Year: 1870




DeoicA Fsrriture Dealers, yloce Dealers, IsAoe
Dealers, B~tcAers, Hwcksf rs,-Ererybody-
tention!


WASHINGTON, March II, 1870.


EDITOR SrAR:-Gold is down to 10. WHAT
else has declined in price? The millennium so
long and 20 eagerly looked forward to is at
hand-but without the expected fruits thereof
The poor man has been told day after day, and
wear after wear. that the price OF gold ruled the
price of every article Of consumption. Every
rise in gold gave more than corresponding inn
pctus to the upward tendency OF the necessaries
of lite. "Hooe deferred maketh the heart
sick, and yet the desire cometh not to make Ii
glad =
when gold rated at 2s5. Gold has declined i75,
and yet the diminutiOn in the actual cost Of liv-
ing IL SO slight Is to be scarcely perceptible. 1t
is true that a slight decrease in some few arti-
cles has been effected, but they are Of such
classes that the aggregate saving thereon
amounts to but little. For instance, sugar and
molasses have declined few cents, but how
long will it take before the difference in the cost
of sugar will amount to q dollars decrease in
the expenses of the family? Flour Is the only
staple article upon which there has been any
visible decrease. The merchant marks down
some Insignificant classes of goods, but the bulk
of his goods are as high as ever. The butcher
and the butter merchant each ''hofds his own,"
and last, though not least, the incOrrigible coal
dealer maintains his prices, notwithstanding
that ''He who tempereth the wind to the shorn
lamb" mildly smiled upon the poor the past
stdSon. mus lesSen1ng the uemauu IOr Iuet,
which fact has operated a reduction IN the price
thereof everywhere except in Washington.


Now, sir, protest against this gross injustice,
and say to one and all of the parties who are
grinding the poor man to death between the
upper and neither milstOnes Of their power
''why not come down 2" Why not permit the
same lever to lower your prices that raised them
for you. You went up with gold, now come down


Before the war poor man could rent neat
little house for eight or ten dollars per month,
were readily scceded to. Now he must needs
pay twenty, twenty-five or thirty dollars per
month for the same, and even necessary repairs
fI aai,n o, @ hd a aCt fEs. o.g
to build these small houses, for they were erected
when material and labor was cheap. 1t has
often been matter of surprise to me how these
landlords can sleep at night or 60 to their graves
in peace after having SO unconscionably wrung
so much from the substance of their less fOrtu-
nate fellow creatures


the taxes are greater) rent fifty per cent cheap
er, and besides, generally have the comforts of
gas, water, and cellars, which are considered
luxmit here, and not incident to small houses.
1t is true that houses built during and since the
war do not yield 50 great an interest on the in
vestment as those erected previously, as they
realize from twenty to one hundred and twenty
per cent. on the capital expended.


Ground is held SO high, too, that there is but q
slim chance for poor man to get "a habitation
and home" There are plenty of men in our
city who own whole acres OF land that is lying
idle. They bought 1t in other days, at from one
mill to two cents per square foot, and now hold
II at twenty-five, fifty cents, or dollar q foot.
These are the individuals whose paysimony and
avarice have created the magnificent distances"
which excite the wonder and contempt Of every
to retard progress and improvement here. Why
not sell this ground at its real value now, and
not retain 1t, because they cannot get its
estimated prospective value ten or twenty years
Sfv
dollars in building houses on these wide COM
mons, and dispose of them at such rates and
reach Of poor men !? They would thus sad add to to
the appearan and interests Of the city, and to
the comfort Of their fellOw-men at the same
time. 1t seems as though humane considera-
the wealthy Of the present day. These land
holders are very much exercised over the propO-
natSinS 70 the eaPts and yet win do
OF that would render them independent of such
contingency.


Dry goods, boots and shoes, &C., are adyer-
tised in the New York, Philadelphia and Balti-
more papers at 50 much less than the same can
be purchased for here that our people seize every
opportunity to send abroad for different articles
Of merchandise. If our merchants would be
content with a reasonable profit they would Sc
cure to themselves all these orders which are
now daily going out from private parties. Fur
niture dealers, stove dealers and others might
butter here has Induced . quite extensive out





cred that there is sufficient difference in the cost
Of butter in our market and that purchased
abroad to Justify them in the effort of sending
to other parts for it. Buyers will seek the cheap
est market just as naturally as water will seek
it. level.


1t is a deplorable fact that coal sells for three
or four dollars ton within a hundred and fifty
miles OF Washington, and yet we have to pay
ten dollars tor it here True, the lack of facili-
ties for transportation, and the one railroad to
which we all pay tribute in every article We
A. H. l.!
coal. But is not "the agony piled on littleP
For years the coal dealers have been pursuing
a most reprehensble and unchristianlike sys-
rates in summer, they await the freezing over
OF the Potomac and the suspension Of naviga-
ton In winter, when up goes coal to twice or
fers by i Ne. tbe r;ch msn 70, Se has ss,d in
his stock at cheap prices. The poor man had
not the means to provide for his wants in ad-
vance, and he must almost starve his family If
he would keep them warm, and Is necessitated
to yield to the exorbitant demands Of the fuel
dealer. A benign Providence spoiled this little
ters. Now they are in a auandary. With
large stock still unsold, and spring and ultimate
decline in prices at hand, there is danger Of
not positive loss. But their former barbarisms ,
deprive them Of all claims for sympathy.


iew weeks ago cargo Of coal reached our
wharves, and the coal merchants, hearing that
IL was TO be put upon the market at q low fig
ure, combined and bought It and divided II
among themselves. As they all have q surplus
OF coal on hand, this movement was for the sole
purpose OF sustaining present prices.


The exorbitant profits demanded have caused
the formation Of several cooperative assOcia-
tiOns for the purchase of fuel, and we warn these
men that II they are not content with reasonable
profits they will sooner or later find their
Occupation gone" entirely.


1t is well known that our butchers not only
grow fat, but grow rich. That they can afford
to sell cheaper will prove by citing the fact
that butcher on the Island has been and Ia
now selling best beef at seventeen cents per
pound, pork at eighteen cents. mutton at ten
cents, and veal outlets at twenty-five cents per
pound. So If they would avoid creating q com
petition that will undersell them, they must
come down a little in their prices. A similar
statement might be made concerning groceries.
"a word to the wise Is SUN cient."


Now, Mr.. Editor thanking you for the courtesy
extended by the insertion Of this article, and the
interest you have thus manifested in the welfare
Of all classes. will close by appealing to land
lords, and to all classes OF business men to
recognize the fact that gold IL down, and to give
the poor man the benefit OF the decline which he
had a just right to expect.


The merchant may say he cannot reduce on
the stock on hand, without loss. Did ho not
gain on the stock on hand when goods went up?
what ts sauce for the goose Ia sauce for the
Rander." He did not walt until he sold all the
goods on hand before he increased his prices
and he should not wait now until he disposes OF
all his stock before he yields to the logic of
events.


The interests of the city and Of all parties con-
cerned are involved in q change Of the policy