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Show An Imbecile Policy. Tho study of our commerce for the last sixty years is a most interesting one. Reduced to tables and put in ten-year groups, the showing is as follows: Exports. Imports. Total. 1857 $293,823,760 $348,428,342 $642,252,102 1867 204,506,141 395,761,096 690,267,237 1877 602,475,220 451,323,126 1,053,798,346 18S7 716,183,211 692,319,768 1,408,502,979 1897 1,050,993,556 764,730,412 1,815,723,968 1907 1,880,851,024 1,434,401,092 ,315,252,116 It will be noted that while our population has Increased 300 per cent, our commerce has Increased In-creased 500 por cent This increase has been due to tho now money Which has been added to the world's stock of money by the mines of our Western States and Territories. From it one would suppose that our statesmen would begin to realize tho force of the old fact which has been reiterated by all thoughtful political economists for the past century and a half, namely, that prices are regulated by the volume of money In a country. Wo aro not exporting and Importing five times the bulk of goods that came and went the year before tho first gold was found In the mill-race that drained tho water back from Sutter's Sut-ter's Mill Into the river. The prices have doubled. We all saw when by a trick silver was demonetized, de-monetized, through which half the roal money ot the world was destroyed, that as silver seemed to fall, so did, every other form of property, until it had shrunk In apparent value 50 per cont That is the purchasing power of gold was Inflated 50 per cont, because the real volume of money in the nation and in the world had been reduced 50 por cent. All forms of property except interest ii : bearing securities were Included In thar1HhUs depreciation. It was to bring this about thaFw ver was, by a triok, demonetized, just whan trtir Government owed- an inter08tb8&rlng debt ot ritdre than. 2,000 millions of "dollars, Snd When the. rail-roads, rail-roads, Btates, cities and Individuals owod perhans four times that amount. The mines have, after thirty-four years, more than made up the deficiency in our country, but that does not change the wickedness involved in silver demonetization. It cost our country vastly more than did the great Civil war in money and property; it ruined more men who in 1873 thought they were comfortably fixed than died on both sides in the war. W6 have said this much to illustrate how much our country is losing by giving up $250,-000,000 $250,-000,000 annually to foreign ship-owners in faros and froights. At 3 per cent per annum the loss amounts in Interest alone to $7,500,000. In depreciation depre-ciation of property it would amount, except for the constant reinforcement of new money from the mines, to 8 .por cent on all the property In America. It keeps us in the estimation of tho world a second-rate nation, be'eause we have no ships. It leaves us helpless to carry out any needed scheme which requires the movement of any large body of men by sea. Wo are exulting over the progress of work on tho Panama canal. Suppose it were completed, what would it avail our commerce? Congress steadily opposes any subsidies for our ships, but fails to state any feasible way whereby our merchant ships can bo restored without it. To send out what we want, to bring in what we' need, we pay out annually what our savings banks would be glad to pay $15,000,000 per annum for the use of. Were we to subsidize steam lines to the amount of $5,000,000 annually we would then be saving what would bring us In Interest quite $7,500",000. We reduce the value or property by 8 per cent, and though this is imperceptible imper-ceptible because the product of our mines fills the void, it does not alter tho facts. Wo keep quite 200,000 men who ought to be at work on our ship yards, In our Iron and coal mines, in the smelters and rolling mills and in the various establishments that furnish, decorate and equip ships, searching for work on the outside. out-side. It keeps from our navy all auxiliary ships to be called on In an emergency. (It roqulred tho utmost efforts of tho navy department to send 12,000 soldiers to Cuba.) It keeps our flag from the sea and from tho ports of tho nations with which we trade and with which we hope to extend ex-tend trade. If a more idiotic policy than has been pursuod by our Congress for a quartor of a century toward our merchant marine is possible, we would be glad to have some provincial of oithor house point it out i 'i |