The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-08-24
LIVERPOOL CABLES.

has been that the gold standard is the Brit
ish standard. and even later a Democratic
plank has declared against any interna-
tional money standard on the ground that
it is foreign. These same demagogues have
all their lives advocated tariffs which
would put our market under the control of
European competitors making the Amerl-
can people producers of raw material, the
hewers of wood and the drawers of water
for European manufacturers and mer-
chants, but when it comes to the adoption
of the worlds yardstick or steelyards for
measuring values they appeal to prejudice
because of foreign dictation in establish
ing a standard, when, as a matter of fact
Europe would be delighted to see us adopt
the 16-to-1 heresy.
Those who have read the market tele-
grams of late-and who has not?-must
have been struck with the frequent occur
renee of the words Liverpool cables
One day last week the price of wheat
sagged because Liverpool cables" were
not so buoyant. Saturday the price of
wheat scared, and why? Because Liver
pool cables bought wheat and led the adj
vancing prices. Why does not some eX-
cessively American person step in and say
Foreigners are debating our wheat mar
kets as they never have before and it is
high time that a proud and patriotic people
of 100000, more or less, protest against
this sort of thing?' Waxing wroth and
eloquent, he may continue: Did not thr-
teen colonies, with about 100000 of people,
nf
Britain? And now shall $4,000 900 of Amer
leans be so base and spiritless that they
will let Liverpool make the price of our
wheat?" The calamityites and silver-mine
| politicians are hard pushed for rallying
| cries. Let them inscribe on their battered
banners, mo blarsted Britisher shall make
| the price of American wheat"
True, Liverpool cables have caused the
rapid advance in the price of wheat the
past two weeks, but let us show our hatred
of tyrants and Britons by insisting upon
7O-cent wheat at home rather than have
foreign influences push it up to a dollar
and that dollar in the yellow metal of the
British gold bug by which he proposes to
enslave the American farmer.
There would be just much sense in
such a performance as there has been in
this effort to arouse prejudice against the
money which measures the values of the
worlds commerce because it is the stand
ard of Great Britain. London and Liver
pool are the cities to which the world s
surplus tends, because England is coun-
try which depends upon the rest of the
world for it's food and raw materials Or
dinarily the surplus of the worlds wheat
crop is consumed within five hundred
miles of Liverpool. The same may be said
of other staples like cotton. If the surplus
is short in Liverpool the prices advance;
if abundant, the prices fall. The values Of
these SURPRISES they measure in gold
which has become the money of commerce.
Whether other nations that buy of this
surplus or sell to it use silver or depre-
ciated paper money, the price is made in
gold. If we were on a silver basis the dol
lar wheat in Liverpool would represent 81. 40
in silver, but Liverpool would buy and sell
with gold, and if we had a paper currency
so deprecated that it would take 500 of it
to get a gold dollar the fact would not
change the gold value paid for wheat. 1t
may be cause for crashing of teeth. but
it is a hard and immovable fact. Liver
pool cables are the worlds prices in gold