The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1897-12-30

1893. common, to all gold-uslng countries. a
fall in prices Of 20 per cent. has not grown
out of Improvement in machinery exclusive
"; that the labor cost of production has
not been increased by one-ffth in the past
four years and that, therefore, the cause
of this fall in prices must lie in what, if
not in dearer money. and was due primarily
to an appreciation in gold?
Changes in Value.
Changes in the value of money have
largely influenced the movements of prices
during the last half century and were great
factors in the price movements during one
long period During the quarter of a GEN.
fury following the gold discoveries in Cali
fornia there was much progress in the lines
of invention, much Introduction of labor
saving machinery, much cheapening in the
labor cost of production. This, ON your
theory should have caused steadily falling
prices. What happened? The outpouring
of gold cheapened gold to a greater degree
than commodities were cheapened, and the
result was that prices were in general 30
per cent higher at the end of this period
than at che beginning. Then what hap
pened? We, along with many other ma
TONS closed our mints to silver. We i'm
creased the demand for gold. with the result
that gold went up in value and prices of
commodities down. You must abandon the
advocacy of gold monometalis1n unless you
can show that the decentralization of silver
and the doubling of the demand for god
resultant therefrom has not caused gold to
grow deaner and prices lower to the great
injury of all producers of wealth You
should at least show that the perpetuation
of the gold standard will not result in MAX
ing money dearsr and human flesh cheaper.
Retirement of Greenbaci1s.
"Alld, Low, just one word as to the Sec
ond of the resolutions to which you take
exception. This resolution declares, and
you admit it, that the purpose of your
currency bill is to cause the retirement of
our national greenback currency and all
government paper money and the substi-
tuition of bank notes. This you hold to be
desirable. Why? Would it not give the
banks the power to regulate our foreign
exchanges, the power to check gold ex-
ports by contraction and by screwing down
accommodations to merchants so as to
force them to throw. their products on the
market at prices at which our foreign cred
itors would rather take such products than
our gold? Would it not thus relieve the
treasury of the burden of providing for
gold redemptions and make the banks su-
preme? This we hold to be undesirable
1t would make the banks guardians II
our volume of money and SO of our meas
ures of values; it would enable the banks
working in the interests of spectators to
cause movements in prices with great GER
tainty. enable Unem to depress prices by
contracting the currency and raise prices
by expanding the same. 1t would make the
banks the masters and the many the slaves,
and would enrich the few and impoverish
the multitude.
I'm the statement you recently made be-
fore the house committee on banking and
currency in support of your bill you say
and repeat this truism that the less the
government owes the less 1t will have 70
pay Yet your plan involves the propo-
siton of the retirement of our national
paper currency and greenbacks, upon which
we pay no interest at ALL and the issuance
of bonds in it's stead in the sum of $780,
900 600, which we shall owe and upon which
we shall be required to pay interest. The
plan seems glaring.
Giyinr. Up IN tho Banks.
1--WE oppose your currency bill because.
as has been well said, it is a bill to pro-
vide for the abdication of the sovereign
powers of the government to the banks,
for strengthening the hands of the specu-
lative cliques, enriching the few and i'm
poverishing the many"