The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-01-06

and Bismarck, or with Pasteur and
Hugo.
Many efforts have been made to-
estimate Of Maury's services. In lieu
of other means of honoring his name.
it has been proposed that Chimborazo
Park here in this city be rechristened
Maury Park This would be an ac-
ceptablc tribute from the capital city,
but the due work of decentralization
should not stop there. The great COM
modore should have his monument
from the State which gave him birth.
THE WHEREFOREO OF HIGH PRICES.
High prices hit hard. The wage
Garner suffers more than the merchant,
and the consumer fares worse than
the producer. But where the mer-
chants profits are derived from the
wage earners' savings, and the pro-
Queer is necessarily consumer as
Well. all classes alike are affected.
This is why economists the country
over are now puzzling over the start
I ling figures of the cost of living; this
is why Secretary Wilson has insti-
tuted a special investigation; this is
| Why Congress is being petitioned to
appoint committee which shall probe
into the whole question. Every mans
~.
wherefore of high prices.
4 Ii there is any answer to this riddle,
it seems that it must be found in un-
4 DERIVING general conditions. The
i breakup in the cattle-ranges in 1906
!. produced a natural slump in beef. In
the same way. a short crop of cotton
in 1909 drove the market to 16 cents.
J But these fluctuations affect particular
industries only. Causes that affect the
prices of all products must be more
general than the supply and demand of
4 special staples.
4 Economists and practical men Of
finance seem pretty well agreed that
the increased production of gold is pri-
4 mar!ly responsible for the upward
trend of prices. This can best be
4 seen by comparison. The year 1900
was a season of reasonable prosperity
| and comparative plenty. Money was
not tight. Trade was not depressed
And yet since that time the annual
| production of gold has increased from
/ s237,Oo0,O00 to $442.00O,000 This coun-
| try's currency. bank notes included
has increased S1.051 100000 during the
same period. OF course, our trade ant
our industries have expanded since
1900. and IS our average per capits
wealth has Increased STAG, but neither
our industries nor our accumulated
wealth, nor our trade. have required
all this vast multiplication of our cir
culatinG medium. The inevitable has
! happened Gold has become cheaper
| ed. TO be sure there is little of con
ISOLATION in telling the wase-earnel
THAT provisions are not higher bu
/ that money is simply cheaper Sucl
t philosophy does not pay grocers' bills
4 or thicken pay envelopes. Neverthc.
Hess, it remains the truest and deepes
\ explanation for existing prices.
4 Along with this cause two other
have operated, not as powerfully bu
], still most Significantly The protec
ton afforded BY the tariff and TIL
i growth of monopolies have reduced n
4 once the benefits of foreign and domes
cheap producers from other lands
monopolies keep down competition a
home. Between the upper and nethe
millstones there is little left for til
consumer. The increased cost of pro
Il duction has also operated to rails
:, lprices. Rich lands have becom
scarcer, while farming. has not bee
!, widely improved. The margin OF cul
i tivation has been Invaded We hav
Il increased our prodnction--for exam
. pie, our wheat by l42.00O.OoO bushel
, in nine years-but we have consumed
\ more Of what we produced than eve
before IN the history Of the nation. i,
addition, the number of agriculture
J workers, comparatively at least, la
/ steadily decreased, thereby reducln
/ our relative powers ct production, Ma
{ turally, therefore, our demands on on
! own resources have been larger.
! If these are really the. controlling
t forces. they cannot be easily or speed
! lily changed. There Is no rainbow o
\ promise, The gold mines arc pro
i tile monopolies arc unrelenting; on