The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1896-08-14

| SILVER they rCyer put 10 III connection wfth
| this other fact. Thus ID Ia never revealed by
| them that during this long period, when silver
| had free accesl to tho mints, " H. held itself
| hloof from other commodities, impotcnt alike
| 20 prevent their fall or TO promote their rise.
| D. We note, in the third place, that the re-
| cent fall In prices did not begin in 1873, but In
| 1864 When those who are trying to foist upon
| this cNyntry the unlimited coinage of silver
| rs a ioanncea for all our ills, real and imagin-
| airy, seek to establish their position by statis-
| tics or average prices and by giving the
| prices OF certain great commodities like wheat
and cotton, why, in the name of candor, do
| they not go back at least n few years further
| and show that in relation to some of the most
| important items quoted, the fall in prices be-
| tween 1866 and 1873 double discounted any
thing In the way of n fall that has taken place
since 1878. that 1T was greater in those eight
| years than in all the years SINGER Why, for OK
ample, don't they remind the cotton planter
| that tho price Of midding cotton fell from
81 OILS pound in 1864 TO less than IL cents in
1912 Do they not possess adequate information
| on vital points2 Or they willfully suppress
| ing portion of the truth, having a lively APP
| probation OF the fact that this simple state
ment would be sufficient to overturn their en-
| And now, Mr.. Chairman. having shown by
| my colleagues own figures that tho fall In
| prices about which he and other free silverites
say SO much is not the only one or even tho
great one OF this century: that IL did not be-
gin in 1873, and hence IL not due to the cause
to which they ascribo it, and that "free sill
ver." having demonstrated in the past it's in
competency to affect prices (even IL that had
been shown to be dcsirable), cannot reasonably
| things having been proved Mr.. Chairman, our
| side can fairly rest our case and demand the
| judgment of all candid men.
What Caused the Two Great Falls In
Average Prices.
Taking the century as the period for inves-
| tigation and reverting again to my chart
for the course Of prices, let us try to discover
the reasons for those mighty changes in the
| level of prices.
We note first of all that there have been in
this century two periods of very high prices
and two periods OF gradual fall in prices. Can
any principle or law be discovered in accord
ance with which these changes in price levels
took placer IL SO, it is very pertinent to this
discussion.
Let us see if the two periods of high prices
have anything i'll common. The first of these
periods extended from 1889 to 1914, with its
highest point at 1909. tits very important to
remember thot these were the years of the
Napoleonic wars. which cost Europe so much
in blood and treasure. 1t is noteworthy, also,
that the second period OF very high prices coy
early ffties, our own mighty conflict in the
early sixties, followed in the later sixties by
the war between Prussia and Austria and in
1870 by the Franco Prussian war.
Now war Is great destroyer of property,
while at the same time it takes from the pro-
ductive industries vast numbers of their best
workmen. 1t Is II time of abnormal demand
coincident with abnormally restricted supply,
hence q, period marked by great wars is always
q period of abnormally high prices.
What, on the other hand, is the natural and
legitimate effect on prices produced by long
Every person within the sound Of my voice
has as one OF his proper ambitions the acquire
ment of n competency for his old age. Now.
Mr.. Chairman, what Is the rational basis of
such hope? In its ultimate analysis it is this:
That each month and each year the person en-
Pertaining such hope shall produce more
than he consumes. This is the basis Of increase
in wealth, personal and national.
Now price depends chiefly on two things: I.
2 cost of production. 1t therefore follows that
in long period of peace, when production
naturally exceeds consumption and when tho
wit of man is free to exercise its ingenuity in
devising now and better methods OF produc-
ton, prices naturally fall. Thus it has been
through all the ages, and thus. will 1t ever be.
Following the NapolcOnic wars at tho begin
ming of tho century ANA follow ing the Franco
Prussan war Of 1870 came long PERIODS OF
peace, accompanied by the usual fall in aver
If peace conditions are normal, three Incl.
dental results should appear, and all OF them
have appeared:
/. There should be improvement in tho
standard of living. This implies
2 That given amount of labor should bring
larger returns in the comforts Of life. and
B. The demand for more and better things TO
eat should show itself in sustained prices for
those better foods whose production cannot be
increased indefinitely.
What soetbeer's Summary SHOWS.
Pushing this investigation n little further
let us find out what articles have been most
affected by the fall in prices.
The price tables of DR.. AdolDh Sootbeer, tho
great German statistician, are justly regarded
as high authority. Let us SEQ what they show
when considered rs no himself sums them up
by groups. The numbers in the following table
arc his index numbers, with 1870 prices Us
a base or 100 per cent.
Products OF agriculture etc. 1874 1907
Animal and fish products. 1865 1905
Southern products, etc.........,i 2l.5i !34 Al
Tropical products. ............. 1882 1901
Minerals and metals. ........... 9547 LBS
Textile materials. ...............i2g.m g56S
Eonrtnen Rritisb MANN fnctnrcI ~ ~
articles. .......................130 .55 1929
Dividing the above table into two equal
parts, we observe that tho prices Of the first
four (which are chiefly food products) were
while the prices of tho second four lin the pro-
duction OF which labor saving machinery are
largely used) show a marked fall.
The Soetbeer tables evidently do not war
rant the statement so often made, with them
as alleged authority, thai there has been a
meant that all articles or groups of articles
have fallen largely and in measure equally.
Prices Not Governed by Volume of Money.
1t is accepted as automatic by many that the
volume of money in a country governs prices
there. and, at first glance. this seems reason.
able. But even little study of the subject
shows that such view is untenablo.
In 1900 when wo had period of high prices,
our volume OF money in circulation was SIG,
100000. AS our population. was then 5,3OS, 4S3
we had only $3.50 per capita. In l841, when
prices were much lower, we had money in cir
culation amounting to $l0.50, or more than
twice as much proportionally az in $500.
In 1865, when we had inflated war prices,
the volume of money in circulation amounted
to $20.57 per capita, while in 1864, when aver
age prices were much lower, the money In cir
culation was $2i.2 per capita.
The total volume OF money in circulation In
France today amounts to $35.77, while that of
her neighbor. Switzerland, Is only $0.N per
capita. Does any one believe that the prices
in France are four times as high AZ in Swift
zerlandp Taking gold money as the basis
of comparison, France has S22 10 per capita,
while Greece has only 70 cents per capita.
Does any one believe that prices in France are
hundred times high as in Greece? AS
matter of fact. they arc almost identical.
Tooke, in his monumental work on the "His
tory of Prices, p" truthfully sums the matter up
as follows:
"There Is not as far as l have been able 70
discover, any single commodity in the whole
range of articles embraced in tho most extern
sive list of prices the variations OF which do
not admit Of being distinctly accounted for by
circumstances peculiar to 1t. - Circum-
stances do frequently operate with such force
as to reduce prices in the face of an expand
ing currency and to advance prices when the
currency Is diminishing. In point of fact, the
expansion Is frequently rather effect than
q cause of enhanced prices"
Prices That DO Not Need "Restoring."
The United States Statistical Abstract de-
servedly ranks high authority. Opening
the latest edition 1891 at page ALI, find the
export price of mess beef quoted ut cents in