The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1899-11-24
Mr.. SKINNER AGAIN.
Ely, Mimi, Nov, 20, 1899

there has been a wonderful improve
ment no one will attempt to deny.
The serious objection to this improve
ment of which wish to speak, is its
inequality. Entirely too great a por-
tion of. it is for those who need it the
least and too little for those who have
the greater need, For instance, the
rich man who owns saw mill and
tract of standing pine gets $3.50 per
thousand feet more clear profit than
he did three years ago; but the poor
man with large family to support
gets nothing except that he may get
a few weeks more work but all of his
increase of wages is eaten up by the
increased cost of living. Suppose that
he should want to take his pay in
nails, Notwithstanding the fact that
his wages have risen from $1.25 to So
per day he will find that keg of nails
that he could have bought for one
days work and Is cents, he must now
pay two days. work and so cents. 1000
feet of No. boards that he could
have bought for four days work he
must now give the four days work
and add dollar. The rich man who
owns a steam boat and is carrying
ore, if he could barely make it pay
expenses a year ago will this year
will make clear 100000, while the
men who man that boat must be sat-
isfied with an increased profit of few
cents per day. It is the same with
the men why own blast furnaces, glass
works, rolling mills, pulp or paper
mills, packing houses and in fact so
far as I know any large manufacture
ing works.
There are those who will hold the
administration responsible for the
cyclone that devastated New Rich
mond and for the hail which wrought
ruin in North Dakota. While this is
unjust it is no more I'M
just than to give it credit for the inn
provement in business. During the
campaign of 1896, when asked what
legislation they would enact if |
elected that might be depended |
upon to improve the times. the Re
publicans told us that it needed no |
legislation except perhaps a little |
tariffTevision, that restored conf
dence' which would follow Republic
an success would do the business.
They were successful, elected their |
president by larger majority OF the
electoral vote than was ever given to
any other except General Grant,
gained control of the lower house of |
and elected enough state
to insure their control of
the Senate. What followed? A year
of depression such as we had not seen |
although we had thought we had
reached the bottom. Old-established
and conservative banks that had
weathered the storms since '93 were
forced to suspend; men were tramp |
ing through the woods looking for a |
chance to work for $1,000 per month |
and could not find it. Thousands of |
self-respecting men. Industrious and
faithful, were forced to apply to the
county for aid or let their families
starve. The first indications OF i'm
provement came in the latter part of |
'97 after we had sold at fair price
a most magnificent crop of wheat and
had just harvested another which was
in great demand because of the re-
peated failure of the wheat crop in
India and parts of Russia.
Then came the Spanish-American
war which forced very large amount
of money into circulation. But the
cause of the great financial improve
ment that came with the opening of
the year 1899 we have but recently
learned by the report of the director
of the United States mint, was the
increased production Of gold which
was very great in '97 but in '98reached
a figure far in advance of anything
ever before known in the worlds his
tory. This new gold went immedia-
tely into the markets of the world.
That we got our full share of it is
proven by the fact that for the year
ending June 80. 1899 we sold to the
rest of the world four hundred mil
lions of dollars worth more than we
bought of them.
While the Republican party is in
no way responsible for the improve
ment they are IN part. if not wholly
for the unequal division
of it, A Democratic Congress passed
a law taxing large incomes which
would have done something toward
things but Republican
supreme court pronounced it uncon-
although the Republicans
had made use of similar law to raise
money when they needed it. They
put So tariff on white pine lumber
and taxed all users of lumber So per
thousand and put it into the pockets
of the rich. This tariff was for the