The rise in the value of gold, as shown by comparison with large numbers of articles of commerce, has been between 35 and 40 per cent. The rate of interest on gilt-edged securities shows a corresponding decline. But unfortunately for the struggling people of the country, the fall in the rate of interest on farm mortgages and on property remote from money centers has been nothing like so great, nor has it been so great as the fall in the price of agricultural lands, and in the products of labor. I hold, therefore, that a new axiom should be added to the science of political economy; namely, that as the purchasing power of money increases, its income producing power decreases, and in about the same ratio; and conversely, when the purchasing power of money decreases, its income-producing power increases. In other words, when prices rise interest rises; when prices fall interest falls. When money is increasing in volume and decreasing in value, prices rise, and its investment in productive enterprises becomes more profitable, and as a consequence interest rises. When it is decreasing in volume and consequently increasing in value, prices fall, investment in property and productive enterprises become precarious and unprofitable, and, as a consequence, it avoids them, and seeks investment in bonds and gilt-edged securities, aptly termed "money-futures," which for years have been increasing and continue to increase. Some thirteen years ago I indulged in a little prophecy concerning the rates of interest. I take no great credit to myself for it, but in 1877--four years after the demonetization of silver--before the rates of interest had materially fallen, and when the same contention was made that is made now, namely, that money was cheap because interest was low, and that the policies of the country were wise because our credit stood on such a high plane, I submitted to Congress the report of the Monetary Commission, from which I quote: