The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-09-03

MOTk NIN MdEtS 10 VI tlAlLtllEs fAHAc ~
the product of our factories, makes neeee-
stiles out of the former luXuries OF hie-
increases the comforts and conVenienccs or
living. adds 10 our country's wealth ana
prosperity. until finally we will be rich
enough and prosperous enonGh 10 send part
of our capital to other less fortunate or
advanced nations and perform the same
good mission selfish though 1t be, for
other people. Who would reject L becausg
IL comes. as some Of IL probably does. from
the drones OF Europe. TO what better uses
can the accumulated wealth OF England's.
aristocracy be put than to build UP Amer
The withdrawal of European capital
would still further depress values and en-
courage panic. So large a proportion or
our business is done on credit. and credit
is attacked IL matters not how much
money there may be in the country, II VIII
avail nothing to prevent the contraction or
loans and the refusal Of accommodation.
These mean business failures-losScs-. sac
rihces Of prices. diminished aemano ior
commodities. closing mills, lack or en-.
ployment, poverty and distress. Against
the progress of this certain series OK
events no man nor measure can san
No kind of relief is efficacious except the
conviction of the people that the money
which measures the exchangeabie value OF
their commodities and services and under
lies the structure of their system OF creoit
is sound and stable and will remain so.
BRYAN OFFERS ONE REMEDY.
One characteristic OF political remedies
administered and recommended by quack
political doctors is that they are alleged to-
cure all diseases. To every man in dis
tress in any part of the country the de-
monetization of silver is pointed out as the
cause of his misery and the reconciliation
of silver as his remedy. By reason of per-
fectly simple causes the prices Of wheat
and corn and other agricultural products
nave declined. but this decline is attributed
by these political quacks TO the demoneti-
cation of silver. and the farmer. along
with every other man who finds II hard to-
make both ends meet. is told that by re-
EflxvAr who will on 4 "A dn'laE
a bushel and other farm products will rise
proportionately. If this were true. rising
prices would affect the commodities which
a farmer buys, the interest he pays on his
debts. the freight rates which determine
the cost of getting his products to market,
and he would be relatively no better Off
than before. To expect the farmer TO ac-
cept so great a delusion Is to presume upon
his intelligence. Ask the farmers OF my
State why they are giving up the proouc-
ton of wheat and corn and they VII NOT
tell you it is because OF the depreciation OF
silver. They will point to these great
Western prairies and tell you they cannot
compete with these in the growth OF the
staple cereals. And they have taken to
raising other crops which are more pront-
able and less competitive.
The same tendency is manifest through
out the agricultural world. Not oniy
have thousands Of acres OF western lanus
in America been thrown open TO cultivation
within recent years. but in Russia, India
and the Argentine Republic railroads. and
acreage under cultivation and poured mill
lions of additional bushels upon the mar
kefS or the world. Inc 81 anne tlltdptuihS
in the cost of boots and shoes, of hats and
coats and other clothing. which has fol-
lowed excessive production in the manufac-
ture of those articles, has been manifest
in the excessive production of agricultural
PRODUCTS. 1t is the old familiar law of sup
ply and demand. In my State of New
it was $40 per ton-do our silver friends
attribute that to the demonetization of sill
yer? They ought to If they wish to be con-
sistent. Silver dollars in the pockets or
the mine owners are of no benefit to West
conditions which will put silver dollars in
their own pockets-dollars which, when
taken out, will buy just as much as gold
DECLINE OF PRICES.
However much the prices of agricultural
products have declined they have not de-
clined more rapidly than the necessities
which the farmer buys, nor so rapidly as
the freight rates which promote the market
for his products. The report of the Nation
al Board of Trade shows that the average
charge for carrying a ton of freight one
mile on thirteen of the most important
railroads of the United States has fallen
from 3.OS cents in 1866, and Isl cents in 1870
to .76 cents in 1898. You will thus see that
in 1865 it cost $50 to transfer one ton one
thousand miles and only $3.50 in 1893.
In 1872, according to government reports,
the price of transporting one bushel OF
wheat from Chicago 10 New York by lake
and canal was 2l.47 cents; by lake and rail,
% cents; by all rail, 1912 cents. In 1895. by
lake and canal, All cents; by lake and rail.
6.95 cents; by all rail. 1917 cents.
No such proportionate reduction has been
seen in the price of wheat or corn. The
average price of wheat in 1870 was 80 cents
per bushel in gold. To-day it is Sc cents-a
reduction since 1870 scarcely half as great
as the reduction of freight rates-Mr-
Bryan's assertions to the contrary not
withstanding.
The Atlantic cable has produced the same
result as regards the rate of interest on
money that the opening of new lands, the
extension of transportation facilities and
excessive production have produced in the
prices of wheat and corn. 1t taps the
money supply of the world and brings it to
our service.
So long as we pay our debts in the kind
of money we borrow the rate of interest
will continue to cheaper for the farmer,
merchant, manufacturer and miner and for
those engaged in any other industry in this
country.
Our silver friends claim that the gold
dollar has gone up to 200, while silver has
neither gone up nor down.
l answer that in 1873 the government
rate OF interest was s per cent. the rate
in any of the Western cities was from /
to 2 per cent. per month. and money was
hard to get at that. BY this same Atlantic
cable, reaching to money in England, Ger
many and Holland, the rate of interest on
our government bonds has been reduced to
from 3 to 81 per cent, and the rate of in
terest in Western cities does not now ex-
coed from q to s per cent. per annum, and
good mortgages have been made in Chicago
at 5 per cent.
The Atchison, Topeka e. Santa Fe rail-
road, the Burlington q Quincy, the Penn
oS L q hAds Oil oo yin " u N6dIS
ago bearing from Z to 10 per cent. interest
per annum. Who paid that interest? The
farmer when he paid his freight. The rate
of interest to-day with these bonds placed
in London and in Europe is on an average
4 per cent. per annum; SO that the man
who had gold to loan In this country or in
Europe in 1873 could get nearly double the
rate of interest per annum that he can get
to-day. Is not the value of the gold dollar
regulated by the price that you can get
per annum for 1t? If this is the case. then
the price of the gold dollar is not 200, as
our silver friends claim, but has been re-
duced by one-half because II viii only
bring to the owner about one-half of what
it did twenty-five years ago. There is a.
natural reason for this reduction in the
price of gold. Why. last year the world
produced over 5000. 100000 of gold, nearly
one-fourth of which vas produced in the
United States. and the production Is stead
lily increasing year by year. Now this $780,
900, coo amounts 20 $27, 000, 900 more than all
the gold and silver produced in the world
in 1873.
The rate of interest in every country
ard is nearly half of the rate prevailing
in anv silver country. A good illustration
is found in the adjoining States of British
Guiana and Venezuela. In British Guiana.
where the standard IS gold, the rate or
interest is from A to 6 per cent. per an
mum, while in Venezuela, a silver country.
this will follow in every silver country.
The reason is plain; When you loan money
under n fixed standard. and agree 10 pay
Il 80 - No. - A1A.A Tho laNEAH cor