The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1896-06-16

l Worlds Leading Financial Paper.
In recent issue The Statist Of Lor
don, one Of the ablcst financial papers /
tho world, but goldbug, OF course, i
writing Of the unusually prosperous con
: dition Of British industries which mad
possible tho chancellor of the excheQ
} uer's budget reported at tho beginning
Of last month, said:
! Tho producing countries have been plunge
into so much distress TINT thoy are compcllr
TO sell ut whatever price thoy can got, and ou
people arc so woll of thnt they nro ablo 10 bu!
larger md larger quantities evory year. Th
first consequence of this Is that the working
classes arc exceedingly prosperous, and th'
foundation Is being laid In the second place fo
Rroat increase In our trade bscauso NOR
chants arc laying in stocks Of material at ex
ceptonally low prices.
Tho United kingdom has the labor, tho ma
chinory and the capital TO supply all the res
Of tho world with my quantity Of goods Il
may require, but our foreign customers wor,
too poor to buy from US on tho usual scale
The exports merely confirm whnt tho imports
tell us-.hat tho producing countries arO ir
docp distress, and that We aro growing In
wealth. Roughly. tho decline In pricos In tht
ports or, to put 1t differently, wo gnincd twic,
Us much by buying our imports cheap ns we
lost in s0lling our exports also cheap. But as
. matter OF fact tho loss must have boen
trifing, " there wns any loss. This country
manufactures cheap goods for NIL parts OF the
world md cheap, coarse stuffs include in
their valuo not very much labor. Tho chief
item is the raw material. But in buying tho
| raw material We gained immensely, and con.
scquently thsre was no need for very much
reduction in the wages.
The Statist here lots us into the secret
of what 1t is that is enriching England
tho producing countries have been
plunged into so much distress that thoy
arc compelled to sell Mt whatever price
they can get, An English paper like
Tho Statist would not bo likely to make
such cold bloodod statomont-that
Britishers are growing rich upon tho
necessities Of the producing countries
If it were not fact We may accord
inRly accept IL as fact and seek to as
certain what it means.
England is tho great creditor nation
of the world. According to Mr. Glad
stonc, whose authority nobody will dis
putc, her credits abroad amounted in
1898 to tho astounding sum Of $40, ,000,-
600, 900, and these Investments, accord
ing to the calculation of the same high
authority, brought i'll to Englishmcn
the tidy amount i'll annual returns of
$500, 900, 900. These credits of Great
Britain have not certainly decreased in
the course Of the last three years, and in
referring to them now it will be safe
enough to speak of them as still amount
ing to that sum. In that income of
$500, 900, 900 from her foreign invest
mcnts is to be recognized ono of tho !,
leading sources OF England 8 well to do |
ness. 1t represents u fine revenue when !
we remember especially that it is quite
over and above all her ordinary COM
mercial gains, She is in the position of |
the head of family who has saved so
much money and has invested it 30
wisely that 'ho is able to support his
family upon it without touching current
profits or revenuca 1t is very good for
England,
But thcrc Is another view Of the case,
and tho other,is the view in which we,
as British tributaries, arc mainly inter
estcd, for wo! arc tributaries to Great
Britain, however much We may squirm
at the name. And, in fact, not only are
We tributaries Of Great Britain, but we
arc easily the most extensive tributaries
that che has. OF tho $500, 900, 900 per
annum which indebted foreigners pay
to Britishers to make them rich and
we have tho pleasure of
hot I,,
over 5000, 600, 900 ovcry year.
1t is worth while rejecting moment
how we pny that huge annual tribute,
all payable In gold or COLDS equivalent
Plainly we cannot pay it all with tho
gold that Is mined i'll the United States,
for the gold that is mined in the United
States in year does not amount at the
outside to moro than $50, 900, 900, and
we cannot pay off a gold debt of $780,
300, 600 with n gold product OF $780,
BOO, 600. When we have handed over to
our creditor on the other side Of the At
antic every ounce of tho $50, 900, 900
shich is annually extracted from the
United States mines, we still owe Eng.
and an annual debt of $3.50, 900, 900.
low do wc pay it?
We have TO pay it in exports. And
The Statist, in tho excerpt which we
lave quoted, tells the nature of the pay
nent in exports-"thc producing coun-
ries have been plunged into so much
distress that they are compelled to sell
i whatever price they can get" The
United States is among the producing
here referred to. and the
United States, debtor, has to accept q ,,
ebtor's lines from tho creditor. The
United States has to sell its exports at ,
he price it can get" There is no ,
cader of The Times. Democrat so i'll !,
osted at this time of day as to inagiae ,
hat the price Of cotton and of wheat Is ,
xed by the producer It is the pur- /,
hascr over in Liverpool who fixes the /,
rice which the farmer in the United I,
tatcs is 10 be paid for his surplus cot !,
III and wheat that ia for sale. =
Now, then, Americans being indebted 9
! large sum per annum, as We have |,
zen, to the Britisher, and not being .
bic to pay the British creditor in gold, :
ayo TO take what price for their goods
ley can get. Previously to the dcmone.
cation of silver as money, when sill
II and gold were both legal tender cur
ncy on parity, Americans paid off
leir annual indebtedness to tho British a
editor in wheat at 81 per bushel and
'tton at IL cents per pound. That was
/ equitable transaction. The creditor
II good interest on his investment, and r
l..