Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1899-08-21
SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
AS SEEN BY JOURNAL OF
AGRICULTURE.
There Is No Prosperity for the Masses
The Result in 1896 Merely Strength
ened the Strong That They Might
Further Cypress the Weak.


ing under date Of June 20, asks us to
give our opinion of "the signs of the
times-whether they are good or evil"
This, we confess, is difficult task. By
nature we are inclined to be optimistic.
We like to look on the bright side of
things, and to feel that the world is
progressing and getting better, and
that we are really in the midst Of pros
perity. But it requires good deal of
faith to believe all this in the face of
indisputable facts as they exist. There
is unquestionably a good deal of pros
perity in the land, but it is confined to
certain favored classes. In some in
stances, in the protected factories and
foundries, wages have been increased;
but in no instance have we heard that
they were restored to the old average.
These institutions could very well af-
ford to increase wages on the eve of
new campaign, for political effect, and
circumstances lead us to believe that
this is the true explanation Of this fea-
ture; for there are just as many men
seeking employment now as ever be-
fore, and the general average of wages
has not increased. Such prosperity as
we have has not yet reached the
masses of the people. One of the bad
features is found in the fact that there
Is not increased demand for property,
except in circumscribed and specially
favored localities. Farms and country
property are almost unstable, and real
estate in the cities, in spite of all the
blowing of the daily papers. is drug
on the market" The papers are sim
ply whistling in the real estate grave
yard, hoping to drive the spooks away.
III you take the average of real values
IN this city now-and st. Louis is bet
ter off than the other large cities-and
compare them with those of '91 to the
beginning of '94, you will find that they
are at least 40 per cent less than they
were then, and you can't sell real es-
tate even at the reduced prices. Yet
you can borrow money, il you have
gilt-edged security, at 3, and per
cent. A per cent loan will attract
money lenders like ants to lump of
sugar. The banks and safety deposit
vaults are literally glutted with idle
money, and bankers point to this fact
as verification of their claim that we
have an abundance of money" OF
course it is abundant as they see it,
but II they would get out among the
people they would soon discover that
very few have anything more than
enough to last them for pocket change
through the day or week, and millions
have not even that much. Our ruin
Gus financial system has drained the
money away from the people and con-
gested it in the banks and safety de-
posit vaults, and produced property
stagnation. What we need is a cur
rency that will circulate among the
masses, and the whole history of civ
ilization proves that nothing serves
this purpose so well as silver and pa
per. Gold is not a circulating cur
rency, and its nature is such that it
cannot be made to fill this important
office. Gold is the money of the rich
silver the money of the poor; and for
thirty years past all our legislation has
been on the side of the users of gold
Last year our trade balances brought
an average of nearly $S ger capita in
gold into the United States, but its ben
efits did not reach the people. Those
who were already overrich became
richer. A few hundred very rich peo-
pie added many millions to their
hnu fxrae o
money, but the masses of the people
aic as poor as ever. The farmers side
of the question has been very strongly
stated by one of our able country ex-
changes. During the first week of
March, 1897, the week of McKinley's
Inauguration, when the coming pros
perity was heralded abroad, a farmer
of Boone county, in this state, brought
twelve head of hogs to his local mar
ket and sold them for $1O41O. With
part of this money he bought the fol-
lowing bill of goods:
Three kegs of nails at $1.75 each.
Two hundred pounds fencing wire at
$1.90 per hundred.
One cook stove for $50.
One hundred feet screening, So cents
One plow, $40
Miscellaneous hardware and tin
ware, $11.62.
Patent medicines and drugs, $10.50.
One hundred and eighty pounds
sugar, $40.
This left him something over $40 to
pay his doctors bills and square ac-
counts with the editor The first week
in this month the same farmer brought
thirteen hogs to his local market and
and sold them for sos. Then, at the
suggestion of the editor, he visited the
same stores that he had purchased his
goods from in 1897, and obtained pres
ent prices for the same articles, with
the following results:
Three kegs nails, $3.50 each; in
crease, $5.25.
Two hundred pounds wire, $3.1O; in
crease, $2.40.
The same cook stove, s3S; in
crease, So.
h. -