The Farmington times. [volume] (Farmington, Mo.) 1874-1902, 1899-11-30
ROAD TO PROSPERITY.
osid is Insufs~ient a. Monetary
Basis go rrises rtiii Down on
the 0ia level.

Basis go rrIses rtiii Down on
the oia level.
As prices are still at the same old
level enforced by the gold standard dur
ing the last few although, IL
anything. the downward tendency APP
psars 10 he agaln at work-the failure
of Increased supplies OF gold TO affect
the currency discussion Is apparent,
and the demand tor demonstrations
consequently rests on grounds fully as
strong as obtained In 1890 and previous
ly; forit Is susceptible of exact demon
| stFation that price levels are deter
mined hy the ratio tetsseE the mc=ey
IN circulation and the goods In cIrculs-
iion. A single article may decrease
heavily la price because Of improved
machinery, bat the resultant force set
In motion irnpercrptihly raises the
average prices Of all other articles. As
an example, II 1000 articles are valued
at $1,000, aud an article having yalue
Of one one-thousandih OF the ,osali,y ot
.yalueS Is lowered In price through ma
chinery by 80 cents; II the money vol
ume stays upaitercd, aud the supply Of
the merchandise Is not permitted 10 In
GREASE, the isolated reduction issues In
the augmentation In prices Of the 100
remaining articles Of from Seoe to t9o9.-
50. or from an average Of one dollar
10 an average OF sf.000s per article.
Price-ievcls are altered no less certain
ly BY the increase OF the merchandise
awaiting money measurement than by
q tamprring with the money volume;
and Il Is quite eoneeivahle--nsy, prob
ablc--ihet the continuous reduction In
general prices has been owing In con
siderable degree to this cause. But as
Il Is the duty Of government 20 furnish
enough currency, so that the price
levels may hnctuate no more than Is
unavoidable, the demonetisaiion Of sill
YER would be no less reprehenslblc, even
though an intcnslfying pressure Of mer-
l-chandise upon the money volume were
20 b. credited with the entire decrease.
Another proof that the new gold has
fact that the depression Of business
shows no slgns Of abatement, while we
know that there In not On historical In
stance OF a swelling currency cirouls-
tion concomitant with hard times.
When money Ia actually becoming re-
dundnnt business Is sure 10 respond
fayorably. When prosperity refuses
our solicitations the conclusion Ia in
dlsputable that, whatever government
statis,icinns may proclaim, whatever
may be the prima iacie purport Of
things, the money that reaches the
people Is nevertheless rather on The de-
cline than contraFiwlse.
Horace Greeley put the matter plain
ly in his remarks In the American
Yearbook and Register" for 1860, say
ing: THE circulating medium Of eX-
change and payments being thus In
EcnSihiy drawn away and not replaced,
the Roman empire languished under 4
growing dcsr;h of money and n steady
decline OF prices. The discovery Of
America by Columbia, and the conse-
quent rapid and vast increase Of money.
wrought great and sudden revolution.
The energies of civilized world received
an unwouted stimulus and wealth was
increased and comfort difIused as they
never before had been"
People may rest assured that II II
were really the case that the gold late.
Is thrown ON the market had restored
conditions 10 virtually what they were
in 1873, the annuitants and those who
profit nut of traffic In the yellow metal
would emit such a corybantlc chorus
OF diaapproyal as TO threaten the sta
bility OF the nations credit. They have
not been silent In the past. when their
interests have been more or less
jeopardized.
The trouble OF securing the passage
Of the act Of 1873, through the kind Of
fBcers Of Mr.. Sherman, Mr.. boutwell, and
Director Linderman WAS IL for
hauRht? II. as Is now maintained, gold
has arrived ai point where Il alone Is
an ample substiinte for the silver cast
aside over 23 years ago; and II. as Is also
maintained, silver was then legislsted
against on account OF It's supply being
too great; Is II not clear 20 even super
fetal observer that no logical aitcrna-
tive remsins for che defenders of the
gold standard, but to begin propsgan-
da looking toward the demonstration
Of their favorite Inetal7 Is II not clear
that, In their inmost consciousness, they
do aot believe gold 60 have filled the
gap formerly occupied by silver?
No guaranty or likelihood exists shns
for any long time gold win continue lsa
present prolificness In yield. All his
tory is against such an assumption.
For thousands Of years the precious
metals have been sought out In the
bowels Of the earth, and, despite the
scores Of sporadic spurts, lasting their
brief day, every sDch spurt, often
thought sure 70 ba permanent, has
been succeeded by relapse. To look
az few rather recent illustrations:
The production Of gold, after an era OF
moderate figures, attained 90 siis,f52,-
600 for the ten years ls0i-'1o: but
this fell on 10 s76.0ds. 900 for the ten
years ieli-.so, and ssa,47p, 600 for 1891.
30, In 1870 came thcErcat gold dis
eoverios ard production increased "a
such an extent tnas theannual yield for
the decade ending with 1860 amounted
20 nearly $685. 900. This latter fg.
ure underwent q gradual Elimination In
the following years, until in 1874 the
yield was onis seo.sso, GOO. Another in,
crease and another failing on; and naa
we Of the last years Of she last decade
Of this century are won't 20 cnngratu.
late ourselves. In our short-sightedaess
and sgotisrn. that II was reserved for a,
10 live 10 period marking that Tins
after which gold never manifested any
rriapsss Taiiibls human naturci Eon
constructed the hafizon OF each gen.
sratinnl For out of the yaxtncss ei
eternity comes siiiis small voice. thai
says: AOur istEle systenls have thei,
day; thsy have their day, and cease II