The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1896-09-23

/ r
And on silverto keep,
The tlag-W1n Bryan and silver dis
closing.
On, long may she wave where free
men shall stand,
And vote for their homes, the silver
and Bryan,
Where victor and peace,
When from the shylocks releas a,
With true love for our land,
And for silver and honesty trying.
ScR1BBLER.
The Gold standard and English
Agriculture.
Editor Constitution Should one
be DESTROYS to note in its fullness
the destructive effect of the gold
standard on agriculture, one has
only to turn to England.
It is known of all mon that
whenever any great English indus
try becomes depressed and lacking
in a. remunerative way, the gov
ernment instantly appoints royal
commission and charges it with
the duty, regardless of expense, of
ascertaining the extent of the de-
preston, whether the cause be adj
mitted or remedy suggested.
A report of one of these royal
commissions makes very interest
esting and instructive reading just
at this time.
It is not the purpose of the
writer to give your readers an
essay on the subject, but to pre-
sent for their consideration and for
comparison few facts which
speak volumes as to the destructive
work of the gold standard in the
united kingdom, and indicate TO
us what we may expect in this
country from the same agency:
L. In 1882 the acreage given in
Englond to wheat, barley, oats, rye,
beans and peas was 8,888,880; in
1892, 7,8O8,O31 acres-a decrease in
ten years of 1 OPS, $40 acres.
2. In 1892 the acreage in green
crops potatoes, turnips, mengolds,
cabbage, veches, ETC., except clover
and grass 3,475,66O; in 1892,
3, 1869, $40 acres-a decrease of 206,-
$50 acres in ten years.
3. From 1892 to 1895 there was
a decrease in the wheat acreage of
8O2,198 acres.
A. In 1882 there were 1881 ,675
acres in permanent pasturage; in
1892, 1885, $50 acres an increase
of /, 536,475 acres in ten years,
The land thrown out of cultiva-
ton because of unremunerative
prices, which resulted from the
gold standard, is referred to in the
report of the royal commission by
courtesy as permanent pasture"
The fact is that one by one the
small farms disappeared under the
blight of the gold standard. Where
one hundred sturdy men owned
each nice little farm, one man
became the owner of broad acres,
and here and yonder the sign mo
Thoroughfare" now greets the
passersby. The hundred, crippled
and disheartened by the gold
standard, were compelled to part
with their homes and farms, and
one man, honest SO far as he was
concerned, became the owner.
These facts constitute striking
illustration of Governor Alexander
H. Stephens prophecy as to the
certain result of the demonetizing
act of 1873 in this country that
the rich would grow richer, the
poor, poorer.
Recall, if you please, Ralph
Waldo Bmerson's old-time pen
picture of rural England Eng
land is garden. Under an ash
colored sky the fields have been
combed and rolled till they appear
to have been finished with a pencil
instead of plough, = The
long habitation of powerful and
ingenius race has turned every
rood of land to its best use.
That England is huge phalan-
stery where all that man wants is
provided within the precincts"
and compare it with the England
of today, with her broad acres and
her pauper labor,
Study the results of the gold
standard in England, end you will
readily perceive what must be the
inevitable result in this fair land
of ours if this accursed policy be
fastened upon US. The gold stand
ard will turn smiling fields into
waste land, and pauperize Ameri-