The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-05-20
THE MARKET IN OLD TIMES.

THE MARKET IN OLD TIMES.
 In the New England Magazine for
 the current month there is an article
 entitled An Old Time Ministerial Con-
 tract" which is very interesting indeed.
 It illustrates a phase of Old New Eng
 land life, In the relations of pastor and
 people, and also incidentally, the tre-
 mendous fluctuations in the value of the ordinary articles of domestic con-
 sumption during the time of the Revo- Ilutionary war. The article Is by R. R.
 Kendall and is written with care from
 the original documents so that it is en- tirely authentic. In 1734 the old town of Weymouth, Mass, called to it's (1rsD church the Rev. William Smith, who ac-
 cepted the call and remained with the church for forty-nine years, very
 creditable pastorate for both minister and people. But the church had expe-
 rienced some trouble in arranging the
 matter of salary with its previous min
 ister, and so when MT. Smith accepted
 the call and became pastor special ar rangement was made. Salaries were
 paid in those days in kind" or in
 wheat rye. Indian corn, beef pork,
 house rent, fire wood, etc., and in the
 case of the Rev. MT. Smith a sliding
 scale was adopted by which the
 amounts contributed were adjusted, an
 this was now and then regulated by committee of the church, and the report
 entered on the church records. The
 contract entered into with MT. Smith
 and recorded on the books of the parish
 was to the effect that the salary should
 be stated according to the following
 articles and prices hereafter men,
 toned, viz: Wheat at ten shillings per
 bushel, rye at seven shillings per bush
 el.Indian corn at six shillings per bush
 el, pork at seven pence per pound beef at five pence per pound, and that ye
 prices of ye abovesaid articles are to be
 as they are bought and sold in this
 precinct. To wit, grain In ye month of
 May, pork and beef in ye middle of
 November annually, and ye abovesaid
 salary shall rise and fall according as we abovesaid articles shall rise and fall at ye time above mentioned annually, and sd vote passed in ye affirmative" Therefore we have the unite of meas ure, in the prices given above, of the grains and meat at the time of the con-
 tract viz, 1734. The salary on the above basis was to be one hundred and sixty pounds per annum at first, with some subsequent notifications which we have no space to here set down. but which. are quite interesting. There was no seeming trouh1e for many years, and the scheme worked satisfactorily, If we may judge from the fact that the con- tract held and there was no modiflca- ton of it during MT Smiths life. The fluctuations in values reflected in the rise and fall of the salary during the Revolution, however, ate very marked and show sharply how our fathers were compelled to battle with increased liv- ing expenses at time when even the debased currency of the country wac difficult to get. In .177S Indian corn was twenty-four shillings bushe Qt was six shlllings in 1734). rye was thirty shillings (seven in 1734), wheat was forty shillings a bushel, compared with | ten shillings in '34, and meat had gone | up in proportion The pastors salary l had risen from one hundred and sixty | to six hundred and ninety-five pounds | under the terms of the contract. In | 1779 Indian corn had further gone up to | a4.4s bushel, rye to s515s bushel | and wheat to nine pounds bushel | Beef was five shillings pound and | pork seven shillings. The salary on | this basis slid up to a2602, and that was the sum paid. It was thirteen l thousand dollars nominally. although l the dollars were worse than those of any era since, outside the period of the Confederacy. But that was nothing to the jump of the next year, l7so Northern Pacific going to one dollars was child's play to 1t. On the increase of values in that year MT. Smiths salary ran up to 2S,S97, or very nearly fifty thousand dollars, and t was paid. Remember that normally 1t was one hundred and sixty pounds. Northern Pacific may hide its dimin- shed head! But if the salary flew skyward in 1780, it fell flat enough the next year, 1781. The tremendous differ- ,nce is hardly applicable. Indian corn vas again down to six shillings bush T. rye was seven shillings, four pence md wheat nine shillings. Beef was ] hree pence and pork was four pence per pound, and the salary was abso- utely below it's original figure of one hundred and sixty pounds, being only e14S12s 4d. In the four years last named 177S, 1779, 17S0 and 17SD the alary had gone from a695 to GS,S97 and hen down to G14S. How people could i've and do business under such condi- ions is mystery. We have only given ! brief outline of the article from which 1. he above figures are taken, and, as will ,e seen, il Is an interesting and sugges- i've one, showing that fluctuation in -al,les is no new thing with this day l