Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1896-09-19
SUPPLY AND DEMAND.

Advocates of the single gold standard
never fail to take advantage of an oppor
tunity to impress upon the farmers that
supply and demand alone regulate the
price of their products. They make
speciality of using the cotton crop, its
size and the price it brings in the dis
cussion of their overproduction theory.
Overproduction and silver agitation, to-
gether with the absence of confidence, it
must be borne in mind, are the causes to
which the average goldbug editor and
orator seeks to trace all the ills that
have come upon the country. The re-
cent report of Mr.. Henry G. Hester, Sec
rotary of the New Orleans cotton ex-
change, is now being used by the goldite
editors extensively. That report shows
that the cotton crop of 1856 was 7,157,-
5f6 bales, Of the value of 1921 095,347 while
the crop of 1S9495 was 1901, PSI bales, of
the value of 1927 ,037 $50 showing that the
crop of 1S94-95 was larger than the crop
of 1866 by 2,742,905 bales, but brought
only $2,942,1S more than the crop of
1S95-96. These figures are being paraded
in large type in the effort to impress up
on the farmers that they are suffering
only from overproduction. They argue
that the farmers in 1S94-95 received only
about 81 per bale for producing, gather
ing and marketing the more than 2,000,-
600 bales of cotton they produced in ex-
cess of the number produced in 1896,
and all because of overproduction.
Down to this point the goldbug comes
all right. He freely admits the existence
OF such law as that of supply and de-
no 70 iS DIV fA
ply the same law to the money question,
but the goldbug fees or promptly denies
the existence of such law. The farmer
attempts to reason with him in this way.
He says that is true. l admit that sup
ply and demand regulates the prices of
my products, and SO does supply and de-
mand regulate the price of money. If L
have ten bales of cotton and desire to
enter the market with it for the purpose
of buying money, 1 will be able to buy
$50 with each bale if there is an ample
supply of money in the channels of trade
and circulating among the people. That
Is what ! could buy with a bale of cotton
before the contraction that the gold
standard has brought came, but
now L find that can buy
only about $50 with bale.
Will you, Mr.. Goldbug, not admit now
that larger volume of money would en-
able me to buy more money with the
products of my farm. and that supply and
demand applied to money has a potent
influence upon the prices of all kinds of
products and every character of labor?
oh, no, rejoins Mr. GoIdbug, supply and
demand does not come in there. 1t is
plain case Of the lack of confidence and
Then the farmer attempts to reason with
the goldbug along this line: You say
that small crop of cotton will buy near
ly or quite as much money as a large one
will buy, and you present the figures to
bear you out in the statement. Then
will you be SO kind as to inform me fully
of the reasons why a contraction of the
cotton crop Invariably enhances the pur-
chasing power of cotton, and according
to your theory, contraction of the mon
ey crop does not have the same effect?
Here the goldbug cries anarchist, social
list, repudiator, grows red in the face
and hunts up the corporation boss and
tells him the farmers are all fools and
that If Mckinley is elected he must Sc
cure his election by reasoning with the
wage earners. The line of argument used
in the hope of accomplishing that being
gentle notice to the effect that unless
Mckinley gets the vote of the EMPLOYEES
of corporations such employees will lose
their Jobs.