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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



consequently it cannot have any part in 

 producing a tide at one side of the earth 

 merely. This must be ruled out. 



Let us take up the last item of the three. 

 C(Fig. 2) is the centre of gravity between the 

 moon and the earth, about 3,000 miles from 

 the earth's centre, and 1,000 from the sur- 

 face. Now, the centrifugal force is always 

 proportional to the distance from the centre 

 of motion, other things being equal (see 

 any work on mechanics). Then the force 

 at D is seven times as great as the force at 

 A, for it is seven times as far from C. 

 Therefore the tide at D will be seven times 

 as high as that at A. Do your New York 

 tides play such tricks ? 



It is also easy to show that the first 

 item of the three has nothing to do with the 

 tides. So in that sentence there are three 

 bald-faced absurdities ; and in fact there 

 are about as many such as there are sen- 

 tences in the whole article. A hundred 

 pages of manuscript are not sufficient to 

 show them all up. 



Take the next two sentences following 

 the preceding, viz. : " The direction of these 

 three forces is in the same line. The mo- 

 tion of this part of her surface, which is in 

 this line of direction, is therefore the most 

 rapid; consequently the centrifugal force 

 felt here is also the greatest." 



Scan this closely, and you will find what 

 the logicians call a vicious circle in the rea- 

 soning. R. W. McFarland, 

 Professor of Mathematics, etc., Ohio 

 Agricultural and Mechanical College. 



Columbus, Ohio, September 12, 1S77. 



THE PRESENT STAGNATION OF TRADE. 



To the Editor of the Popular Science Monthly. 



The discussion of the present econom- 

 ical problem, the depression of profits and 

 wages, which the article of Prof. Bonamy 

 Price ("One per Cent,") initiated, ought to 

 be continued, and facts and opinions ought 

 freely to be contributed toward a full un- 

 derstanding of the subject. 



Prof. Price writes from the money-cen- 

 tre, and reflects the state of enlightened 

 opinion as influenced by his surroundings. 

 The money accumulated there represents 

 saving-;, and he very naturally and very 

 truly finds fault with our extravagance. 



Next comes Mr. Bunce, in the July num- 

 ber ("Over-Consumption or Over-Produc- 

 tion '? "), giving the views as held in a man- 

 ufacturing centre; he admits over-produe- 

 tion and advises restriction. 



This, the distributive (or trade) centre, 

 New York, will not submit to ; and Mr. 

 Leland, in the August number, exposes the 

 fallacy of some of Mr. Bunce's reasoning. 

 Without wishing to imply that these writ- 

 ers did not intend to present the question 



in its total aspect, yet they are viewing it 

 through the glass of their surroundings ; 

 and, if I now add the opinion which is held 

 in an agricultural region, the next writer 

 will include this and make his exposition 

 more comprehensive. 



We in the agricultural districts deny 

 that there is over-production in our line, or 

 stagnation of trade in our articles. The facts 

 are, that with three very good harvests and 

 several average ones previously, we have not 

 produced more than has been consumed. 

 At the end of June, when the present 

 abundant wheat-harvest was begun, there 

 was not old wheat sufficient for a month's 

 home supply in the Western granary. The 

 new wheat was hurried from the threshing- 

 machine to the mill and ground immedi- 

 ately, to fill the regular orders for the Bos- 

 ton, New York, and Philadelphia markets. 

 Evidently, there has been no over-produc- 

 tion in wheat or in corn. We have readily 

 sold all our beef-cattle, our sheep and swine, 

 our wool, fruit, and dairy products. The 

 production of all these has met the demand, 

 and we have realized fair prices. 



And, as a natural consequence, there 

 has been no stagnation nor depression in 

 our trade. Our farmers and small town 

 and village mechanics, and our small retail 

 stores, have had all the necessaries of life 

 in abundance, and not a few of the comforts. 

 Mortgages have been lifted, improvements 

 have been made, surplus cash is in all our 

 savings-banks at four per cent, or less in- 

 terest to the depositors. Our trade centres, 

 doing the honest business of first - hand 

 traffic, are prospering. 



All through our country, farms and 

 fisheries have not produced more grain, 

 meat, or wool, than has been consumed 

 from one harvest to another. But we have 

 produced more cotton than can be worn 

 out from one year to another. Our mines 

 have yielded more iron, in many places 

 more coal, than is wanted ; much less iron 

 is now required for trades-tools, machinery, 

 and railroading, than at that not far-distant 

 period when a great deal was consumed in 

 building new roads and erecting new ma- 

 chinery where there had been none before. 

 Mines are bringing up more silver than can 

 be usefully employed ; hence it is being 

 hoarded, and its price must sink. 



The cotton and the iron are forced up- 

 on the converting trades, in which so many 

 mill-hands and factory-operatives are em- 

 ployed. The raw material in excess be- 

 comes cheaper. The converted products, 

 the articles manufactured for consumption, 

 are in excess, and, forcing themselves upon 

 the market, reduce prices, as well their own 

 as the price of the labor that produced 

 and distributed them. And, as a last con- 

 sequence, these products are glutting the 

 shelves of the merchants' warerooms, di- 

 minishing the profits of the carrier and 



