The representative., 1897-02-10

aDlllty or our farmers to buy manu-
factured goods, for it was as certain
as anything could be, that his elec-
tlon would not put more dollars into
their pockets. The dollars the farm
erS must have in order to purchase
manufactured goods, they can only
get by the sale Of the products of
their farms. The lower prices these
products bring, the fewer dollars they
will have. The only way to put more
dollars into their pockets. Is to get
them better prices for their products.
And McKinley's election, meaning our
continued pursuit OF the apprecia ting
gold standard, meant lower range Of
prices; lower range Of prices, fewer
dollars in the farmers pockets: and
fewer dollars in the farmers pockets,
a further restriction in the demand
for manufactured goods.
Moreover, with the fall in the farm
prices, the credit Of the farmer disap-
pears, for depreciation in the value OF
his property means an impairment of
his ability to pay his debts. Conse-
quently, just as dollars become scarcer
credit is cut away. Mr., McKinley's
election meaning lower prices, and
lower prices having come, and such
being the result OF lower prices, it is
only natural that McKinley's election
should have failed to lead an in
creased demand for the products of
our mills.
And for the manufacturer to pro-
duce stock he cannot sell, means he
must borrow money to carry such
stock, and when it becomes clear that
there is no market for such stock and
that it is depreciating in value from
day to day, it becomes more and more
difficult to borrow upon it. So the
manufacturer who trusted in pre-elec-
tion promises finds himself, unless
possessed of large capital, on the brink
Of disaster. Over the precipice of
bankruptcy he must be forced when
ever his creditor, usually his bank,
refuses to renew a loan on such stock.
Such refusal forces him to throw his
goods on the market at forced sale,
where they bring much less than cost,
and repetition Of such losses rapidly
leads to the inevitable failure. What
is more, such forced sale, depressing,
of necessity, the value Of the stocks of
other manufacturers, affects their
credit very injuriously, leads to the
banks pressing them for payments and
so one failure leads on to another.
That the organs of the gold contrac-
tioniSts should find the real reason
for the continued industrial stagna-
tiOn and the startling multiplication
of failures tnat has brought the COM
mercial and financial world to the
verge Of panic, is too much to expect.
They recognize that the demand for
goods of all kinds has fallen off since
the election of Mr.. Mckinley, but
fhou t;rl,f c hv nf fo
this curtaled demand. They are
busily engaged in codgering up imag-
mary causes which res olive the mselves
into lack of confidence. And what 10
do they attribute this lack OF C Mi
dence. Not the true reason, /. c., the
appreciation Of the gold dollar, our
measure Of value, and the consequent
undermining of the value Of property
upon which men must rely for the
payment of their debts, but to efforts
to check this fall in prices through
tariff egislation--either this, OF
false currency system, that gives no
assurance to business men selling on
credit, that they will not be paid in
deprecated dollar.
To say that any merchant hesitates
to sell on credit at the present time,
because Of fear that he may be paid in
unprecedented greenDacKS, is aDSurQ. tie
hesitateS from the fear that he will
not be paid all. He would be only too
glad to sell his whole stock if he could
be assured OF payment in green backs.
The fear Of a deprecated dollar is not
worrying our merchants. What is
worrying them is the handicap of an
appreciating dollar under which they
are obliged to labor. They do not,
perhaps, recognize the appreciation of
gold, but they do feel the resulting
handicap of falling prices, and it is
this steady fall in prices that unset
ties confidence, for when creditors see
the value of the property OF their
debtors shrinking away, they fear
such debtors will be unable to pay
their debts. But in spite of all this,
the retirement Of our greenbacks is
pressed, as the remedy for our ills.
Such course could only result in
making gold still dearer. and aggra-
waiting the malady from which we suf-
fer. 1t is a dear dollar that has de-
stroyed confidence. We cannot restore
confidence by making it still dearer.
In writing to advertisers in this
paper our patrons will confer u favor