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About Hemingford herald. (Hemingford, Box Butte County, Neb.) 1895-190? | View Entire Issue (Sept. 25, 1896)
TftAYELS IN MEXICO.) THE BLINQB AND ARROWS OP OUTRaOKD PARMKRO. A SHORT CATECHISM. iV 1 to - I K a"- a&v 3 f; THIRD OP A SERIES OP K. B. LIQHT'S. LETTERS. Anyone Who Imagine That Free Silver la Injuring Our Country Ought to lteail Thli INot an Idle Workmun Anywhere In the Kapabllo. (Copyrighted 189G by Chicago Frees Bureau.) THIRD LETTER. Chihuahua, Aug. 1C, 1S96. I find so many attractions In this quaint entorprislng city, that I am tarrying hero longer than I expected, that I may fully Investigate Its In dustries. The largest manufacturing plant In Northern Mexico Is that of The Indus trial Company of Chihuahua. The principal ownor is Mr. Enrique Creel, the banker, whose very Instructive in terview I recorded in my previous let ter. Mr. E. C. Creel, his brother, 1b the superintendent The works wero es tablished by the erection of a small foundry and machlno shop, and em ployed of a capital of $40,000. Later tho capital was Increased, and the pro Jits have been allowed to accumulate until now tho company has a capital of 4260,000. Mr. Creel very courteously showed mo through tho works In which ho takes a pardonablo pride. Ho in formed mo their employes are chiefly natives, to whom they pay tho same wages for the samo work as to for eigners, and tho scalo of wages now employed was molders, $2.00 to $3.00; machinists, $3.00 to $5.00 per day of 10 hours. In tho rolling mill tho employes from foreman to Iron handlers average $4.00 per day of 12 hours per shift Six months ago they employed twenty for eigners mostly Americans. Now they employ but three, as they find that the Mexicans turn out more work, because they will bear rushing, which the Americans would not Mr. Creel said ho preferred tho Mexicans because they did not understand the art of combin ing and coercing their employers as did tho Americans. Tho weekly payroll of tho Industri al Co. amounts to $5,000. The product covers merchant bar iron, castings for Etoves, architectural work, castings for smelters and mines, and general mach lno work. The work is of Inferior fin ish, inartistic in design, and lacking that attractive stylo our Americans produce; but It may satisfy their trade. The thought presented to my mind was, with tho competition of an Ameri can plant, under tho direction of one who was thoroughly conversant with the business, It would be necessary to turn out better work or lose tho trade. I believe there is a grand opening at Mexico City, the commercial metro polls, for a plant of equal magnitude, to bo operated by American capital, and directed by American skill. Mr. Creel told me that last spring a large contract was awarded In Mexico City, to which foreign manufacturers wero Invited and were present, but that the Industrial Works secured tho en tire order amounting to upwards of $250,000. This was made possiblo by tho high rate of exchange which has proved of Inestimable benefit to Mexican Industries, and shut all manufacturers out that operate In gold standard coun tries. As I look Into this question I can :omo to no other conclusion that that our manufacturers havo not studied this monetary question from the stand point of solf-lnterest. That they -do not realize that through its operation the silver-using nations aro establish ing new Industries, covering every im portant branch in those countries where we havo long monopolized their valuable trado, and that new indus tries aro being planted upon such a solid foundation they can never be dis lodged. Look at Japan. Never did a country develop their resources more rapidly, and never wore our industries eo seriously threatened In our home markets, as by that nation operating upon a silver basis with their abun dant cheap labor. Should we remain on a gold basis and double our present tariff (barring transportation) they would yet have an equal chanco In our markets. Restore unlimited coinage of silver, and we at once place them on a lovel with our manufacturers If there wa3 no tariff. Then by continuing the tariff of today, or increaso It if you please, we shall effectually shut them out of our markets. If the committee that is now in South America looking for new avenues of trade will take up tho monetary question and study it from a non-partisan standpoint, they will roach the conclusion that they can accomplish more by returning and ac quainting their brethren of tho true cause of tho present paralysis of their business, than can possibly be accom plished by advertising their wares in countries operating on a silver basis. If thlB Btatement is doubted let them 6ond a commlttpo to Mexico, where our manufacturers a few years ago sold thlB republic a very largo part of tho goods it consumed. Then we annually held a balance of trade against this nation of some $15,000,000, which has been gradually reduced until In 1894 there was a balance- against us of over $11,000,000. Under these conditions Is It surprising that upwards of $350,000,000 of foreign gold has found moro profitable Investment here, than at homo? But lot us not soliloquize. I prefer to give statements as I gather them from gentlemen In tho various walks of life, and especially manufacturers; for I re call how at home we have over 3,000, 000 Idle workmen denied the right to cam bread by tho sweat of tho face, because tholr employers cannot find sale for their wares. From the rolling mills we drove to La