The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1897-08-19
A WORKINCMAN
Takes the Trouble to Inform
Himself on Finance.
Now Wage Workers Are Misled by False
Advice and Rotten Promises.
The Prices Under the
Gold Standard.

A gentleman of this city, working
man, puddler, has taken the trouble
to inform himself on the question of
the dollar, and in reply to an invita-
ton of a friend for information on the
subject sent the following, which the
friend believes worthy of publication.
1t is good sign when working peo-
pie who have so often beenmisl ed by
false advice and rotten promises, have
taken to investigating for themselves.
There will be fewer empty cellars in
the city of Youngstown and fewer dem
agogues enrichlng themselves in office,
and from the labor Of working people,
when this question is better understood.
In explanation Of the "dear dollar" the
puddler writes to his friend as follows:
BY perusal Of the table which you
will find enclosed, you will perceive
that the price Of gold has been upward
since 1873, while everything else has
decreased in price.
The table gives the prices OF prod
ucts as estimated by the agricultural
and treasury departments Of the Unit
ed States government, except the prices
on cotton, which would take another
table just as big to show the different
prices and grades: but rs near as / can
make out, the price OF cotton in 1895
was about &C per cent of what 1t was
in 1873.
You can see that for an ounce Of
silver in 1873 you would have paid
s1.29; you can get the same amount in
1895 for 65 cents. So the purchasing
power Of gold has increased 40 per
cent in regard to silver.
Corn n '73 was 4S cents; in '95 It
was 25; gold compared with corn has
increased in purchasing power 4S per
cent
Wheat in '73 was SIPS; in '95 was so
cents; the purchasing power of gold
increased 81 per cent, though neither
Of these products had lost any part of
their value as life sustaining foods
The purchasing power of gold in the
same period and measured by farm
products, shows as follows:
Oats ...... .... Increased 40 per cent
Rye ...... .... Increased AZ per cent
Barley .... .... Increased GA per cent
Hay ...... ..... Increased 81 per cent
Buckwheat E. Increased 45 per cent
Tobacco 80. Increased 13 per cent
Potatoes Increased 63 per cent
Pork 80. .... Increased 2S per cent
Fine wool ..... Increased SO per cent
Cotton -. ....Increased &C per cent
Average Of ALL SO per cent.
Suppose you were a wheat grower,
and in 1878 you borrowed $1,000. You
could have paid that debt in the year
with $50 1928 bushels of wheat. But
suppose you could not pay that debt
until 1896, it would just take 1000
bushels. II you were such a farmer,
you would not row be a gold bug.
One ounce of silver in 1873 would
buy one bushel of wheat and IA cents
over; one ounce Of silver in 1895 would
buy one bushel Of wheat and 15 cents
over, so you see the wheat farmer, IL
we were on a silver basis could have
paid the S1,00 debt with just about the
same number of bushels in 1895 as he
could in 1873.
If you Had $1,000 in gold in the year
1878, and you took it down in your Gel
lar and buried it, in 1895 your $1,000 OF
gold would have been about twice as
because you could then get
about twice as much of tie products
Of labor as in 1873, or in other words,
your $1,000, after beirg reincarnated,
would have been doubled. Are you
still gold bug?
Can't you see from the table that sill
yer has kept closer to the commodities
han gold has, hence would have been
/ better standard? Yet we believe that
l standard based on two metals would
fuctuate less than a standard based
On one.
Here is something funny about
wheat. The yield in the United States
n 1873 was S1,264, 700 bushels, valued
1t 1923 ,594 So5; 1895 the yield was 467,-
L02,9i7 bushels, valued at s237 1898, 1898.
You see the yield was almost double
n ,'95 compared with '73, but still the
95 crop was valued at $S5,s55,S07 less.
Il seems that the more a farmer pro-
luces the less he gets for IT,
Hoping that this will have ten
lency to lead you to see the silver lin
ng Of the bimetallic idea, live long and
zee many happy days, remain, yours
respectfully. youngstown Vindlcator.
Get Ready to Prove It.
The Cleveland Press has set the pace
m g.