Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1909-12-30

grave abuse and injustice; but the ex-
PLANTATION Of high prices Is mot found
there. II the prices which have so
steadily advanced during the past
ten years were confined TO articles
exclusively produced by combine
ton Of American manufacturers un-
der the protection Of tariff 80 high
as to exclude all foreign composition,
| while the prices Of other articles not
so protected remained stationery or
dropped into lower scale, we would
be justified in attributing the higher
prices Of such protected articles to
the prohibitive tariff and to domestic
monopoly; but that is not the case.
The United States Steel Corpora
ton, in many lines, enjoys Q monoD-
oily, and yet its products have not
advanced more than thousands Of
articles which It does not produce or
control and the production Of which
is not protected by the tariff, nor by
any trust or combination whatsoever.
Grant that prohibitive tariffs are
responsible, for such advances above
the general level as may be traced to
them, yet this does not explain the
generally high and advancing prices
Of innumerable articles to which
they bear no relation.
There is a heavy tariff on sugar
and the American Sugar Refining
Company is one Of the worst outlaws
in the country. But sugar is one Of
the few articles that has not advanced
in price. On the contrary, 1t has gone
down. In 1907 we imported four
billion pounds of sugar, which paid
a duty Of over sixty million dollars,
and yet, while the price OF food
products not affected by the tariff
increased over 26 per cent during the
past ten years, the price of sugar
fell 1.6 per cent. This fall in price
was undoubtedly due to overproduc-
ton but 1t indicates that some other
cause than monopoly and high pro-
tective tariffs is responsible for the
general advance In prices.
Statistics collected by the Bureau OF
Labor show that the advance in
prices has been worldwide, and that
the products of the farm have kept
pace with the products of the mill
and factory. What, then, Is the
cause?
Manifestly, 1t is complex. Many
elements enter into it. Variations in
the harvest, changes in the fashions
and habits Of the people, the use Of
other articles as substitutes, overpro-
duction, shortage in supply-all these
to a greater or less degree, affect
prices.
But there Is another very material
factor which has not been taken into
full account, and that is the substan-
tial increase in the volume Of gold,
which measures In value of all COM
modities, and the increase In circu-
latlng medium Of the United States
during the past twelve years. On
July /, 1895, the circulation per cap
tia In the United States was $21.10,
while on July /, 1909, notwithstand-
ing the great increase in population
since 1895, 1t was $35.01 per capt.
ia, an increase of 1881 per capita.
The worlds coinage in 1895 was a
little less than $500, 900 900; in 1907
It was little more than $500, 000,-
0 0. In 1895 the production of gold
in the United States was $5S, 0SS, 900;
\ in 1907 1t was $S9,620,3S9. This
enormous increase in the worlds
coinage of money and this enormous
increase in the circulation per capita
in the United States have obviously
lessened the purchasing power of the
dollar.
The value of commodities expressed
in a cheaper dollar means, Of course,
higher prices. While this Increase
In money volume is not, of course the
sole cause of advancing prices, 1t is
the prime cause, and for some reason
it has been given sight attention in
the public discussion SO far. 1t has
been the chief contributing cause to
prosperity and good times, and no
one could secure a hearing who would
propose a contraction of the present
volume of circulation
While the laboring man, whose
wages have not advanced as swiftly
as the cost of living, and the man de-
pendent upon a fixed salary which
has not advanced at the same rate,
have suffered and have reason 10
complain, statistics show, neverthe-
/ ...-.. sx.w An,.w