The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1912-02-05
aAYNoR AND HIGH PRICES,

recently, following tho lead of DR..
the perusal Of which viii make any
person fairly we'll informed. But. sin.
| gularly enough, he leaves out from that
list his own favorite author and phil
osophcr, Epictetus.
The mayor does not coufinc himself
to his varied duties "a chief executive
Of one OF the greatest cities of tho
world, nor even TO literature or phil
osophy. He has recently discussed the
matter of high prices for the necessi-
ties of life, and has come to the fixed
conclusion that the real reason is the
great output Of gold (Which has been
going on since 1892, and now is moro
enormous than at any earlier date in
the history Of the world The mayor
herein has the date a little mixed, 1t
was not until some years after the
date he fixes that the great production
OF gold began. This enormous increase
came with the discovery Of cyanide of
potassium rs resolvcnt of the gold
in various forms Of ore. and the use ot
that solvent in the mines Of tho Rand
Even so efficient an aid in the extrac
tion Of gold as this WAS, 1T made its
way very slowly; but after the world
really took hold of it, there was no
halt or stay until the use spread
throughout the gold-producing world.
But the basis proposed by Mayor
Gaynor, in which he agrees with
number of other so-called authorities,
attributing the high prices to gold pro-
duction, fails altogether in practice
when one comes TO consider the aver
age values in series Of years. 1t is
quite true that since the great gold
production began. il: has continued on
a tremendous scale, and has grown
largely from year to year: 1t seems,
however, now for the past three years
TO be at about n stable figure of little
over $3.50, 900 year.
But do prices. in fact, rise in the
compared with the gold stock on hand
averages! BY no means. Right in this
high tide of gold production, there arc
periods Of recession in commodity
prices; and at. no time does the increase
in prices correspond in ratio with the
ratio of increase to the gold on hand.
Besides this, no matter how much gold
is produced. there seems 10 be really
u, ito -. 1.1, Ia 'rno pt ~
use. The L. S Treasury gains in gold
all the time, but on Il scale far below
the world s gold production-a mere
small fraction Of it. The boards OF
gold in the banks of the United States
do not increase even as much as our
own yearly gold production. What.
then. becomes of the mass OF the gold
that is producedi 1t is not found in
the European banks, whose reserves Of
gold remain .Tust about constant year
after year. The disappearance of the
enormous quantities Of gold produced |
in the world is one Of the remarkable |
phenomena Of the times. But, in order
10 have the gold affect prices, the gold |
should be in sight and in use. This is
a clear case. 1t is hopclcsseto argue
hat gold affects the prices of com !
modities. unless the gold is in fact
openly doing that work, Hidden gold, |
gold that is not used, gold used in the
lrts and sciences. surely can have no
effect upon prices. Gold stored in the |
United States Treasury can have no
sffect on prices, because il remains
ihcrc all the time in increasing quanti-
tics. II would appear TO be a clear
ease, therefore, from the facts in the
,ssc. that there is absolutely no basis
for the claim that the increased gold |
Of the world is the cause
If the initiation in prices of commodi' |
lies
Again. measuring the purchasing |
power of gold. which, under the Gaynor
idea, is supposed to be decreasing al)
he time, therefore showing the appar
mt appreciation in prices, measuring |
Ibis, we say, by tho price Of the other
royal metal, silver we find that the
,OInneTtlai TailO pel%Hgn inc TWO Il
lot affected bv the quantity Of gold
produced, nor is any depreciation in
sold shown i'll comparison with it. Com
pared with silver, gold is not decreased
II value; and when silver increases in
market price, that increase is caused
~ specific demands for silver, easily
raced. and not in any ratio measured
,y Tie price of gold. Silver Just now is
~. because Of the disturbances in
-hlna and the great demand for silver
II that country. China is sllver-using
'ountrY, and can employ enormous
quantities of il by reason Of the vast
population and the huge enterprises
foot in that ancient kingdom. If the
,rices Of silver were gauged by the
decreasing valuation of gold, silver
ought by this time to be back at its old
coming value; for in the last fifteen
fears. the gold of the world has easily
doubled. But silver. while not al the
Il, -