The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1896-08-21
The Loose Screw.

The goldbugs have stock argument
that when reconciliation of silver raises
prices that people will have to pay, say,
double as much for what they use and
consume, in the matter of food, clothing,
rents, ETC., and they would be no better
off. Let us illustrate by single article in
general use which will serve for ali others.
A man is earning dollar day and a
barrel of flour costs $500. The barrel of
flour is consumed by his family in three
weeks. In the three weeks he has earned
$I9 and he has SIG after deducting price
of the barrel of flour.
And now to illustrate let us raise the
prices of everything to double former
prices. A barrel of flour costs $40, the
mans wages are advanced to s. day. In
three weeks he has earned $50 and the
flour has taken $40, leaving him $26 sur
plus in place of $I3. And here is the
point the goldbug always leaves out of his
argument. The barrel of flour will fur
nish bread for the family exactly as many
days whether it costs IS or $40. The
length of time things last is always the
same, while an increase of price is similar
to doubling the time of the producer in
which consumption takes place. He has
more dollars left after paying the advanced
price than he had after paying the low
price for things. This rule holds good
through the whole line of production and
consumption. The consumption of an
article covers the same space of time
whatever the price may be, but if you
double the value of a farmers crops you
virtually double his earning time while
his consumption time remains the same.
This is an unvaring law governing pro.
duction and consumption. The producer
is consumer as well as the non-producer,
and his productive power being greater
than his necessity to consume, conse-
quently any advance in prices is invar-
iably for his advantage. The non pro-
Queer being consumer equal in that
respect with the producer, the rise in
price of commodities serves to extract
something from the plethoric store of the
non-producer and add the amount to the
gains of the producer. The non-producer
has generally fixed salary or income
measured by stated number of dollars,
while the producers income is subject to
to the constant rise and fall in prices.
High prices, if not spasmodically or alb
normally increased must always benefit
the laboring, producing class and more
evenly distribute wealth, while low prices
tend to impoverish that class and build up
an abnormally wealthy class, which I'M
balances society, producing most of the ills
our civilization is afflicted with More
money and better prices should be the
motto for the producing class everywhere
Debt, interest and taxes linked with low
prices-the producer is paying them all
are grinding him to powder.
There is another delusion the goldbug
sophist is steadily placing before the eyes
of the wage Garner. He is reminded that
his wages will not increase in the ratio
that prices are likely to advance after the
reconciliation of silver, and therefore |
free coinage would prove detriment to
him. The facts are that while wages |
may seem high in proportion to the fall |
in the price of commodities, wages have
actually fallen more than anything else
No wage Garner is working full time.
Some are losing one-fourth of their time,
others half and others larger percent
age. Tens of thousands have no work at
all, and other hundreds ofthousands pick
up jobs lasting few hours or a few days,
and are kept OIL the tramp hunting for the
next job. There are hundreds of thous-
ands of women and children in semi
starving condition, with actual famine
overtaking many. All ofthis involuntary
loss of time must be deducted from the
good wages" the goldbug papers are
holding up before the eyes of labor, and
then strike the average and see what these
fine wages look like. The two aud three
dollars day dwindle to half a dollar or a
quarter of dollar. The1oss of time to
wage Garner is the same as the loss of the
amount of money he might have earned
had his idle time been employed in
earning wages, and to him is the same as
though he had lost the money after hav-
ing employed the idle time in earning it.
Mr.. H. f. Taubeneck has published a
a little book giving statistics which show
the average daily earnings of farmers,
covering an area of several States In the
best farming sections of the country, and
their average wages, measured by the
price of their crops, was rs cents a day,
and the wages of labor will not amount
to penny more, if to so much, if the in
voluntary lost time is estimated and de-
Quoted from the aggregate SUM paid as
wages to labor,