The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1897-10-05

The Baltimore Sun remarks upon these
! figures:
.eThe moral OF the parallel Is that wheat
| Is not tied to silver any more than to
gold. II we had been on the silver basis
| from September 1896. 10 September. 1897,
| the rise IN the price Of wheat due "a
scarcity would have been nullified TO some
extent by the fall Of the value OF the
| white dollar received in payment Tor II.
| AS II was. the farmer IN September. 1897,
got Sl.Os per busheI in gold. or S2oe' ac-
cording TO Mr. Bryan
Mr.. Charles +. Cook, OF tiffany & Co,
OF New York city. made the following re-
marks to n reporter a day or so back:
yes, as you have noticed in 'he pa
pers, We have reduced the price OF our
current patterns Of sterling silver forks
and spoons TO one dollar per ounce. This
Is the lowest price manufactured silver
has ever retailed at either in this country
or abroad. and II Is feally much lower
than appears In the mere statement OF
81 per ounce. Take for instance tea
spoons at $40 or 81 per dozen; that al
lows about 81 for labor. waste, engraV-
ing, and retailers profits. while there IS
no margin left to pay for the wear and
tear Of machinery and the expensive
dies. Although forks and spoons are
rolled ana stamped out with dies, IT IS
by no means all machine work, The
work OF the die is merely the Initiative;
the art Of bringing out the detail of the
pattern, burning out the tines OF the
forks. smoothing the edges and finishing
Is all skilled hand-work. Our Olympian
pattern once brought $3.50 per ounce; to-
day the Olympian and indian Chrysanthc-
mum patterns sell az S1.S5 per ounce; and
while silver has deprecated. the cost OF
labor has not FOR the price Of skilled
work IS steadily growing stronger, ana
cowmands more to-day than few years
ago.
Il do not believe that any political act
Of our government or the countries
abroad can give silver any permanent
appreciation. az best. it could only have
"a temporary effect. for. like the price
Of wheat aud labor. it is governed by the
irrevocable Jaw Of supply and Ceinand.
The supDly OF silver ~ practically unlin-
tied. and were silver mining SUSPENDED.
the supply would still not be entirely
cut Off. for silver Is a bi-pr0dEct Cf many
other minerals. it H. said there IS very
little gold mined without silver an u, and
that the residue OF lead and copper min
ing brings anywhere from so TO 9'D worth
Of silver to the ton. The dep.ossion or
silver has Of course stimulates me sale
OF silverware ana greatly Increased me
volume and variety OF products. ana the
profits Of the manufactures nave becn
materially reduced: but this may be on
set. as there is every indication OF %
large business this fail with demand
for more substantial products than those
which have had a ready sale the last two
on three years
II does very well TO conclude this eN-
tract with the following from an editorial
article Of the Kew York Journal Of Com
merce of last Saturday. That paper says:
The snguler thing about the present
periOd is not that some people think queer
things about money; there have always
been such; nor even that great many
people think queer things about money,
for that has happened before, and no
very great part Of the population can De
expected TO have read widely or thought
carefully about money; il is enough FOR
them to earn it. The singular thing is
that people who have these crazy ideas
about money. who show that they are en-
tirely unfamiliar with monetary history,
whose conclusions are non-sequiturs
showing that they do not reason correct
". who draw conclusions from premises
that are false, or that have no connection
I'm the world with the conclusions, are
editing newspapers in cities and sitting IN
both houses of Congress. and in one or
two instances are I'm college faculties.
All the processes Of sb-callcd reasoning
by the silvcrites can be shown to rest
upon misstatements or 10 have no con-
nection between the alleged causes ana
effects. No person with a. tolerably clear
head who has reflected upon the functions
of money. whether with or without the
aid OF books. should have any difficulty
in seeing the absurdity Of this idea that
all the property i'm the world balances all
the money in the world. No person who
has read the history Of money ought TO
be under any delusiOn as 10 the effect or
the legal tender quality. No one who
will intelligently observe what Is going
on around him can mistake money for
the sole instrument of purchase. or fail
to see that the same quantity Of money
may do very little business or IL may do
a great deal.
No delusion like this cheap money de-
fusion has been seen since intelligent ana
educated men ceased TO believe In witch
craft. That this delusion could have Sc
cured such a foothold at this late period
in the worlds history and in our own
country, which is in some respects no
table for its intelligence. is q mysterious
as well as a discouraging circumstance,
But the delusion Is slowly abating, and
we may hope that in the course of few
years it will become harmless.