The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1896-10-15

| bullion value, thus basic principle of
fightful coinage will have been abro-
gated and dehed Under the operation
of the Gresham law gold will disappear
from the, channels of American com
merce, and silver will take its place. All
that we sell foreigners will be paid for in
silver, and all that we buy from them
will be paid for in gold, and we also
will pay the premium on that gold In
short, we. will be monetarily Mexcanized
and no class will suffer so great pro-
portion of the calamitous loss which this
| will cause as American farmers
| FINANACE OF CONFEDERACY.
Thirty-four years ago de facto gov
eminent, called the Confederate States of
America, existed. III had financial
system based upon the popnistic idea
that government can, by mere stamping
| on paper or metal create value. The
Confederate government, therefore, is
| sued paper currency with all the
fanatical faith in fiat finances that thu
leaders OF the cheap money mania de-
velop in this campaign. And that Com
federate government then honored among
It's ablest economists many of the very
| leaders OF the present tnmultuous move
ment for silver recommendation. Tint
profound publicist from Missouri. George
Graham vest, was Il standard authority
in Confederate finance. and so was that
| learned and successful tinancier Isham
q. Harris of Tennessee, and also those
patterns of Confederate wisdom and sa-
gacity, Pugh and Morgan of Alabama.
Those cogent and eloquent advocates of
Il new system of currency for this great
republic, which they would dispose of by
shopworn sample from the Confederate
factory, are not, therefore, neophytes i'm
the philosophy of money and the science
of exchange. Their cOnsummate skill
i'll raising revenues and creating cur
rency values i'll the southern Confed-
eracy attests their qualities ana abilities
as good citizens to whom patriotic
political economy is an inspiration. The
fact that very many of the leaders of
the Confederate rs to / doctrine
were present, dominant and triumphant,
ut the Chicago convention and were also
among the prime architects of the won
derfully expansive and successful none
tary system of the Confedegacy is cause
for congratulation.
VALUE STILL IN THEIR COIN.
But even bad these coins been stamped.
as issued, by the Confederate states of
America and had been of standard weight
and tineness, they would buy as much
, today in the markets of the world as the
same denominations of the United States
gold coins. The stamp of that free sill
/ .
though it be rs dead as Julius Caesar,
is just as good on a double golden eagle
/ and adds as much value as that of any
governmental stamp to any genuine 500
| piece. And yet we are sapiently told
, that coin values are the mere creatures
l of law, Notwithstanding the fact that
, every gold coin made in the minis of
| Georgia and Louisiana in the year 1861
{ coined unlawfully by those who rebel
, liously wrested both bullion and minis
! from their rightful Owner-will pass cur
= rent today with buying power in each
, equal to that of genuine United States
t gold coins of the same weight and fine
= ness.
Is it possible that some sOutherners
are still unreconstructed and Gisloyal!
Can it be that Vest Harris. Morgan,
/ Pugh and other ancient giants of the
, COnfederacy aim to accomplish by II false
, finance that which they failed to bring
about by arms, the dishonor and destruc-
: ton of this republic? Are the same
, logicians who advocated secession for the
southern states in 1861 and are now fer
wildly declaring for free silver, still think
ing of their first love-? And yet some
of these would-be masters of national
: money matters today voted in the Con-
federate congress for the following reso-
luton. which passed and was approved
by Jefferson Davis. on March II, 1862:
BE it resolved, by the congress of the
Confederate States of America, That this
congress do solemnly declare and pub
, fish to the world that it is the unaltera-
BILE determination of the people of the
; Confederate States in humble reliance
: upon Almighty God, to suffer all the ca
/ amitieS of the most prOtracted war, but
: that they will never, on any terms, po-
: iticay affiliate with people who are
guilty of an invasion of their soil and
the buchery of their citizens
And now numbers of those southern
statesmen who declared against affilia-
; ton with the east and west and north
and preferred ''to suffer all the calamities
of the most protracted war are not only
cndcavoring to affiliate with. but to dom
mate and control this whole people and
the entire financial system of the United
States.
MONEY AND PRICES.
Ny views are thoroughly in accord
with those expressed by j. SchOenhof in
his very valuable book on "'Thc History
of Money and Prices"
The quantity of money in circulation
does not determine prices of products
and commodities. Prices 90 mp or 90
down because of inherent qualities in
| commodities. The conditions regulating
| PRICES are Nt'tIHllll'u ny lpi''H vi
gagged in production and distribution.
Manufactured articles have declined in
prices during the last five years OF an
average of about 30 per cent. This de-
cline is the result Of economy in produc-
ton. Science has made labor moro
productive. The yield per day of indi-
vdual effort. in many branches of agri-
culture. is three. four and ten times that
of former periods. Yet wages have
doubled and sometimes trcbled. while
the purchasing power of money has been
either stationary or increased in a much
less degree. Prices have declined and
wages risen logically because of this de-
veopment of improved production. High
wages and low prices are copartners;
| They faithfully represent the increased
skill and productive power of the wage
| Garner.
| Farm products have also declined IN
price because through improved imple-
mcntS. machinery and cheapened trans
portation. new and vast areas of fertile
lands have been opened to tillage. Steam
ships and railroads have brought i'll con
tact with the central markets OF the
world the farm products of Australia,
the Argentine Republic. Russia and In
da. Transportation by water and by