Conservative.
thought of in Christ's lifetime , nor in
that century ; nor in the second , third ,
fourth or fifth centuries that followed
his advent. It was not until the sixth
was well along that a certain holy
abbot in Rome , named Diouysius , said ,
Dearly beloved , let us now ngree to call
this year in which we find ourselves
" 527 ; " and it was so done , and the
count has been continuous to this day ;
but there is cold comfort in this for
those who talk about a "year one" or a
" . "
"year nothing.
Tmc CONSERVATIVE will therefore adhere -
hero to its mental custom of considering
the grandfather born in 1790 as hailing
from the old century , and him of 1800
as being the first fruits of the now ; and
expects to find itself regarding the babies
of 1899 as separated by a deep line from
those born in 1900.
"The price of
VALUE.
every thing rises
and falls from time to time and place to
place ; and with every such change the
purchasing power of money changes so
far as that thing goes. If the purchas
ing power of money rises with regard to
some things and at the same time falls
equally with regard to equally important
things , its general purchasing power ( or
its power of purchasing things in
general ) has remained stationary. It is
true that this way of speaking is vague ,
because we have not considered how to
compare the .importance of different
things. That is a difficulty which we
shall have to deal with later on ; but
meanwhile we may accept the phrase in
the vague but quite intelligible usage
that it has in ordinary discourse
Throughout the earlier stages of our
work it will be best to speak of the ex
change value of a thing at any place
and time as measured by its price , that
is , the amount of money for which i
will exchange then and there , and to
assume that there is no change in the
general purchasing power of money. "
See' 'Principles of Economics , ' ' Marshall
page 9.
Senator Beveridge has received a
second lashing from the republican side
of the chamber , and from an tmexpectec
quarter. The first to take him in hand
was Senator Hoar , and he performed th <
duty effectively. The second was Sena
tor Wolcott , who took the same line o
criticism as Mr. Hoar in a rather rnon
picturesque manner. The immora
character of Beveridge's discourse on
the wealth of the Philippines upon which
we were to gorge ourselves was held up
to indignant scorn , and his highfalutin
rhetoric was riddled with merciless sar
casin. Mr. Wolcott was not wholly free
from highfalutin himself , but it was o
a better kind than Beveridge's. He gav
his attention also to the pretentious talk
about the glory we were to acquir
from an honest administration of th
'bilippiune government. "With the
municipal corruption that all admitted
xisted , it was ridiculous , " he said , "to
alk of appointing a lot of Indiana poli-
iiciaus in the Philippines and letting the
reflected glory of the republic shine
across , the seas. " It is true that Mr.
Wolcott favors holding the Philippines
as a matter of duty , or what he considers
to be duty , but his exposure of the moral
turpitudo'of Beveridge's plea for pelf
was something for which he deserves
learty thanks. New York Evening
Post.
The letter of Ex-Congressman John
DeWitt Warner on the steel and wire
; rast which we print today is perhaps
; he strongest auti protection letter which
has appeared in our tariff-trust series.
The window glass trust was shown to
imve doubled prices and to have fixed
prices higher inland than on the coast ,
[ t also has alliances with the workers
and restricts production by working
only six months a year.
The borax trust sells borax at
cents here and 3 } < j cents per pound in
Europe. The tin plate , international
paper , iron ore , steel rail and other
trusts have bean shown to be charging
exorbitant prices and to be hiding behind
the tariff wall while so doing.
The steel and wire trust has not only
raised prices of wire and wire nails more
than 100 per cent in one year but it has
raised them nearly 300 per cent within
four years to home consumers who pay
for protection while it has continued to
export immense quantities and sell them
at foreign prices , which are now nearly
40 per cent below home prices and which
in 1896 were less than half of our home
prices. The trust compromises prices
in Canada and reduces prices there only
half as much as in Europe.
The plain truth is that the trust sells
for whatever it can get in any and al
markets of the world. Because of our
duty of from 4-10 of a cent to one cent
per pound on wire and wire nails , which
shuts out British and German compe
tition , the trust can and does charge
more here than in any other country
In Canada it can charge more than in
Europe because it is nearer the Canadian
markets. But it is supplying England
with 60 per cent of her wire and wire
nail product , as the Iron Age tells us.
Under these circumstances it is diffi
cult to frame any reason with any
semblance of soundness for retaining
the duties on barb wire and wire nails
We should be glad to see congressmen
attempt such a task.
When John W. Gates was before th
Industrial Commission at Washington a
short time ago he admitted that the
steel and wire trust , of which he i
manager , was exporting its products anc
selling them at lower prices to foreigner
than to Americans. He did not give the
exact figures. These are given in a let
; or from Ex-Congressman John DeWitt
Warner , which we publish today.
It appears that wire nails , which are
now selling at a "base" price of $3.53
per keg in New York and Chicago and
vhich one year ago sold for $1.59 and
five years ago for 95 cents , are now being
exported from New York and sold to
foreigners at $2.14 per keg ; and that in
1896 the export price was $1.80 when the
home market pribe was $2.70.
Barb wire is now sold to Americans at
$4.13 $ a hundred pounds , to Canadians at
$ .25 and to Europeans at $2.20.
Our exports of these products are so
reat that foreigners are being driven '
out of the business.
Barb wire and wire nails are important
articles of consumption with farmers
and builders and the effect of the ex-
iremely high prices now being charged
cannot but greatly restrict the building
of fences , houses and barns. In fact the
hardware men of the country tell us in
interviews printed in the Iron Age of
November 30 , 1899 , that farmers are
building rail instead of wire fences and j
that they are buying nails by the pound
instead of by the keg. Demand for
these articles has fallen off 25 or 30 per
cent.
But what is to be done to remedy this ]
state of affairs ? Mr. Gates says the j
trust needs not only the tariff protection , j
which it now has , but that it should re
ceive a subsidy from the government.
Do the farmers and carpenters of this
country agree that this is the remedy ?
Will they suggest to their congressmen
that a possible remedy might be found
in the removal of tariff duties ? Through
what other means can we expect im
mediate relief from the exactions of this '
greedy monopoly ? ;
If there is a worse or more unpatriotic ]
trust in this country than this arbitrary I
and high-handed steel and wire trust we ;
have not made its acquaintance. j
When the Sun
PHOSBUSAND
POPULISTS.8ave Fhaethon
leave to drive his
chariot he said to him : "If yon ascend too
high you will burn the Heavenly man
sions ; if you descend too low you will
reduce the earth to ashes ; do not drive
to the right you will meet there the
constellation of the serpent ; avoid going
too much to the left , you will there fall
in with the altar of truth ; keep in the
middle. "
CONSERVATIVE
CONTRIBUTORS.TIVE Publishes a
list of the good and
attractive books which have been writ
ten by Edward P. Evans and Elizabeth
E. Evans , his accomplished wife.
The character of the publishers is an
endorsement of the ability and value of
the books. Other notices of these works
and extracts therefrom will appear in
THE CONSERVATIVE from time to time ;
