Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1898-02-09
THE DIFFERENCE IN PRICES.

pOShotOi N'Soit vi AO""t hNNSeAy
remarked i'm discussion i'm the
Senate of the United States that the
Democratic orators i'm 1896 went about
the country with the Democratic plat
form in one hand and Bradstreet's
Journal of Finance in the other. Brad
streets, which was favOrite author
ity with the people who were trying to
convince the public that things were in
bad way in 1896, has by its candid
statements and figures from official Ie-
ports shown business improvement
from month to month since the in
auguration of President Mckinley, and
especially since the enactment of the
new tariff law. One of the most inter-
esting of its tables is that which shows
the prices of various articles of produc-
ton and consumption in New York
and other markets of the country at
various dates during the past two or
three years. From that table are
gathered some statistics of especial in
terest to farmers. They show that, de-
spite the assertion Of the silver shout
ers of 1896 that no prosperity could
come to the agriculturists Of the cOun-
try except through the free coinage of
silver, there has been substantial adj
vance in practically every article of
farm produce. These tables show an
advance of more than so per cent. in
wool, the Boston price of Ohio and
Pennsylvania wool on the date of Mr..
Bryan's nomination being Is cents,
and on January 1st, 1898, q cents;
hops, which on July l, 1896, were 7
cents per pound, have advanced to Is;
tobacco has advanced from IL to 154;
hides, from II to 20; onions, from $l.5O
to $3.50 per bushel; potatoes, from 20
cents to 500 per bushel; beans, from
$l.15 TO Sl.40; wheat. from GA to 9S ets
oats, from q to 2S cents per bushel
barley, from 80 cents per bushel to AZ
cents per bushel; rye, from 81 to 50
cents; -four, from 1925 per barrel to
$4.25; sheep, from S4.OO per head to
$4 80 per head in the Chicago market;
hogs (carcasses,) in the Chicago mar
ket, haye advanced from 3. cents per
pound to 3-5; beef, from 81 cents to I
cents; lard, from l-5 to cents per
pound, and so on through the Inst of
farm products, showing an advance in
practically every case between the
date of the adoption of Chicago plat
form in 1896 and the beginning of the
present calendar year. On the other
hand, large proportion of the articles
which farmers must buy have, accord
ng to the same authority, fallen off in
price, lumber falling materially in
price; wire nails dropping from $3.50
per keg to $l.75; cotton sheeting from
Al per yard to Al; anthracite coal from
S4. 25 per ton to S4.OO; phosphate from
S5.25 per ton to $500; tin plates, from
$3.65 per box to $2.S5; and other articles
required for the use Cf the agricultur-
ist showing a like reduction. With
higher prices for all farm products and
lower prices for practically everything
that the farmers must buy, as result
of the adoption of protection and the
rejection of free coinage of silver, the
Democratic orators are going to have
some difficulty in persuading the farm
ers to rally to their support in the COM
ing Congressional campaign in which
the Chicago platform is to be again
made the basis of Democratic appeals.