Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1899-06-14
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES sssss3sas93s8sasss3sa3H

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SO frequently do in large cities. are:
hardly conscious Of any cheapening at
oil. s#s RE- 81 - 81 ,ss ~
He also errs in assuming that under
;freescoinagee the working nan's wages;
would remain The fsame as they are
now, while what he buys would be
doubled III price. 0 There is not the
slightest proba bility that: the free coin
age of silver would double prices. The
only way that could occur would be
either for gold to come down to the
present1value of silver bullion or for us
to land upon the. silver basis with silver
no more valuable than, it is now.
Neither of these results could possibly
follow. For us to throw open our minis
to silver would diminish the demand
for gold and undoubtedly lower it some.
But it would increase the demand for
silver and raise the value of that metal,
so that if parity were restored it would
be at some point intermediate between
the present values Of gold and silver. If
parity should not be restored and we
should go to a silver base our demand
for gold for coinage would entirely
cease, and unless the law of supply and
demand is myth the value of gold
would come down. At the same time
our entire demand for coinage being
concentrated upon silver, it's value
would just as certainly rise. So that in
either event it would be impossible for
prices to double. They would unques-
tionably go to a point intermediate be-
tween the low figures of to-day and the
higher ones of 1873. Of course the pre-
else extent of the rise must be largely
theoretical until put to the test of &C
tual experiment. Our estimate is an
average rise during the next two or
three years of about rs per cent. in
wholesale rates. Wheat, cotton and a
few other commodities sold in direct
competition with silver-using coun-
tries would probably rise considerably
more, because they are peculiarly af-
fected. Retail prices, in our Judgment,
would rise less than wholesale, just as
the fall has been less. There is no basis
whatever for the assumption that the
workingman's living expenses would
be doubled. Nor is there any reason to
suppose that his wages would remain
the same. The first effect of rise OF
prices would be to stimulate produc-
ton, thereby furnishing employment
for more people. The next would very
likely be an advance of wages. Mr.
| Carlisle says that wages rose eight pei
cent. between 1873 and 1890. That was
a period of falling prices and general
depression. Suppose it had been pc
Rod of rising prices, is it not fair to as
sumo that they would have done still
better? From 1860 to 1873 the same
distinguished authority states thai
wages rose SO per cent. That was pc
Rod of rising prices. They went w
from ten to twelve per cent. But wages
went up four or five times as much, an6
the reason is obvious. Rising prices be-
get a healthful Industrial condition, {
strong demand for labor and genera
prosperity. An average and permanent,
rise of 20 per cent. in the prices of man
ufactured goods would start every idlt
factory in the country and lead to thu
building of thousands more. If thai
would not improve the workingman''
lot it is difficult to imagine anything
that would.