National Soap Works, owned and nbly managed by the Brlttlngham Brothers. I am told this business was established in 1885 in a small way, Blncfl when It has been enlarged three ' tfi 1 LABOR'S WAGES AND MONOMETALLISM. j liiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiuiuiiiiiiimiiiiiaimiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiirs: Tho advocates of the present gold standard aro fond of asserting that wages aro higher In gold standard countries than they aro In bimetallic countries. They quote tho daily wages paid In Brazil, Belgium, Denmark, Franco, Germany, Italy, Holland, Great Britain, Argentina, Norway and Sweden, Spain, Turkey, Portugal, Canada, Switzerland, Venezuela, United States, Chill and Australasia, all gold standard countries, as against Auntrla, China, Russia, Central America, Pcr sla, Peru, Uruguay, Mexico, Colombia, Japan, India and Ecuador all silver standard countries. It will bo noticed that not ono of the countries named aro on a bimetallic system, except It bo the United States (the figures are for the year 1890, when this country was on a partial bimetallic basis) which they nevertheless put in tho gold standard column. Today all tho countries named have either a single silver standard or a single gold standard. Not ono of them has a financial system like the United States had up to 1873, and, In a measure, from that time to 1893, when the Sherman law was repealed by a forced panic and under which wages advanced so much. A single times until now, it has a weekly capa city of two car loads of laundry soap. These gentlemen havo since built a much larger factory at Lerado which has a capacity of three car loads per Week. In connection with tho Chihua hua factory, Messrs. Brlttlngham and Tarrazas operate a candle factory with a capacity of seventy-fivo boxes per day. In all of these works they consume quite largely cotton seed oil, which they formerly bought in the United States, but the high rate of ex change caused tho building of a factory here, consuming Mexican cotton seed and thus wo lost another source of In come and another struggling industry was crippled. They are now buying soap boxes In Michigan. It Is hoped we can retain that trado. The Brittlng hams aro loyal Americans and ex pressed regret at seeing our country losing so rapidly the valuable trade of the Southern Republic. I asked those gentlemen how present wages compared with those paid when they began manufacturing. To which the reply came, when we began In 1885 wo paid our men from 25 to 50 cents per $1.00 per day, and to some of our older and hotter men we pay $1.25 per day. Wo pay our engineer and carpenter each $2.25 per day by the year, we em nlov only native help. All work 10 hours per day. Labor Is organizing and wages are going up. At present tho demand for labor is In excess of the supply, especially for the farm. During tho past two weekB tv.o car load of laborers have been ship ped In. The last one, two days ago, and today there is not an idle man in the city that wants work. For several years past we have not had our usual amount of rain fall. Many men have left the farms and found work In the factories, until now the farmers cannot procure sufficient labor to raise and harvest their crops. The demand has bcon so great for farm help that the state has leased their prisoners to the farmers in the immediate locality. Before leaving El Paso, Mr. Dona hue, general agent of tho Mexican Central, told me if I desired informa tion at Chihuahua, I would find their agent at that point very well informed, and ho would gladly give me Informa tion if I applied for It Therefore my Uext call was upon W. S. Clayton at the depot. I found him a regular en cyclopedia. It was quite satisfactory to have him corroborato the statements made by those Interviewed, as It In- silver standard Is almost as bad aB a single gold standard. Tho ono vlrtuo of silver monometallism over gold Is that it keeps tho forces of production at work. There Is practically no un employed In tho silver countries. A third of tho forces of production in the gold countries aro idle at tho present time. And again it Ib organized labor that keeps wages up In every country. La bor Is thoroughly organized in nearly all of the gold standard countries. In tho silver countries It Is not. All of tho gold countries named have hereto fore been bimetallic countries. Tho silver countries havo always been monometallic. Wages thrive under the bimetallic system. Wages go down under tho monometallic system be It gold or silver. This country la now on a gold monometallic system and has been Blnco 1893. Wages have gono down 30 per cent, since then. The dally pay of workmen In tho United Slates in 1892 was $12,000,000; today it is about $8,000,000. We want to get back to the bimetallic system, not mere ly as It partly existed prior to 1893, but as It wholly existed prior to 1873. Then wages will go up. creased my confidence In tholr correct ness. It Is proper to say here, that I havo aimed and shall continue to give tho name and address of tho party in terviewed in full, that any person do sirlng to test tho correctness of my statements may do so by addressing tho party personally. I naked Mr. Clayton to give mo the rates governing traffic on tho Central, to which ho replied : "On passenger business we have first, second and third class. Tho first class Is three cents, the second Is two cents, and tho third Is one and one-half cents per kilometer, or about of a mile. The first class cars are