DEPENDENT ON BANKRUPTS FOR THEIR BREAD. (BY AN ENGLISH M.P.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 212, 23 July 1887, Page 3

DEPENDENT ON BANKRUPTS FOR THEIR BREAD. (BY AN ENGLISH M.P.

We quote these startling words from the article in "The Christian World" headed "Sufferings of the Clergy/ Surely graver words have not been seen in print for many a long year past. Who are the 36 bankrupts ? The farmers of England and Wales —these are the men who are thud described. Is the description true, or is it exaggerated ? No doubt it is exaggerated a little ; but still we fear not very greatly. There is a solid foundation of fact for the startling words to rest upon. They are used by tho writer you quote to describe the state of things in the Midland Counties and in the Fens, and may be literally true theie for aug_ht I know. lam a yeoman farmer in tho Eastern Countias, and have considerable knowledge of Ihe state of things in East Anglia. We happily are not quite so bad as that yet, speaking generally, bub there are many parishes and districts in winch these same sad words might be used with truth of us. And they are sad words indeed. It is painful to read of the sufleiings and privations of the ; clergy ; still more sad, because they are far j more numerous, to think of tho agricultural classes in these islands now reduced to such a state as this. If the glebe fanning clorgy have no incomes, what i.s the state of lay fanners who have rent and tithe to pay which the glebe farmers have not ? lam sorry for tho clergy, but still more sorry for tho almost bankrupt farmers and landowners on whom they are "dependent for their daily bread." Agriculture is still tho largest single industry' in these islands, and even to rich England it ought not to be a light matter to f-ee the agricultural classes brought to tho \ orge of 1 uin. What has brought us to our present pass ? There is no difficulty in answering this question ;ib is the fall in prices. The land has not altered, season? have not changed, our skill has not failed us, we have not .slackened in our industry and attention to our business, but now, each year, for year after year, since about ten years ago, our produce has sold for less and less money. Last year, viz., 188G, was the lowest of the whole series, and 18S7 promises to be lower still. The saleable value of our products in the year 1886 was L 72,000,000 less than in 1873 ! This is ' what is driving us to bankruptcy, and the ; land out of cultivation. It is this that is driving our labourers off the land where we can no longer a fiord to employ them ; it is ! this that is causing rent to vanish away, and the great houses to be shut up ; this that is bringing the clergy— and the Dissenting ministers, too —in the villages to beggary and want. And what has caused the fall in prices ? Farmers say it is free trade. But then we have had free trade in full operation ever since 18-49. It was followed by three trying years for farming ; then, right away for more than twenty years we had the longest spell of uninterrupted farming prosperity which has been enjoyed during this century. There- is nothing then in free trade inconsistent with the greatest agricultural prosperity. What, then, again v>e ask, has caused the fall? It began about ten years ago, and it has extended to all countries in the Western world, and to nearly all products whether agricultural or other. Such a uni\ ersal fall, and over so wide an area, points to a common cause. Is there such a cause ? Yes, there is ; a cause which, and which alone, as it appears 1 to us, will perfectly explain all that we are seeing. The cause is as follows. For thousands of years the two precious metals, silver and gold, have been used freely and without limit as the money of the nations. In 1837 a resolve altogether new in the history of the world was taken, viz., to cease coining silver in the mines of Europe, and partially to cease in America. Since that date, instead of the hundreds and thousands of pounds which used to be coined every year, no fresh silver money has been suffered to come into existence. There is thus much less silver money in circulation than there | would otherwise have been. About the same time that this new resolve was taken, the supply of gold from the mines began to fall oif. Whereas ib had been averaging about L30,00U,000 worth a year, ib has now fallen to about L 17,000,000. In consequence of these two facts, a great and sudden check has been put to the increase of money in the Western world. Also, in 1879, America called in her greenbacks to the amount of many millions, which had been passing as legal tender money for a good many years. Thus, three separate causes united to diminish the money of the nations. What has all this to do with prices ? A very great deal. What do we mean by price ? What ? why the amount of money which we have to part with will tell you. Every bargain is a barter, or a deal, as we call it in the country ; we change goods for money. Money is thus half of every bargain which we make. If we were exchanging an ox for a horse the value of the one animal would have as much to do with the bargain as the value of the other. So is ib when we exchange goods for money. If money changes in value it alters all our bargains : if ib rises we have to give more goods for it. But does money alter in value ? Undoubtedly it doe&. In New Testament times, for instance, a penny a day was a fair wage for a man ; two pence was sufficient to pay for the entertainment at tho inn of the man who fell among thieves. In this country, in the beginning of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, Ll would buy an ox, and three shillings a sheep. It is a fact perfectly well known and indisputable that the purchasing power of money itself alters from time to time. It is also quite well known what causes the alteration. If money multiplies faster than commodities, the value of money decreases ; if commodities multiply faster than money the value of money t/tcreases. The present century furnishes a good illustration of this truth. During the first twenty years of it we, and several other nations, suspended payments in hardcash,and issued and used paper money instead. While all this paper money kept pouring out, prices' of goods measured by it went up. In 1821 we returned to cash payments — that is, bankers were obliged at the call of any customer to givo hard cash in exchange for the notes in circulation. In order that they might be able to do this, they had for some timo before the new law took effect to stop issuing notes. Thus the quantity of money in circulation becamo greatly lessened, and in consequence, almost immediately, a great and general fall in prices took place. This fall lasted, with short variations, right away till 1849, and, instead of people being better off with the return of peace and of cheap, ness, the country was filled with misery ; workhouses were crammed with able-bodied men unable to get work ; there were riots, and almost revolutions sometimes, in the manufacturing districts. ' In order to keep the land in cultivation (and to save rents) the Corn Laws were put on, which prevented wheat from falling 1 to the extent that other things did, but this, though it saved the farmers and landlords, probably aggravated the general , misery. In 1849 began the great gold discoveries. During the next twenty-four years, as this gold kept being

