Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1896-11-12
HAS GOLD DEpREoIATED7
An Able Answer to Foolish PopuIist
Assertion.


Assertion.
Mr. Bryan in all his speeches insists
that the gold dollar is "a rising dollar"
The populistfc school of political econ
omists are unanimously Of the opinion
/ that golc has appreciated A writer
in the Chicago Record says: Gold has
appreciated 81 per cent. Silver has
not deprecated, but is everyw here re-
I ported to be able 10 buy as n ch as it
+ ever could"
There are two methods of determin-
! ing the answer 70 the question whether
gold has appreciated or deprecated
The first of these is by comparing it
with the prices Of commodities: the
second by comparing it with the
amount of labor required 10 earn given
quantity of gold, say, one gold dollar
The populists contend that Ire first
IS the only true method. They say IN
effect that prices measured IN terms of
gold have gone down, because gold has
gone up 1t would be just as accu-
rate, aud, indeed, little more so, to
say that gold has gone up, because
prices have gone down. The populists
mistake the relation of cause and ef-
feet. Prices have gone down, not be-
cause gold has gone up. but because Of
the enlargement of the area of agri-
culture and mining and the improved
methods and greater efficiency of man
ufactures of all sorrs, in consequence OF
modern scientific discovery and inven-
ton. The so-cailed appreciation Of gold
is the result of the fall of prices, and not
the cause of the fall of prices.
1t is very difficult undertaking to
decide what are the average prices of
all commodities taken together, at any
given period. This average cannot be
calculated, as every mathematician
knows, merely by adding together the
price Of every commodity offered for
sale and dividing the sum Thus OBJ
tanned by the number of commodities
in the list 1t is necessary to form some
conception Of the relative Importance Of
the different factors in the calculation;
in other words, we must estimate the
volume of each commodity. Since the
volume of each commodity bought and
sold canno. possibly be known. an i'm
mense element OF uncertainty attaches
to this estimate. No two statisticians
would estimate average prices TT any
given date at the same figure. The same
statistician could not, to save his life,
make the calculation twice alike.
But, after all, the estimation OF the
value Of gold is properly made, not by
comparing it with commodities, but by
comparing il with labor. The cost
price would, of course, be expressed by
the number of units of labor required
to purchase n given quantity Of gold.
But that is not what is here meant How
many units of labor does il require to
earn given quantity of gold? Statis-
ties prove that in 1910 one dollar in gold
purchased t21 hours of labor, but in
1891 one dollar in gold purchased 80
hours Of labor. The value of gold ex-
pressed in terms Of labor had fallen
more than so per cent. in so years.
The only answer which populists have
20 make 10 this argument is to DENY its
validity. Nevertheless, it is eviJlens 20
thoughtful men that to measure the
value Of silver in gold AMI then to turn
around and measure the value of gold
in silver, or TO measure the value Of
commodities in coin and then to turn
around and measure the value of coin
u commodities. is reasoning in cir
Gle, The value Of commodities is meas
ured In coin, the value of silver is meas
nred in gold, and the value Of gold can
be measured in nothing else than In
labor; The value of labor is the govern
ing factor in the determination of
prices Of commodities, gold and silver
bullion included with the rest.