Richmond daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1876-1904, 1900-11-24

with one another The interests Of botr
ARE Identical When the country Is in =
prosperous condition the manufacturer
nnds ready market for his product at
good prices and Is consequently enabled
70 keep the wheels of his factory in mo-
ton. He enabled also 10 pay good
wages for skilled labor and he accord
t;4gly finds employment for the mechanic
most skiiful in the line Of mis- operations
But the manufacturer or ca pitaIist Is de-
pendent on the workingman TO produce
his wares, just as the workingman him
self Is dependent upon the activity Of
the mills for the opportunity TO earn an
honest living. Republican rule makes
This activity possible. A sound monetary
system, protection 10 American indus
tries. general business confidence
coupled with abundant orders for goods
consequent upon the active CONSUMPTION
Of the product, all co.fncident with
Republican administration of the affairs
of the nation II is tn AYefore the in
terest OF both the ni<acturer and the
workingman to contiu.r. these conditions
by "A united support of the Republican
ticket In November.
PURCHASING POWER OF WAGES.
The relation Of the Republican party
to the nottingham has been demon
strated oy long years of practical work
~ MS bshaT. The laboring man should
therefore hP.ve difficulty in realizing
which or tJIe two parties Is his best
friend From it's earliest history the
Demoera..e party has opposed his best
interestI. while on the other hand the
hepap Jean party has advocated princi-
pies favorable to his best welfare. The
Dem ocracy favored and voted for an at
ten 1ot TO destroy the Union in behalf OF
ths syste which Is most disadvan-
t<9eous TO Iabor-human slavery For
many years that party by its legislation
I'm support of human slavery placed the
labor Of many millions OF slaves in di-
rect competition with the labor element
he rsaA
y TO the present day but for the Repub-
Hca-n party.
III the last Presidential campaign the
Democratic orators declared that
reeded cheap money, that the work
tnsman might have higher wages and
the farmer receive more for his crops.
These orators. however. failed TO take
INTO consideration the low purchasing
2ower Of the deprecated currency. and
nat whenever on account of inflated
currency. or for any other reason, prices
go up they go up earlier and relatively
much higher than wages, invariably re-
sulting in decrease of purchasing pow
sr. well illustrated during the Civil War
md during the enforcement OF the Bland
- fNuA 'tci. - - also welI-estab-
Lshed fact that whenever there is a
stable monetary system and when there
are no other disturbing elements the
general tep dency of prices is downward
and OF wages upward. resulting in an In
reasinG purchasing power of wages and
PROSPERITY. These
clearly proven by the Senate report on
whol ss ale prices and wages published in
1875. in which relative prices and wages
wf<e shown for a period of fifty-two
ears and up 10 1891. Since that time
TWO investlga lions have been made by
the United States Department of Labor.
An article on wholesale prices. 1890 to
80, published In Bulletin No. n of the
United States Department of Labor gives
The wholesale prices of ninety nine ar
safsF 4Srfff ff,AF hes nj
nine articles there ninety which |
slso appeared in the Senate report. For |
the purpose OF having continuous series |
IT relative prices from 1s40 10 1899 these
irety articles have been selected from
both reports and series of rela-
ave prices worked out. The fluctuations
% the average prices of these ninety
rins articles during the two periods from
iSto % 1871 and from 1890 to 1899 are found
TO he about the same as those of
arg err number of articles considered in
the two Investigations.
THE CLEVELAND PANIC.
During the hve-year period of 1850 TO
p65 the average prices of ninety com
modities rose l517 per cent. above those
~ 1850 but wages rose only 49, per cent.
while the purchasing power of wages
.ropped t3.1 per cent. During the next
five years after the war. prices fell
'6 TO SIS per cent above 1860. while
wages rose to 622 per cent above that
Isis. Then came the FIVE years. lS70-75.
hich included the panic Of 1873 and the
decentralization of silver. referred TO by
7he Democrats as the great crime.
f'rices continued 10 fall until 1878. when
they We're only S6.T per cent. above the
1850 basis. wages assembled until they
reached 81 per cent above that year.
and then dropped to 5S.4 per cent in
1870 but the purchasing power of wages
continued its upward course until IL
reached 1873 per cent. above ts6o. Then
came the five years which included the
Fland-Allison act. The effect of this
silver coinage Is clearly shown by the
! 50 IN prices and the drop in the rela-
IN purchasing power of wages.
Prices rose from 9e.1 per cent. in 1879
- li5.S per cent above the 1880 basis in
saSe while the purchasing power fell
froE 1919 per cent. TO i4.5 per cent. above
the 1850 basis. In 1852 prices resumed
their downward tendency, wages con-
tinued TO rise and the period from that
year until lSaS was the most prosperous
that had ever been experienced in our
Country's history. Then came Cleveland's
administration and tariff reform with
the shutting down of industries and the
consequent army Of unemployed. Wages
fell at once and continued to fall steadily
during each year Of the Democratic re-
gir1e. Prices at first remained stationary
and then continued their downward
course SO that for those who retained
their employment during the panic fol-
lowing Cleveland's tariff reform the
the millions who lost part all Of their
employment the period is one of only
bitter memories.
HIGHER NOW THAN EVER BEFORE.
With the return Of prosperity under
the Mckinley Administration the in
creased business activity naturally caus-
ed rise in the prices of commodities.
This accounts for the upward tendency
tn prices IN 1898 and 1899. But, as we
have seen WAGES are always slower TO
rise than prices Hence we md that
while in 1875 prices had risen wages
were Stiu low as a result of the bust
ness depression during Clevelands adj
rnfnfSrratton and we temporary
decline in the purchasing power of
wages in lSsS In 1893. however. wages
again took an upward turn, and as
thew rose more rapidly than the prices
we see once mere in 1899 an increase IN
the purcha sins power of wages
While positive statistics are not avail
shle for 1903. as the year has not Yet
been completed. the increase in wages {
witch became general IN the Spring Of
1899 has an 70 the present time reached
about Is per cent. according 70 an esu- +
mate based upon an examination Of the /
trade union journals Of the country
This increase since IS9S brings the wages
and the purchasing power 70 a much
higher point than ever before.
There can be no question Of the fact
from the above showing that the upward