coined, money was greatly multiplied. As this proceeded prices rose, industry of all kinds became very profitable, wages went up, and an unexampled period of activity and increase ensued. Then, in 1873, the new departure of which we have spoken began. Germany demonetised her silver and the European mints were closed to further coinage of that metal. Consequently, ever since then, while production of goods and multiplication of human beings (each of whom brings with him need for more money) has been going on, the production of money has been stopped, or at any rate very seriously checked. Naturally enough, indeed inevitably, since then the purchasing power of money has been going up, and, of necessary consequence, prices of commodities expressed in money nave bee:* going down. Here we have a perfectly simple explanation of the general fall. ♦* Oh," but people say, " there is no scarcity of money, those who have it to invest are at their wits' end to know how to employ it.'" Yes, of course they are, and why ? Because, as prices have for some years kept falling, people don't like to buy property, lest in a year or two it should not be worth what they gave for it, and they don't like to pub it into business because they are afraid they will loso it, for as prices keep falling it is almost impossible to mako business pay. So they end by putting it into the funds or into some land of debenture stock, whore a fixed number of sovereigns are assured to them for interest; consequently all securities of this kind have gone up because so many are wanting them, and land, and mills, and mines, and ships, and manufacturing investments (except brewing, which is a protected monopoly) have gone down. It pays better mow as a rule— if you have money — to bo out of business than in it. Hardly a promising lookout this for working-men. Any of your readers who will think over these things will see why prices have fallen ; and when, healing the cry of distress waxing louder and louder from one indusbry after another which is being ruined by the falling prices, or when marking the number of the unemployed, or only partially employed, becoming greater and greater, will be able to understand the cause. Ho will be able to see why it is that the Court-fixod rents in Ireland - said at the time to be too low - havo become impossible ; why Scotch farmers with long leases are being ruinod, and are clamouring for a land bill ; why Welsh farmers and Essex farmers are elumouring against tithe. All these classes are beiiis: goaded to make bricks without straw. The tale of sovereigns they have to pay has not been minished, while to raise the sovereigns requires oven more and yet more of their produce. Adam Smith says "high prices and plenty make prosperity, low prices and want misery. " Each year now is proving the truth of this to i\a. What would dry up the tears of parson, farmer, labourer, and industry generally, is restoration of free coinage of silver as it was before 1873, which would cause a rise in prices. France and America have asked us to help to restore it ; as yet our Government have answered " No." As land goes out of cultivation and the wail of ruined employers and unemployed labour and of all " dependent on bankrupts for their daily bread " swells louder, perhaps they will say "Yes." Had wo our way they should say "yes" before the ruin spreads further. I hope your thoughtful readers will well weigh over this explanation of our piescnt state of depression and suffering. Agriculture is still further punished by the same cause in another way. In India and the East silver money only is employed. Since Western mints have ceased to coin silver its value in exchange for gold has greatly fallen. The effect of this is that the less gold which corn sells for in England will positively change into more of the Indian money than before. To the Indian farmer corn sent to England has risen instead of falling. In effect he has a bounty given him on all the corn he exports. If this continues many yeais longer most of our own corn-growing lands will be driven out of cultivation. As the process goes on, ever-increasing misery and ruin will stalk through our villages.