Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-10-02
THE PRODUCERS OF WALTZ.

1t does not take a very wise man to recognize the great economic fact that
s ~ssss T te 'n nsa as " !. to S so% on ~ss ,n N. 'usssS th ,s m gssssss' IN y ss the s,s m s,et .s
n ne e. o efr te msse rs e Go ns ST p is a sati isss p to n N ana to the he rs nasn N
party has always been sensible of the claims of the great body Of its meme
maintain THE policy bic sman tarta Levied vie a, expressly ., to protect Am ssnn industries .,%a and to
a MAINTAIN ane ,s e sn%s at On Of d, the wage &C. sxr4n at such a figure that they may
fact TO which W hay alluded. wherever special legislation has been desm-
party as been in advance Of h demand. W viii instance only a FEW Of the
's'9 Pssssn D ss ;s which ssn snays sssa s ssss:sss to st :s. .; sn Congress-.
The prohibition of the Cooley trade.
The law for the protection If seamen.
The incorporation Of national trades unions ~
The limitation of the hours Of labor Of letter carriers to eight hours
The law in respect to alien contract labor, 1890.
The he i prohibition liz iap's Of > % contract assn f'1 lssbes "a a1 Omitted 90 States eon,4a..
The establishment of boards of arbitration. .
The establishment of the United states department of labor.
It is rue that some democratic votesn have been restssredh I've of many
to vote With republicans on the questions at issue. But the measures have all
publican votes. What is vey ss siignaaaca mt mt is $ that everyu ote agannst ay OF the the
last our measure which yield in Importance to % If the others. as demo
AS the proof Of a pudding is in the eating 50 the test Of a Law is in tn x
with tn design Of improving the enumeration s and the condition Oft he produc-
helped. We have space at praento only ogivea hastys summary Of the history
tons. which m comparison Though n . Others wereo DtainaDle> should forever
In order to make sucha comparison. it is necessary to select the average
represents a apt rio G in ou nG Industrial sM% de- e sSsopmsnt i bet V~ea' ts ole me methods ssas ae
i%s 'ni it ns' ta asa ans as The @b pa1s r% %s average 81 pr %%s the average s@', rasss, t sna t sn:
of prpr n zubsequen years are expressed as percentages OF. III A-
government report it is found that there "a a slight downward tendency u in n
prices AM al upward endenc in wages n urchasi pOWeC from 1910 to
1860 During he fve-year period of $50 to 1885, the average prices O. 30 com
modihes rose 15t7 per- cent above those of $780, tut wages rose only 431 Der
cent while the purchasing power of W a ges dropped 431 per cent, During the
next five years. or after the var prices fell off to sos per cen above $780, while
wage rose to 62 pc cent above hat basis. Thenca m thu five years sO-75,
which included the anic of 1913 IN tn emonetzauon of silver referred to- ~
thu denocratsa as he great cIme."a Prices continued to fall until 1876, when
hey were only S67 perc cent above he 1861 basis, age aseended until they
reached GIL per cent above that year. and then dropped to 5s4 per cent in
1876, but the purchasing power of wages continued its upward course until it
reached 159 pc" cent above 1880. Then came the 1--we years which included the
Bland-Anison Act. The effect Of thiss silver coinage is clearly shown bythe rise
N prices and the drop in the relative purchasing power Of wage.
Prices rose from 921 per cen in 1879 to 1853 per cent above the 1901 basis
IN 1885,, while hi purchasing power fell from 1913 perecent to IL perc et above
the 1860 basis. In 1882 price. resumed their downward tendency. wage contin-
ued to rise d the period from that year until 1898 "a the most prosperous
that had everb been experienced in u countrys history. Then cam Chve-
lands administration NJ tariff reform" with the shutting down of Industries
and the consequent army of unemployed. Wages fell aton me- and Continued to
fall steadily during each year of thu democratic regime Prices at first re-
manned stationary nj then continued their OWnWard course, so thatfo those
who retained heir employment during the panic following levelands "tar-
if reform" the efec was not so strongly felt u for the millions who lost
part or all Of their employment the period is me of only bitter memones~@
With the return off prosperity under the Mckinley administration the in.
creased business activity naturally caused a rise in the prices off, commodities
This accounts for the upward tendency in prices in 1898 n 1890. But as we
have seen, wages are always slower to rise than prices. Hence we find that
while in 1898 prices had riser wag were still low as a result of he business
depression during Cevelands admins hation,a nj We see a temporary decline
in h purchasing power Of wage in 1885,. n 1892 however wage again took
IN upward turn, ar al they roe more rapidly than the prices we see once
more in 1899 an increase in the purchasing power OF wages - -
While positive statistics are not available for 1900, as the year has noty yet
been completed, the increase in wages which became general in the spring of
1899 has u % TO the present.t time reached about Is per n according to an
estimat based upon a examination of the trade union journals ofth he coun-
try. This increase since 1881 brings the wages and the purchasing power to- a
much higher point than ever before. - 80 = 1880 II
Unless a change in the government policy with regard to the tariff or the
emf business confidence causes another business DEPRESSION this country will
during the next few years sees n era Of prosperity far in excess of anything that
has ever been experienced in thiso n other country 4 t--f --+-w.4
All the figures presented In the abov statement are based pom the AID
rich report, supplemented by information obtained from publications of the
U. {. Department 4 Labor an all the figures can he yaiaed BY. the official
publications mentioned.