_Fifth_: It is such a permanent form of value that it is made the basis or standard of future or deferred payments: not only at the end of a year, but at the end of twenty-five or fifty years. MR. MERCHANT: I would like to ask you whether you think there is anything in this claim that gold is cheaper today than twenty years ago? Whether it is falling in value, and as a consequence prices of everything else, which must be compared with gold, are rising? MR. BANKER: No, sir, I do not think that the increased output of gold is the cause of higher prices. The increased prices can be more than accounted for in other ways. Think of it. There are: 1. The Trusts, 2. The Middleman, 3. Advertising, 4. Unscientific Management, 5. Overcapitalization, 6. Monopoly! Monopoly! 7. Extravagance, 8. Militarism, 9. Exhaustion of Soil, 10. High Rates of Interest on Agricultural Loans, 11. Unnecessary Disease, 12. Concentration of Population in Cities, 13. Shorter Hours by one-quarter, 14. Increased Wages by one-quarter at least; in some instances, 150%, 15. Shorter Hours for Women, 16. Child Labor Laws, 17. Minimum Wage Laws, 18. Workmen's Compensation Acts, 19. Insurance Against Unemployment, 20. Old Age Pensions. MR. LABORINGMAN: Well, I don't know what you fellows think, but I am for everyone of these forward movements that make for a better humanity, morally, intellectually and physically; and I'm utterly opposed to the unfair advantages that any man, or corporation, has over any other man, or any other corporation. A just government rules its people through just laws, and guarantees equal opportunities under the operation of those laws. MR. BANKER: So I think we all are, or will be, very soon. Every lover of his country, everyone who recognizes that the government exists for man--manhood and womanhood--must be for these purposes, but all these things will require a readjustment, and will take time. I am only saying that these things more than account for all your high prices, but let me finish. 21. During the past ten years, 10,000,000 of our people have shifted, or gone, from the country to the cities. Food producers have decreased, and food consumers have increased by 10,000,000. Our population has increased 47% and our food products only 30% since 1890. 22. The hundreds of millions that have gone into automobiles, not one dollar in a thousand of which produces anything but a good time, or a joy ride, is a burden on production, and has been affecting prices, because they are nothing but luxuries. 23. Then there are all the other conveniences of life, such as telephones, electric light, etc.