Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1896-05-14


compelled to se-enforco our stock Of money by
making certain foreign coins legal tender in
the payment of debts, and on the same day of
the passage Of the act OF 1884, which put the
country ON "A gold basis by undertaking. sill
yer about / per cent, congress passed another
statute making the gold coins of Great Britain,
Portugal, Brazil, France, Mexico and Colom-
bia legal tender by weight in the payment of
debts, thus providing as far as possible against
a contraction OF the currency ON account Of
the expulsion OF silver from the circulation.
During the war, when gold was leaving tho
country, legal tender treasury notes were
rapidly issued, under authority OF congress, to
take its place, and instead of d contraction of
tho currency we had an expansion. After the
war, when 1t was determined to change the
character of our currency again by the re-
sumption of specie payments, the law was en-
acted four years in advance of the time when
IL was to take effect in order that ample OPP
portunity might be afforded to adjust the bust
ness of the people to the altered conditions.
Now, however, all the conservative and pru-
Dental considerations that have usually con-
trolled in the settlement of great financial
questions seem to be utterly disregarded, and
we are confronted by AN organized and ag-
gressive movement to destroy by a single blow
the measures of value upon which all existing
contracts are based and thus subyert the very
foundations Of our monetary system, without
allowing a single day to prepare for the change.
Our War Experience With Deprecated
Currency.
1t is not my purpose to weary you by the
presentation of voluminous statistics, or by a
tedious recital of facts, but the particular
proposition now under consideration Is Of such
great importanc e in the discussion of this sub
ject that you must permit me to call yonr es-
pecial attention TO the experience Of the labor
ing people in our own country during the years
Immediately following the introduction of de-
preciated paper currency in 1862 and also to
the very low rates Of wages which now prevail
in countries having the silver standard Of val
ne or the SO called double standard of value
with coinage of silver at "a legal ratio not cor
responding with the commercial value of the
metal and, in doing this, l win make no state
ment that cannot be fully sustained by reliable
evidence.
On the Sd of March, 1898. u subcommittee of
the committee on finance in the United States
senate made a report ON the course Of prices
and wages in this country for a period of 80
years, embracing the prices of almost every
article of consumption in common use among
the people and tho rates of wages in almost
every industry carried on during that time
and, in order that You may learn from this Of
fetal and impartial investigation what effect u
deprecated currency has on wages and prices,
i will briefly state some of the most material
facts and conclusions embodied in that docu-
ment. The subcommittee consisted of five SEN
ators representing both political parties and
both sides Of the currency question, and the
investigation, which lasted nearly two years,
was most thoroughly and impartially made,
with no purpose in view except to ascertain
and report the actual facts, and, so far as IL
relates to questions of fact, the report was
unanimous. AS stated heretofore, congress-,
early in the year of 1862, inaugurated the pol
icy of issuing legal tender paper, gold was
driven out of circulation, specie payments
were suspended, the currency began at once
to depreciate and before the close of the year
the paper dollar was worth less than 70 cents
In gold. From the time the depreciation began
the price of commodities and the wages of la
Dor were paid in paper currency, and the in
furious effect upon the interests of the labor
ing man Is clearly shown in the report re-
ferred to.
w~orkingmen the Sufferers.
In 1852 the wages of labor, paid in depreci-
ated paper, We're less than 3 per cent higher in
paper than when paid In gold, but the prices
Of the 223 articles used by the laborers and
other people in the maintenance Of their fam
lilies were nearly is per cent higher than they
were when paid in gold; in 1853 the wages of
labor paid in deprecated paper worth about
% cents on the dollar were l015 per cent higher
than when paid in gold. but the prices of the
articles the laborer had to buy with his wages
were nearly 40 per cent higher; in 1884 tho
wages OF labor paid In deprecated paper dol
lars worth Az cents each had advanced 2512 per
cent, but the prices of the necessaries of life
had advanced GOA per cent; in 1865 wages paid
In paper currency worth 50 cents on the dollar
had advance AZ per cent above the rates pre-
viously paid in gold, or its equivalent, but the
prices of commodities had advanced nearly III
per cent-that is to say, had more than dou-
bled, and in 1866 wages paid in a currency
worth II cents on the dollar had advanced a
fraction more than 81 per cent from the previ-
Gus rates in gold or its equivalent. but the
prices of commodities had advanced 90 per
cent. The rise in the rates Of wages never cor
responded with the rise in the prices of other
things until the year 1863. four years after the
close Of the war, when the value of our cur
rency was IL cents ON the dollar. and it was
quite certain that no further depreciation
would occur. In 1860 this country was on u
gold basis and and been ON that basis for many
years under the operation of the acts of 1884
and 1887. Wages were then paid In gold or its
equivalent and by reducing the wages paid in
q deprecated currency to u gold basis and
comparing them with the rates paid in gold in
1860 we shall have another demonstration Of
the injurious effects of cheap money ON the in
terests Of the laborer.
On this basis the laborer received 70 cents
and 2 mills in 1868. instead of tho gold dollar
he received in 1860; in 1864 he received 50 cents
and 5 mills instead of a gold dollar. and in 1866
he received CO cents and 2 mills instead of a
gold dollar.
In other words, the wages of labor. meas
ured by gold as they were in 1860. when we had
q sound currency, had fallen about "a per cent
in 1868. more than 10 per cent in 1854, and
nearly "A per cent ia lee5, when we had u
deprecated currency, and, gentlemen, the
force of this illustration is greatly augmented
by the facts that these reductions in the rates
of wages occurred at a time when several hun
dred thousand laborers had been withdrawn
from the field OF competition, when the gov
eminent was engaged in the prosecution Of a
great war and WAS expanding money lavishly
for all kinds of supplies for the army and
navy, and when the prices of all the products
OF labor had largely increased.
Surely IL there ever can be a time when an
abundance of cheap money will increase the
wages and improve the condition of laporing
men these results ought TO have been accom-.
plished under the combination Of favorable
circumstances existing, especially in the great
centers of industry, from 1861 to 1866, and yet
there has been no other period in our history
when the rates of wages fell so rapidly or so
low.
Chile's Sad Experience.
The recent experience of tho republic of
Chile furnishes another impressive warning to
the wage Garner against the evils Of a depre-
ciated currency. That country had for a long
time the SO called double standard Of value,
with coinage Of legal tender gold and silver at
a M