Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1897-09-09

Ii has not RESULTED in the appreciation
Of gold" because gold has not appreciated.
Any article appreciates" in value only
when there is an increased demand for II
either because OF the reduction in the
quantity or an enlarged need for II IN the
current affairs OF life. The figures or
the best statsticians show that the gold
coin OF the world and the total money or
the world have increased much more rap
idly than the population since 1873, hence
the absurdity OF the claim that II has APP
preciated" in value, as the amount Tor
each individual in the world has greatly
increased since the passage of the act IN
question. The gold money of the world
has more than doubled since 1913, the Sill
yer money of the world has nearly or quite
trebled in that time and the paper money
has also increased largely, while the pop
ulation OF the world has increased only 20
per cent in the same period. 1t Is mus
evident that the total amount OF money
for each individual in the world is much
greater than in 1873 and that there can
thus be no increased per capita demand
for gold and hence no appreciation IN
its value, while the fact that large pro-
portion Of the business of the world Is now
performed with checks, drafts and other
forms of credit without the direct use OF
money further reduces the demand upon
gold. The mines OF the world produce
more gold to-day than they produced OF
gold and silver together in 1873, the SILVER
production of to-day is nearly three times
what it was in 1873 and tie amount OF
silver now annually coined is more than
was produced from the mines Of the worlu
in 1873. The number of silver dollars
| -, Al, in fiscal
year Just ended was two and half times
as many as in the entire history of the
minis prior TO 1873 and the total number
of full legal tender dollars coined by our
minis since 1873 is Sc times as many as
were coined in the entire history OF the
mint prior to the act Of 1878.
We declare that the act OF 1873
| resulted In an appreciation OF gold ana a
corresponding fall in prices.
| Since il is shown from official status
tics that there has been no appreciation
OF gold but on the contrary vast increase
In its production and coinage and an in
crease in the other classes of money of the
world, an increase much more rapid than
that Of the population, the cause OF the
fall in prices of commodities must be look
ed for elsewhere. This fall in prices is
| due to the enormous increase in produc-
| ton, and to the reduced cost OF produc-
ing and transporting the products of the
farm, factory, forest and mine. Senator
PETER, in his report TO the Senate in 1884
on the cause Of the fall in agricultural
prices, said: "ln Kansas it appears from
| the report of the secretary of the State
Board Of Agriculture that it costs 90
cents TO raise bushel of wheat,
! In Pennsylvania the average cost of pro-
ducing a bushe Of wheat is about 60
cents. Wheat I'm India costs but
about 13 cents n bushel on the farm, II
| cents more puts il aboard ship and 20
cents additional lands it on the wharves
in Liverpool. This ffty-cent wheat from
India completes lin our best market, Eng
! land) with wheat on American farms sc
an average cost of GO cents per bushel
Wages Of India farm hands run
from TO 10 cents Of our money per day.
| The same report shows that the cost Of
producing wheat on the great farms OF
| California and the Dakotas is less than
half the average cost in the Central Mis-
sissippi valley, while similar conditions
| prevail in Argentine and Australia, which
| through the extremely low ocean freights
are also competitors with us in all the
markets Of the world. The reduced cost
Of agricultural products, due to the com
bination of low freights and the use OF
machinery, finds a parallel in the reduced
cost Of manufacturing in all lines through
similar causes, and also in the reduction
in the cost Of mining and the production
OF the precious metals, which thus supply
TIE money of the world at a greatly reduc-
ed cost Of that prime measure OF value,
labor
hoe rcsrItcd In heavy Increase in
the burdens OF taxation.
The increase in the burdens Of Federal
taxation are mainly due TO the increase in
expenditures for pensions, public build
ings and river and harbor improvements,
and any party which would specifically
declare against a continuation OF these
would quickly find itself repudiated by the
people.
We declare that the act of 1873
has resulted in n heavy increase in
the burden Of all debts. public and private
The census figures show that the in
crease in debts since 1873 has been, in
very large share of the cases, for the pur-
chase Of homes or the improvement Of
farms, and that the sections in which this
Increase in mortgage Indebtedness has
been greatest, have shown as result the
EEHultsL
in actual wealth and genuine prosperity.
We declare that the act OF 1873
resulted I'm the enrichment OF tho
money-lending class at home and abroad
The money lending class can only grow
rich" by the interest which it receives for
money loaned, and everybody knows that
the rates Of interest have greatly fallen
since 1873 and that the opportunity for
enrichment by this means must conse-
quently have been correspondingly reduc-
ed. The usurious rates of interest which
were possible in many sections of the
country prior to 1873 are now absolutely
prohibited by State legislation.
We declare that the act OF 1873
resulted in the prostration of indus-
try and the lmpoverishment Of the people.
Industry was not "prostrated" or the
people Impoverished" until the success of
the Democratic party at the polls in 1892
end its free trade legislation which fol.
lowed paralyzed industry in the United
States and transformed its communities
Of busy workmen into idlers, thus bringing
"prostration of industry and impoverish.
ment Of the people" There was never
greater prosperity in the United States or
any other country than that OF the years
;mmediat elv preceding the Democra tic