The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1897-11-05


proves the case Of the gold monomctall.sts
10 fixed conclusion.
Having given some time to the study
Of the wheat and silver kiDship theory,
think ! am prepared to show that the rise
in the wheat price and the fall in the sill
yer bullion price concurrently Ia not only
perfectly consistent with the pos. ton Of
the "16 to 1-ers or bust" but that It
proves beyond peradventure the stubborn
contention of we Bryan people that under
normal trade conditions wheat and silver
are close akin. How, do you ask? Why,
simple enough. Take the wheat trade OF
any European country on the gold stand
ard that you please. AS Great Britain Is
the largest wheat consuming conntry In
the world in proportion to the amount 1t
produces, l will illustrate and make plain
my meaning by its wheat trade. We Will
first take a year Of normal wheat pro-
duction. India and other silver standard
countries grow wheat and sell 1t tr--raw
silver, or to state 1t otherwise. for silver
by weight. AS an ounce OF raw tbullion)
silver would. in 1874 when Its price was
about $1.25 in our money, exchange for
bushel OF wheat in India, so 1t Will like
wise exchange for bushel of wheat In
India in 1884, twenty years later, when
the ounce OF silver bullion at the later
period will only bring as lis price about
81 cents In our money. 1t will not be
Great Britain will willingly pay us
greater price for our bushel Of wheat
than he Is compelled to pay the Indian
for his bushel of wheat. The Indian farm
err received am ounce Of silver bullion for
his bushel of wheat in 1874 and again in
1894. The difference to the Engllshman
who consumed the wheat was in the fact
that he had to pay sl.25 for the ounce OF
silver bullion with which he bought the
Indians bushel OF wheat In 1874, while he
had to pay only 50 cents for the ounce OF
bullion silver that he paid for the Indians
bushel of wheat in 1894. The Englishmari
is not willing to pay us for our wheat
more than he Is compelled TO pay for
other wheat. but he cheerfully pays us as
much. In 1874, then. he was perfectly
willing to pay us rs for our bushel of
wheat. for II he had got 1t from India
he would have had to pay the 81 .25 for
the silver to buy the India wheat. But
by 1894 he will not pay us the $l25 for
bushel OF wheat as he did in 1874, for the
common sense reason that silver has so
fallen In price that he can purchase an
ounce of bullion that Will buy bushel OF
wheat in India for 81 cents. He therefore
again cheerfully pays Ills for our wheat,
no more and no less than he pays for the
India wheat--57 cents. the price of, the
ounce of silver that buys the bushel of
India wheat. One may ask: How can the
Indian afford ths?" The answer is, he
has to afford 1t, and better still for him.
he can well afford 1t. If his crop holds out.
The wheat grower who got as much for
his wheat in 1894 as he did in 1874, Is
in good luck, and this is just what the
Indian farmer did. He got his ounce of
silver in 1874 and again in 1894 for his
bnshel of. wheat. silver is the money in
India. The bushel Of wheat that brought
the ounce of silver to India In 1894 add
Just as much wealth to that country
did the bushel that brought the ounce OF
silver In 1874, for one of the ounces would
pay as much debt, much taxes and as
much domestic transportation charges as
the other.
All this is predicated upon the PROPOSE
ton that silver standard countries have
wheat to sell. We contend that silver
bullion controls the price of our wheat just
as long as silver standard countries have
wheat to sell for silver bullion. To say
that this is not true is to say that the
wheat consumers of Great Britain and
other gold standard countries may be ex-
pected to pay higher prices for our
wheat than they VIII pay the people OF the
silver standard countries for their wheat.
This, Of course, European wheat consumers
will not do. They buy where they can
buy the cheapest. Our contention boiled
down is that our wheat growers have be n
impoverished by the competition of the
wheat growers Of silver standard coun-
tries. The wheat grower in India go. as
much in the money of his country-money
to pay taxes, debt and transportation, for
his bushel of wheat In 1894 as he did in
1874. though the American wheat grower
got less than half as much in 1894 OF the
money of his country for his bushel Of
wheat MS he did in 1874 Without that
competition our wheat growers may
thrive. This is and has all the while be
The plea of we free silver people 1t is
true. Present conditions verify the truth
fulness OF it. There is no silver country
competition with our wheat growers this
year. Not silver standard country in the
world has bushe of wheat for export.
Many of them are importing wheat. Put
our silver bullion back to whore 1t was in
1879. Make every 4l21a standard grains
OF it colnable into a full debt-paying dol
lar, and every AGA standard grains will
be worth dollar and the ounce will be
worth 81 30. When this Is done the silver
standard countries can grow all the wheat
they please--none will be exported with
out the ounce o. silver for the bushel, the
ounce Of silver will be worth 81 20, and
the consumer may be relied upon TO pay
us. as he did in the long ago, that price
for our wheat. With unlimited free coin
age here at the old ratio silver will go up
and silver country competition will not
prove so disastrous TO our wheat raisers
as in recent years.
Right here some one may insist that the
reasons given above do not account for
the fall in the price of silver bullion, while
wheat is going up. Silver standard co,ln-
tries having no wheat to sell there is no
need OF gold standard countries buying
silver bullion to bring wheat from
the silver standard countries. This less ms
the demand for silver bullion and IL goes
down. Silver standard countries having
no wheat to sell tbut some to buy leaves
the gold Standard countries of Europe to
buy their wheat OF ps-this increases the
demand for our wheat aad il goes UP.
we free silver people believe In the law
OF supply and demand, and insist that this
law In immutable and universal--that 1t
applies to money as well as commodities
Since there are now about nine people an
the gold standard TO where there was ore
/ In 1873, and as there is only about twice
as much gold in use as money at this time
az there was Ia 1873 the demand for gold
Is now so much greater than In 1874 II
haS gone higher, and higher. and higher