Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1896-10-01
[coNTINUED.l
THE NlMBLE DOLLAR
How 1t Will Hop Up and Down
When We Have Free Silver.
COSTOFLIVING ELSEWHERE
Some Facts of Interest That
Should be Carefully Studied.
HOW PRICES ARE GOVERNED.

A Traveller In the East Gives Facts
Which are Better Than All the Theories
of the Observation-Disclosures Outnt.
The Storekeeper Would Have to Put
| New Prices Upon His Goods Every Day.
Those who so roundly denounoe the
bankers, especially those residing In Lon
| don, should stop to think whether tney
would not be more in the bankers power
than ever If free silver ruled the day. Let
| us see The present value of silver bullion
Is governed by the market price In Lon
dom hence, one day 1t might be worth %
cents, on another day So cents, and still on
another it might be worth only 30 cents or
| less At the present time we have no sucn
| fiuctuation of the dollar between the time
of leaving our offices at night and the
| time Of returning to the same In the morn
ing.
ANY one who has been in country that
| Is on a silver basis, such as Mexico, China,
Japan or India, will understand tnae TINS
| Is no hypothetical case, but an actual TACT,
| for, as credits are always drawn on Lon
| don. If traveller In any one Of those ooun-
tries desires to draw money on his letter
| of credit he is told that they cannot tell
what to charge him until they receive the
London rate of exchange, which Is based
ON the market price of silver. During part
of the time while I was in Japan exchange
was very low, consequent upon rumors OF
war with Russia, and during those times
| the price of the japanese yen, or dollar,
| dropped and when the rumors were 1ound
| to be without foundation exchange rose
and the price of the dollar went up. In
weeks time its value fluctuated 10 per
| cent. and in Japan that was no unusual
| occurrence. Just think of what n COM
motion that would make here If it should
| be necessary for n storekeeper to mark
| over his whole stock Of goods every day
because the value of the dollar had changed
over night.
Since the great decline has taken place
| in Japan prices for farm produce and mer-
chandise, except during the war, have not
| risen. but have remained about stationary
because of the increased supply, but the
price for everything that is purchased out
side of Japan in gold standard country
prietors and those who are forced to buy
| those articles that are necessary to the
conducting of their business, and which
| are not produced In Japan, have now to
| pay double what they did before the great
decline took place, and yet the hotel. pro-
| prietors dare not raise the price of their
rooms on account of competition. The
proprietor Of the Grand hotel in Yoko-
| hama told me himself that he was making
less per day now since silver had declined
than before its fall. In Japan the horse Is
| almost an unknown animal as far as
transportation purposes are concerned,
| coolies, both men and women, taking its
| place. For thirty eight cents in our money
| these japanese runners will pull you In a
| iinrickisha for ten hours at a pace that
| would kill almost any horse, and yet these
| runners stand among the highest paid
| labor in that country.
There are those in the United States
! who denoupce Wall street as gambling