The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1896-09-25
GOLD HAS NOT APPRECIATED.

Editor Astorian;-
According to all free silver orators,
the gold bugs have cornered gold and
made it so scarce that the sold dol
lar has appreciated in value TO a two
hundred cent dollar. Now. IL that Is
a fact, how is it TO be explained that
q gold watch that cost you from SIS
TO 5000 fifteen or twenty years 3 can
now be bought from $40 to NGS, and
jewelry m and the products
of the fine arts in which gold is used.
are so much cheaper than they used to
be. II their arguments are true, all
those articles in which gold is used
largely ought to have risen in value,
instead OF falling. l would like to have
you explain this through the paper. as
l have heard that point dis
cussed. ]. E. YOUNG.
Gold cannot be cornered. any more
han all the wheat in the world can be
eornered. Gold is not scarce. 1t lies
In bank vaults and the federal treasury
vaults, as security for several times its
volume in paper money. The $780, 900 600
gold reserve in the treasury ranks at
par the s34s, 10000 of greenbacks and
all the Sherman notes-over $500, O0O. 900
IN all. This gold in bank vaults gives
security TO the national bank circula-
ton and the hundreds Of millions Of
bank credits.
Gold has not appreciated, and a very
simple example will suffice to prove it.
II a property owner has a house and
lot IN a city which has beer renting
for $3.50 a year, and he finds that he
cannot rent IT nov for more than $50
q year. what does he naturally under
stand? Why, that for some one Of
many reasons. or for several combined,
the value OF that house and lot has
deprecated. II may be that the growth
Of the city has been in another direc-
ton. or some other such natural rea-
SON But II he concludes to put the
property on the market, does he ex-
pect to find a purchaser for it at as
large a sum while It's rental income is
only $50 per year as he might have
exacted for it when it brought a rental
income Of $500 a year? The amount Of
rent a property will bring is, therefore,
a true index OF its value.
Now. interest is simply the rent Of
money. II interest rates go up. that
money is more valuable-will buy more.
Now, since 1873, a dollar has meant a
gold dollar, not only in fact but in law.
II gold has appreciated-has become
more valuabIe-it ought to rent for
more than in 1873. In other words, 1t
ought to bring more interest. But
what is the fact: TIA ratc Of Interest
in all our financial centers is less than
half what it was in 1878. The rent
Of gold has gone down. Is it not fool
ish to say any kind Of property has
doubled in value which will yet bring
only one-half as much rent or income
as it formerly did?
But If that is not sufficient, take an
other proof: Labor is the one staple
Of all other articles. 1t is used all the
time. If gold has doubled in value,
the price Of labor ought to be only
about half what it was in 1873. But
as a matter Of fact IT is higher now
thar il was in that year. Can any
body understand how labor can com
mand more gold every day than in
1873. If the value Of gold mas doubled?
This we think sufficiently satisfies
Mr.. Young's request, but in this con-
nection it may not be amiss for us to
suggest that the Republicans might
eoncede the Colorado syndicate's con-
tention that gold has appreciated 100
per cent in value since 1873, and just
them to answer the proposition as
TO how il hurts the labor voters Of the
country if they get even no more than
the same rate Of wages as in 1873, paid
in the gold or its equivalent dollar.
To be in keeping with the style Of
argumentCJ Bryan is giving the vast
crowds Of laborerJ who attend his
gatherings in the east, it is probable
he would explain that the reason why
Mr. Young can buy gold watches so
much cheaper now than he could in
1873 is because the labor entering into
the manufacture Of watches and other
has peer ground down TO the
limit by the plutocrats who run ,
1ur factories; but this win not do, be- .
it can be demonstrated that skill E
I'd labor receives more wages now than ,
n 1873. The only other answer he could
nake-and It is the true explanation
s that gold has actually deprecated in
since 1873, as measured by the
productive power Of labor con-
with that date. That is to say,
he improvements made in machinery
md all processes Of manufacture have
o enormously increased the productive
apacity of labor that it is able to com
a better price than it used to do.
this is true, too, Notwithstanding
hat this increased productive power y
as naturally resulted in a greater dis Z
roportion between supply and demand [
existed in 1878. This is why every
Their commodity but that Of labor is