Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1899-06-22
The Cause of Free Silver.
ssssssssssssssssssssss ssssssssssssssssss
FARMERS AND SILVER.
Money Brought Into the Country Lass
Year by the Industry of Our
Agriculturists.

Once more the farmers of America
have thrown themselves into the breach
and saved the country from bankrupt
cy. Our total exports for 1898 amount
ed to 81 ,210, 291 ,913, of which enormous
sum $S5S 500, 942 were for agricultural
products 1t will be seen at once that
the produce supplied by our farmers
brought nearly three times as much
money into the country as all the other
industries combined. And large part
of it remained here to benefit our peo-,
pie, for our agricultural exports ex-
ceeded the value of imports of the same
class by $544 1916, 146. This is an average
of more than 81 of foreign coin for each
individual in the United States that the
farmers brought into this country and
kept here, for the single year of 1898.
1t is more than the total amount of
money that was in circulation among
the people before she crops of 1898 were
sold. The farmers have, therefore,
more than doubled our medium OF eX-
change in twelve months. This shows
the Importance of the agricultural in
terests of the United States, and dis
tinguishes the industry that should re-
ceive the largest need of protection and
encouragement.
The single standard organs are using
the above facts as an argument against
the reconciliation of silver. They con-
tend that, as we only produced an aver
age of little over $60,000,O0O of silver
annually when that metal was on an
equality with gold, and the farmers dig
a net balance of more than half a billion
in gold out of the ground in single
year, the silver question loses its inn
portance and dwindles into insignifi-
canoe. But why should we throw away
our $60,000,0O0 of silver? And worse
still, why should we sell the silver that
we do produce to foreign money
changers for one-half its value, and
thus enable them to use it at its full
value in purchasing agricultural prod
ucts and manufactured articles in silver
using countries that compete with us,
thereby reducing the prices of the prod
ucts of our own citizens in the same
ratio? This is the real question. The
value of our silver product for 1898, at
the present boom price, was a little
over S35, 000,0 900. 1t was purchased for
some millions less by the London money
oed1eIS, UScduSc luSy bouS IL bCIoAS TIC
rise in price, and they used it at its full
value of nearly $70,000,000 in the pur-
chase of breadstuffs from countries
that compete with our farmers, there
by driving down the prices of farm
products in this country many millions
of dollars. If silver had been remon-
etized and brought to par. the farmers
instead of netting half billion of for
eign gold for their crops of 1898 would
have netted more than billion, and our
citizens generally would have saved the
$50, 100000 in silver which our tory adj
ministration collusively permitted the
Jews of London to steal from them.
These are the real issues.
There are also others. Stability of
prices is worth considering, and this
can only be secured by staple and in
creasing medium of exchange, equal to
the increase of population. Shall we
depend for our prosperity on foreign
crop failures and famines, when a
stable and increasing currency would
sustain prices and give us prosperity
all the time? The thing to do is to
come to our senses and act with I'M
prejudiced wisdom, instead of being
controlled by party spite and narrow
dedness.-Nfississipp Valley Dem
ocrat.