Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1896-07-10
BELLOWS FALLS ,
Another Bad BicyclCatechism.

y. 70 01lllii' ne to put in simple form the
lnsnSlil Io 3s ned by the free coinage con-
jul Gnu Va tn plain answer to each. All
rear VI lng facts given are transcribed from
W eLe oI publications, and list of all au-
i 1'alI IS used is published at the end of
by repaechism.
nSlPPe What is the fundamental claim of
IIei'. free coinage advocates? A. They
Oaaim that the amount of money in crcu-
Issation has been decreasing since the de-
monetization of silver. and that this de-
crease has caused a general fall in prices
Q. Is it true that the money supply has
been decreasing? A. 1t is not.
Q. What are the facts? A. So far as
the United States is concerned, there has |
been an enormous increase. In 1860 the |
money in circulation in this country was
SAP, 102, Az; in 1872, it was S73S ,309,- |
549 by the treasury bulletin at the open
ing of the present month it was S1,52l,- |
5S4, 2S3.
@. What does this show? A. It shows
that our money supply has increased 240 |
per cent as compared with 1850 and 1G per
cent as compared with 1872.
Q. Has the money supply increased !
faster than the population? A. Very
much faster.
O. How do you prove this? A. BY
dividing the total money in circulation at
each date by the total population of the
country at the same date, and thus finding
the circulation per capita.
q, What does this process show? A.
The per capita circulation of the United
States on July /, 1860, was s14.06; on Ju-
" l, 1872 it was S1S.07; at the opening
of the present month in 1896 il was S21.-
So.
Q. But has the money supply of the
world at large been decreasing? A. On
the contrary, it has been increasing rap
idly.
Q. How is that proved? A. BY the
statistics of new gold production.
@. How large has this production been?
A. The reports of the director of the
mint which are acknowledged authority,
show that from 1873 to 1894 inclusive
the worlds total new go7 r~odrction has
been S2,526, S34, Qn-O'
O. Is this anew production of gold in
creasinps1r decreasing? A. 1t is increas.
irc. with enormous rapidity.
, Q. Give the figures. a. In 1873 the
worlds gold production was 500, 100000;
in 1850 it was S106 436, 500. In the year
1890 it was Sis, S49,0 600. In 1898 it was
$780, 900. In 1894 the exact total is
not vet compiled, but it is closely estimat-
ed at SO, 100000.
Q. What does this mean a. Ii
means that the amount of gold annually
added to the worlds money supply has
more than doubled in the last % years.
@. Is not this annual rate of produc-
tion liable to decrease. A. On the con-
trary, all experts in the American, Au-
sralian and South African gold fields look
for further and very heavy increase over
the present rate of production.
Q. But has not the disuse of silver with
full coinage facilities cut down the total
annual addition TO the worlds metallic
money supply? A. 1t has not
Q. Why? A. In 1878 the worlds gold
production was 500, POO, 900: its silver pro
duction, ISL, S00.0 900; total, SITS, 000, 900
Last year the production of gold alone was
S199, SOC. 900
q Was not the combined annual pro
duction of gold and silver larger than this
in the bonanza days?" A 1t was not.
Q. What was the highest record of that
period? a. Between 1856 and 1860 the
worlds average annual production of gold
was S134. 49,, of silver, $37, CTS total.
$111.71, or less by S27.S, than last year
production of gold alone.
Q. What are we to say, then, of the ar
gument that the money supply since silver
free coinage was abandoned, has been con-
tracing? A. That is utterly false as APP
piled to the world at large, and especially
so as applied to the United States.
Q. Is it true, nevertheless. that the
price of wheat and many other farm prod
ucts has fallen heavily? A 1t is.
Q. Bow are such declines, in wheat fol-
instance, to be explained? A. By the
enormously rapid increase in grain grow
ing area throughout the world.
Q. Has this increase been especially
rapid since 1872? A. The increase in
grain growing area in this period, espec.
tally in North America, South America
and Asia, has never been approached in
any equal period in the history of the
world.
Q. How do we judge of actual compe-
tition in the sale of wheat? A. By the
supplies thrown on the worlds great dis.
tributing markets.
Q. What market in particular? A.
England, where most of the buying nations
y go to purchase their grain.
Q. What are the figures? A. As re-
Gently as 1880 Great Britain imported, for
consumption and reexport, 81, 261, 1924 hun
dred-weight of wheat-a large increase
over the preceding annual average. In
1895 it imported S1,749,95j hundred
weight.
O. What has made possible this re-
markable increase in wheat production?
A. The exceedingly rapid development
of transportation facilities in newly cult
waited grain countries; among them India,
Russia and the Argentine Republic.
Q. Has there been an increase in the
United States itself? A. An enormous
increase.
@. How large? A. In 1875 there were
2G,9S1, 512 acres of wheat cultivated in this
country; in 1891 there were 1896, S97, an
increase of so per cent. The yield in 1875
POP, 1876, 900 bushels, heavy increase over
preceding years. In 1891 the yield was
Gil, 900. Even last year, with greatly
reduced acreage and partial crop failure,
the yield was 4G7.1 bushels.
Q. Has the yield of other crops increased
correspondingly? A, 1t has.
Q. Give instances. A. The cultivated
area Of corn in the United States in 1871
was 34,091, 1874 acres; in 1891 it was TO-
24O,515; increase, 124 per cent The yield
of corn last year was more than double that
of any year prior to 1875. Both the acre
age and the average annual yield of oats
doubled since 1871. Our cotton crop in
1894 was five per cent greater than in any
\ other year prior TO 1877.
Q. Was a decline in grain and cotton
prices, under such conditions, inevitable?
A. As inevitable as a decline in the price
of clothing, or furniture, or books, or stee
rails, or pins when competition in theil
manufacture has extended enormously.
Q. Would free coinage help the pro
ducers of grain to a larger profit, undel
80 y - -.