New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-02-14
GAIN THAT CAN BE MEASURED.


Whether business has improved and TO what
extent are questions Of fact about which par
tlsan who has ordinary sense does not lot his
feelings dictate his statements 1t is incOn-
venient TO most men. and harmful to the reputa-
ton Of those who have reputation that can
be harmed. 10 II Ike public assertions which can
be instantly proved false by commercial records
the accuracy Of which nobody can dispute The
assertions recently made by Mr. Bryan and
some of his friends In Congress are Of that sort.
The automatic records which business makes
for itself. just as gas or water registers its
own passage through meter are every day
proving these assertions false. and either so ig-
norant or so mendacous that the man who
makes them can have no respect for his own
reputation. and little for the Of his hearers.
For instance. the latest statement Of OK
changes through clearing houses shows an in
crease over the same week last year of J4.7 per
cent That IS a gain great enough, one would
suppose, TO be recognized as most significant,
even by the dullest minds If II is said that
part of the exchanges are due TO operations in
stocks in spite Of the increase IN cearings
through the Stock Exchange. the record itself
gives the answer that exchanges az chief cities
outside York for last week show a gain
y
9s per cent compared with the same week of
1892, the best year in past history. If It is said
that the returns from the fourteen largest cities
may not measure the volume of all business, the
full record for the week ending February 5
shows still larger gain, 1898 per cent COM
pared with tee same week IN 1892. In the
regular course Of business OF all kinds the actual
payments az ali the cities where clearing houses
xfcta 20 ,ba bap tn ,bo hoe.
OF ali past years.
But the volume Of business expressed In dol
lars may not rightly measure the quantities Of
products moved or consumed. The amount Of
wages and of rent paid. Of settlements for trans
portation. or on contracts for buildings or i'm
provements. finds accurate expression in the
exchanges; but the change In prices must de-
termine the sums paid for given quantities OF
products transferred or passing into consump-
ton. This is true, and again the everyday rec
ord of prices, including more than 800 quota
tons and about nine-tenths in value of all
consumed. tells the story. Taking all the arti-
Giles, each IN its due proportion 10 the aggre-
gate consumption, $50 81 will now buy In the
chief markets as much as 500 would buy IN
January, 1892. The best and most complete
foreign record, that OF Professor Sauerbeck
makes the present purchasing power In Great
Britain 1914. against 100 In January, 1892, so
that given payment means more in quantities
than six years ago. though the change has been
less in Great Britain than in this country Every
dollar paid In wages or In settlement OF bust
ness accounts means that greater quantity Of
products has been transferred or gone into con-
sumption than like payment Indicated In 1892.
Pushed 10 a corner, the fighter for calamity
Gays: The country has grown IN population.
'and hence payments might be larger and yet
"the quantities Of food or other things consumed