auspices of the
American Honest Money league. Every seat
dn the hall was filled, many persons who de-
sired admission being turned away for lack Of
room. The address in part was as follows:
FELLOW C1TIzENs-I have come from the
asast to the west to speak to you for honest
money. ! do not imagine myself to be In an
"'enemy's country" There is to me no ene-
tmy's country within the boundaries Of this re-
public. Wherever I am among Americans /
am among fellow citizens and friends bound
together by common interests and a common
patriotism. In this spirit 1 shall discuss the
question Of the day. I shall not deal in fnan-
.cial philosophy, but in hard and dry facts.
There are sporadic discontents in the co1n-
try, partly genuine, partly produced by arti-
-dcial agitation. They may be specified thus:
prices Of agricultural products: laboring men
complaining of a lack of remunerative en-
ployment: men in all sorts of pursuits com
planning of a general business stagnation and
of a scarcity of money. In some parts Of the
country, especially the south and west, there
are many people complaining of a want of
capital and too high rate of interest. The
cry for more money is the favorite cry. These
are the principal and the most definite
plants. Beyond them, however, an impress
sion has been spread by agitators that an or
ganized conspiracy of moneyed men, mainly
great bankers, in America and in Europe,
backed by the monarchs and aristocracies of
the old world, Is seeking the general establish
ment of the gold standard of value to monopo-
lize or corner the worlds money to the gen
eral detriment.
All this has found definite expression in the
following declaration of the Chicago platform:
ave declare that the act of 1878 demonetizing
silver without the knowledge or approval Of
the American people has resulted in the ap-
probation Of gold and corresponding fall in
the prices of commodities produced by the
people; q heavy incyease in the burden Of
taxation and of all debts, public and private;
the enrichment Of the money lending class at
home and abroad, prostration of industry and
impoverishment of the people," Mark well
that all these evil consequences ascribed
to the demonstration of silver in the United
States alone-not to its dem nonetization any
where else. This is to Justify the presenta-
tion as sufficient remedy of the free coinage
of silver in the United States alone "without
waiting for the aid or consent Of any other
nation"
This platform is amplifed by free coinage
orators, who tell US that the act of 1873, called
'sthe crime of 1873" has surreptitiously ''wip-
cd out" one-half Of the people smoney-name-
ly, silver; that in consequence the remaining
half Of our metallic money-namely, gold-as
q basis of the whole financial structure, has to
do the same business that formerly was done
by gold and silver together; that thereby gold
has risen to about double its former purchas-
ing power, the gold dollar being virtually 200
cent dollar: that the man who produces things
3or sale Is thus being robbed of half the price,
while debts payable on the gold basis have be-
twice %t as heavy and that this fail Of
money changels and expressing the people
What Are the Facts?
Are these complaints well foundedP Look
at facts which nobody disputes. That there
has been a considerable fall in the prices of
many articles since 1873 is certainly true. But
wastthis fall caused by the called demone-
tization of silver through the act of 1878? Now,
not to speak of other periods of our history,
such as the period from 1876 to 1861, everybody
knows that there was considerable fall of
prices, not only as to agricultural products
cotton, for instance, dropped from s. pound
in 1884 to II cents in 1871-but in masNkjnds
of indAstsial products before 1873 WhatAap-
pened befbfa 1858 cannot have been caused by
what happened in 1878. This is clear. The
caused by something efse-
Another thing is equally. clears> Whenever a
change in the prices Of Aotnhiddiafak is caused
by a change in supply or demand, or both,
then it may affect different articles different
ly. Thus wheat may rise in price, the supply
being proportionately short, while at she same
time cotton may decline in price, the supply
being proportionately abundant. But when a
change of prices takes place in consequences of
d great change in the purchasing power of the
money of the country, especially when that
change is sudden, then the effect must be
equal, or at least approximately so, as to all
articles that are bought sold with that
money. If by the SO called characterization Of
silver in 1873 the gold dollar or the dollar on
the gold basis became 200 cent dollar at all,
then it became 200 cent dollar at once and
for everything. 1t could not possibly be at
the same time 200 cent dollar for wheat, and
a l2O cent dollar for coal, and $50 cent dollar
for cotton, and 100 cent dollar for corn
for shovels. challenge any one to gainsay
this.
Prices and the Act of 1873.
Now for the facts. The act of 1878 in ques-
ton became law on the 18th of February. !
What was the effectf Wheat. rye, oats and
corn rose above the price Of 1872, while cotton
declined. In 1874 wheat dropped little: corn
made jump upward; cotton declined; oats
and rye rose. In 1876 there was q general de-
cline. In 1s9e thsrs ~ss . rise In wheat and