The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1897-09-09


They strai ghtWay uems NJ ell the repeal q
the purchasing clause Of tie sherman
law. Why b cause they always want
the dollar of the greatest possible pur-
chasing power. 1hat means lowest pos
sible price. Thet means that they want
TO buy as much Ct your tine, your SER
vice, of the things you make or raise
or own as they possibly can for dollar.
Tie value of money is its purchasing
power which depends absolutely on the
amount of it in circulation.
The oily way to increase its purchas'
log power is to make 1t scarce, relatively
TO the work It must do. So the gold
men want the scarcest possible KIDD Of
money. That is goli, OF ooprse.
Scarce money benefits only those who
alre 'dy have money to live on and to
lend. The scarcer money is the more a
dJllar will buy. This whole conflict is
between those who have money, pr other
mems promises to pay, on the one side
and those who have time, ser rSice or prop
erty to sell, on the other side.
1t is said that low prizes are due solely
to improved methods of production, but
in many lines there has ben no i'm
provsment. Take cattle for Instance.
There we're four and one-half million
less cattle in tie United States in 1896
than in 1890, and alth, ug> there we're
10000, 900 mCre people to be fed, the price
fill per cant. There were 5000, 900
less hogs in the United States In 1895
than In 1890 although the 10, 900, 900 more
ptople must be fed, the price fell 10 per
cent Exports have remained practically
the SAME.
1t is said low prices are due to over
production. Over production Of food
with miners starving and the children Of
the slums habitually hungry Over pro-
duction of clothes while our people are
half naked or clad in rags 1t Is said
that low prices benefit labor. Then labor
ought to be better off now than ever be-
fore because prices never were so low.
The fact is that low and filling prices
make it Improbable to employ labor.
This reduces the demand for labor and
idIeness for many Is the Inevitable result.
When labor Is in demand, when the en-
Iloyers are bidding for the services Ct one
man, wagrs 20 up-when two or half
a dozen men are struggling for the same
joh, wages tend to fall. Labor union
may keep the rate of wages per day, bat
the amO unit Of a mans earnings depends
not only upon tie rate per day but also
upOn the number Of days work In week
or JeT. III man is paid 80 day but
can get only on9 day $ work week his
wages are In reality 80 a week. Loss of
employment Is the greatest loss that can
befall labor, and falling prices mako this
Inevitable. The gold men soy that BIZ
metallisn means repudiation. Suppose
you had promised to pay man a hun
dred bushels of wheat every year. If he
had gradually enlarged the measure until
1t teld two bushels would it be repldia-
tion on your part to insist upon return
tJ tie STANFORD measure? That is pre-
Jisely our position. In 1878 we borrowed
dollars Of certain purchasing power;
now We are called upon to repay dollars
1f twice that purchasing power-dollArs
that are tWice as hard to .rn-twice as
valuable as those We borrowed. 1t is
said that these conditions can not be
iue tI contraction of the money sup
lly because no money has been destroyed
ince 1878 and $3.50, 100000 have been
Iddel 1 by the Bland-Allison and Sherman
avs besides a large amount of gold. The
most eminent statistiCians of England
md Germany, however, declare that the
AMOUNT of geld aided to the worlds
tcck of money since 1878 has not more
han eq1allea tie loss by atr4sion and
he amounts boarded in the war chests
# Europe-which so far as circulation
md susti nag prices Is concerned might
Is well never have been mined.
1t is true that $3.50, 900, 900 of silver
lave been c1iLed in the United Stats s
,ut that is practically all the new legal
ender moley that has been added to the
GuroL IN and Ane lean supplies in that
ime, whereas b fore 1878 more than
450, 900, 600 was coined In Europe and
\ n erica every five years. So instead of
half the moneI ana leaving
he demand for 1t the san G, the amount of
nOLeY has been practically unaltered
Vhil3 the demand for it has more than
pulled. The effects are similar except
hat the former would have been sharp
nd merGifully soon over, while the latter |
as been like the slow dry rot Of lsprosy.
Bimetsllists have said that the price Of |
wheat would ordinarily rise and fall !
With the gold price Of silver bullion.
Vhy2 Because until 1898 the Russians |
I'D East Indians woIl Z, on this avetage, |
ell a b1shPl of wheat 10 London when |
he price il fixed, for an ounce Of silver
ullton. 10 order TO compete, our far
leTs m ust also sell bushel If wheat for |
n ounce Of silver, or what silver would
ring iu gold,
In 1873 silver sold for 81. 80 an ounce
VA MM w