Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1906-01-25
HIGH COST OF LIVING
The Protective Tariff and In.
fation the Causes.
NO RELIEF PROBABLE UNTIL 1909

Enormous Annual Imitation Of the
Currency Has Stimulated Prices.
Ii Trusts Add to the Peoples
Burden by the Protection the Tar
if Gives Them,
You who have small incomes, who
have hitherto, with strict economy, had
enough to live upon, are now suffering
from advancing prices and find it diff
cult to make both ends meet. This
state of affairs will probably continue
until after the next presidential cleo
ton. The only relief for you is to in
crease your income, if that is possible,
ana it is useless to advise in Il general
way how that can be accomplished.
Each individual case has it's own prob
lem. With most an increase Of wages
is the only possible way of relief.
Present high prices proceed from two
causes, and both are the result of Re-
publican policies. The first cause is
the enormous imitation Of the currency,
both by the increased output Of gold
and the new national bank currency
issued by the small banks established
since the act allowing the incorpora-
ton Of banks with $4,000 capital; also
the result Of another clause Of the
same act amending the old law, so that
banks are receiving par in currency for
the bonds they deposit with the Unit
ed States treasury instead Of only 80
per cent under the old law.
Without taking space to show the de-
tails Of this enormous imitation of the
currency, it is only necessary to say
that, whereas the average circulation
per capita in 1896 was $21.41, now it is
$S1.4O and advancing at the rate Of
about 81 per capita, Or $80,00O,0O0 a
year. How much further this imitation
will go is an unsettled problem, but the
output of gold is still increasing.
The Democratic claim in 1896 Of the
cumulative theory-that the volume Of
money in circulation fixes prices for
commodities-is thus justified by
events, but that contention was not
intended to be accompanied with trust
eXtortion.
The second reason for a still greater
advance in prices Is the organization
Of trusts and combines to control and
monopolize production. The enacting
Of the Dingley tariff bill by the Repub-
licans in 1897, which greatly increased
the protective duties on most articles
Of consumption, has fostered these
trusts and combines to an extent never
anticipated even by it's authors. The
average rate Of duty collected on the
value Of those imports taxed is close
to SO per cent. That enormous tax and
much higher per cent on most trust
productions protects the trusts from
foreign competition and has allowed
them to advance prices about 40 per
cent on the average and still monopo-
lize the home market. The enormous
profits that many of the combines have
made have stimulated production so
that the American people have been
unable to purchase all the trusts have
produced.
To dispose of this surplus the trusts
have been and still are selling this sur
plus in foreign countries at a much less
price than they sell the same products
here for. The tariff has protected the
trusts in doing this, and Of course they
demand that this protection be contin-
ued.
The Republican party has agreed to
stand pat-that is, not revise the tariff.
When the Dingley tariff bill was enact
ed it provided for reciprocity with for
eign nations, and it was the intention
that reciprocity treaties should be rati-
fed with foreign countries by making
mutual concessions Of about 25 per
cent Of the duties on those special
products each wanted to sell, and the
duties were purposely raised 25 per
cent to cover that proposed discount.
Such treaties were negotiated by Presi-
dent Mckinley, but the Republican ma
jority in the senate, controlled by the
trusts, have refused to ratify those
treaties, and so the trusts continue to
exact the enormous profits that the tar
If protects them in eXtorting. The gov
eminent receives but q small percent
age of the tariff tax, for, the tax being
so high, it prevents importations, but
the trusts add an average Of about 40
per cent to the price of their products
because the tariff prevents foreign
goods from coming into this country
and competing with them. We thus
have the astounding anomaly of the
trusts virtually collecting the greater
part Of the tariff tax by increasing
their prices, which the tariff protects
them in doing, while the revenues are
not sufficient to run the government.
The tariff Is therefore the chief cause
Of high prices. The Democrats and
some Republicans who are honest
enough to oppose this trust monopoly
have declared for such tariff revision
as would reduce the price of trust pro-
auctions to a reasonable basis, but the
Republican leaders who control the po-
litical situation in congress declare the
tariff must not be revised.
Those who have small incomes and
are therefore most injured by this state