Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1896-10-22
A VICIOUS DELUSIoN.
Promise Of Free silverites Of an Advanc
luxH

r on Farm Products. 80, ~,
The capital delusion of the free sill
yer victim Is that there will be an adj
vance in the market value of farm pro-
ducts Immediately upon the adoption of
the free and unlimited coinage of silver.
The silver price, they believe, will CORE
spond with the premium on gold. This
is no more vicious delusion than that
of Bryan that, If anyone has acquired
money or property he has acquired 1t
by stealing or robbery, the possession of
wealth being prima facie evidence of
the guilt of n man Of theft.
So far as the first delusion IL con-
cerned. the free silver champion always
insists that the farmer will be the chief
beneficiary. The ordinary wage-earn-
er may whistle for benefits. The farm
or is the fellow who will be certainly
favored. The American farmer Is rep
resented by the Bryanites as .pauper of
twenty-five years standing. the. victim
of the act of 1873 which ''struck down
silver" None of these victims" is even
able to tell how he was stricken down
with silver. but they have all been taught
to attribute their disabilities to low
prices said to have been thrust upon
the country concurrently with the
striking down of silver" in 1873.
Every postulate of. Bryanism is an
economic and financial untruth. Prices
do not depend upon the quantity of
money in circulation, nor is 1t true that
the act of 1873 struck out of the circula-
ton half the money in USE. 1t didn't
impair the value of single dollar in cir
culation in this country, and so far as
silver is concerned, the country, within
twenty years after the striking down
of silver" had fifty or sixty times as
much silver as it had had in the eighty
years previous In 1873 there was in
circulation in this country money and its
representsadtyes aggIegat nn; SaS1 ISL 500
1873 there were only about 100000 sill
yer dollars in existence. On July 1,
1896. there were $47S, 652, S6S silver in
circulation. Potential facts squarely
against the assumptions of Bryan! Mr..
Bryan keeps on saying that, With tho free
ounce. 1t may be worth that in silver:
What does that amount to? No act of
Congress can pull silver up to the par
of gold. however. The act of 1890 didn't
push silver up to $1.29. In 1890 it was
81 .O4633 an ounce. and when the act was
repealed ii was $.7S021 an ounce. Gov
could raise silver to $1.29 there would
be the same ''too valuable" dollar which
Bryan says must give way to q cheap
dollar" to "help the farmer" All Bry-
antics in fact want TO see the present
1OO-cent dollar knocked out and the prop
wages worth ~ cents on the dollar.
After all the talk about big prices
for the farmer what would be accom-
plished for him? In 1860, taking the
index figure 100 to indicate all prices,
in 1865 wheat was 140.5; corn, 1924 |;
oats, 1869. and the general average Of
agricultural products was 1916. How
did the farmer fare? His clothes in
creased the same time to 1902; fuel to
237.S; price of farm implements to 1914.
Under such big advances in prices where
was the benefit to the farmer from the
increase of farm product prices? The
lowest prices for farm products were
reached before the "crime of 1879 was
perpetrated and since then few products
have shown an appreciable decline, while
the lower cost of production, the inven-
ton Of labor-saving machinery, the great
reduction of freights and taxes have been
contributory TO the farmers advantage.
Bryan and his friends say cheap COM
modities are a curse to the farmer.
Docs the farmer think them so? DO
wage-earners think cheap clothes, cheap
fuel. cheap food, cheap tools big
"curse," as Bryan says they are? 4
man who pronounces these things curse
is either a fool or knave.-M Minneapolis
JouruaI p