The record-union., 1896-09-26
APPRECIATION AND DEPRECIA.
TON.

TON.
Those who declare that we cannot
afford to wait for international agree
nlent to settle the silver question, but
must have free coinage at 16 to 1, con-
stantly assert that the low price Of sill
Yer is apparent only, not real: that the
truth is that gold has appreciated and
gone beyond It's true value
Now II that is SO, how Is 1t that It Is
q fact that the holder who puts out
gold gets Less income from It now than
In preceding years? No matter how
put our, how invested, it's income Is less
than ever before. Only a few years
ago nearly all issues Of railroad and
ether security bonds for gold rated al
and Z per cent. whereas they now do
not exceed per cent. At the same
time improved property in cities and
towns Is, as q rule, higher than ever
before
We have seen no statement Of fact
that proves the appreciation Of gold at
the expense of silver depreciation 1t
is claimed that the low price Of com
modities proves 1t, but 1t is submitted
that this is not q fair argument, and
does not prove, for the means Of pro-
duection are cheaper than ever before,
and the area Of production is larger
and more general, and the competition
OF other countries far greater. The
introduction Of machinery into the art
Of production has cheapened soil COM
modfties It is not the decline in silver,
therefore, that has caused the decline
In the price Of staple agricultural pro-
ducts
It is the measurement of the price Of
gold by the price of products that en-
ables the free coinage men to argue
that gold has gone up. If, as a
skilled financier puts it. the true rule
Is applied, we will measure the price of
products by the price Of gold, which
has q fixed value the world over, and
the truth is revealed that other things,
not ths price Of gold, has caused de-
cline in the products, and most OF these
we have indicated. 1t Is q. case Of the
supply exceeding the demand.
The instance Of raw cotton is cited
By this statisHcian Last year it sold
far 51a cents Now accept the theory
OF the Bryanites and measure the value
Of gold by the product price, then the
advance of cotton 8 cents a pound
would prove that gold has deprecated
35 Per cent
But the fact is, as stated, that gold
has a fixed value the world over.
Again, take wheat In 1875 we
raised 292, 10000 bushels. But In 1896,
a short crop season, We gathered 467,-
lob, 900 bushels, and between those
dates more than that was harvested
some years; for instance, In 1891 we
gathered Gil. 7S0, 900 bushels In 1876
we raised 1921, ,069. 900 bushels of corn.
but In 1895 we raised 2.151, ,189. 900
bushels
The worlds production Of grain In
1889 was 2,150 $50, ,OOO while six years
later. 1895. we find the volume was
2,4S5. 1885, ,000
But, as Is well added, If gold appre-
Ctated as measured by soil commodi-
ties. why not apply the rule Of meas
uTement so as to take In real estate,
which has gone up steadily? Apply 1t
70 wages, and we find that the rule of
the Bryan men will not work. The SEN
ate report Of 1892 shows that IN 1880
there We're in manufacturing es-
Establishments of this country 2,732, 600
employees. and their total wages
amounted to $947, ,O0O 900, while In
1890 there were 4,712,000 employees,
and their wages were S2,263, OOO. 900.
Here then was an increase of 40 per
cent in wages paid, while as the re-
port shows wages In 1890 were go per
cent. higher than in 1880 on the aver
a ge paid, while the cost of living de-
clined, owing to the fall In the prices of
necessarfes.
These facts are sufficient to show
that the rule used to prove the allega-
ton that gold has appreciated, that sill
YER has not fallen, except as measured
by the assumed appreciation Of gold,
La q rule that will not work.