furnished with chair seats, the second with seats of the usual pattern, but aro not uphol stered, having slatted seats, the third class cars have slotted Beats running lengthwise along each aide, and a dou ble row of seats back to back, through the center. These cars will accom modate more than twice as many pas sengers as the first class cars. As tho low rates encourage travel I believe the suggestion of lower rates for cheap er accommodations, worthy tho co clderatlon by our American railroads." To the question do you find the liber al use of silver Inconvenient or burd ensome? Ho replied: "No we aro ac customed to it, and the large amount of silver In circulation enables all to pay cash for purchases as made. Our merchant would rather handle tho sil ver than keep books. Then plenty of money Improves business. The high rate of exchange encourages the estab lishing of new industries, which cre ates a demand for labor which Is fully employed at good wages considering the cost of living. The average pay for peons is from sixty to seventy-five cents a day. Ma sons $1.50 to $2.00, carpenters $3.00 to $5.00, machinists $3.00 to $5.00, boiler makers $5.00 to $8.00. All work 10 hours per day and no strikes. In tho southern part of the republic lower wages aro paid as labor is more plenti ful, except to foreign mechanics who command about the same rate in all tho states. There Is a fair demand for labor at theso prices. It Is proper to Bay that not all the men coming from tho states can secure employment at these wages until they havo been here some time, as they "must first learn the language before they can make themselves useful. They muat also be prepared to llVe differently and work moro hours." I must emphasize Mr. Clayton's sug gestions as to our workmen coming hero for employment All persons bo fore coming horo for a prolonged stay, should tako up tho study of tho lan guage. You will learn tho languago moro rapidly when among tho natives, but tho rudiments should bo mastered at homo, as well ns tho names of things in common use. This suggestion applies to all who would visit tho republic for pleasure. There aro so many Americans hero that one can get along vory comfort ably In tho cities, by exercising their Ingenuity and patiently pcrsovering with those who speak broken English. Do not come hero with tho Idea that our wayB aro superior, and thereforo should bo adopted. These people chango very slowly, nnd you will bo moro successful if you fall In with their ways as rapidly as possible, and leavo changes to be made when you better understand tho situation. Then you will probably decido it is hotter for things to go on tholr way. EDW. B. LIGHT. DnmonetUInc Silver. I will take it on myself to answer Mr. Edward Hellhvell, who inquires about what is meant when it Is assert ed that silver has been "demonetized." His letter, published In tho Record Aug. 6, refers to two objections often stated, as ho sayB, which ho gives aB follows: 1. "Wo were not using any silver In 1873, and thereforo silver could not havo been demonetized." 2. "Wo are using more sliver money than ever before in our history." It is a technical word. One might say the silver coin now has no Inde pendent purchasing power, whereas once with us all the silver coin of tho United States did have such independ ent purchasing power, and from 1853 to 1873 tho silver dollar possessed It, while tho fractional silver coin did not. Tho Independent purchasing power of the fractional silver coin was taken away in 1853 and that of tho silver dol lar In changes that occurred from 1873 to 1878. That is "deiuuueliiilnB." Tho taking away of tho independent pur chasing power of any of tho precious metal coinage by law Is tho "demone tizing" of such coin. Whllo we did not actually use the silver or gold coin as u part of the volume of tho circulating medium In 1873 tho law permitted the gold coin and tho sliver dollar to bo carried on Independent purchasing power, and after that this prlvllego was taken from tho silver dollar. While the silver coin now has the same pur chasing power as gold coin it is so be cause they aro in tho voluino of the circulating medium as tho solvent rep resentation of tho gold coin. The sil ver coin changes purchasing power with tho change of tho gold coin, nnd not with the chango of silver bullion. It may then bo true that In 1873 wo wero not using tho silver coin In our vol ume of the circulating medium, and yet the silver dollar was privileged to be coined and used on its own purchasing power, but after 1878 it could only be uced as tho solvent or Insolvent repre sentation of gold coin. Tho sliver dol lar was restored In everything but its independent purchasing power in 1878. Tho silver dollar thereforo remained "demonetized." Nor does It make any difference about the volume of silver coin, for be the Issue few or many, the question lnvv lng tho "demonetizing" of precious metal coinage Is whether or not it is Issued on independent cr dependent purchasing power. Pur chasing power alone Is "standard of prices," and any money to perform the office of a "standard of prices" must have sufficient independence of pur chasing power to fill this office. Sol vent representative money never baa any purchasing power of its own, and therefore can only be subordinate money and Is "demonetized." Ehe.uh zer Wftkeley In Chicago Rjfordv AN EASY METHOD OF CONVERT. INC MISLED VOTERS. OnO They Unileratnntl That Thin Ii a Ilattle for Universal Hupremoy He ttvoen Undo Sum ami Joint Hull They'll Vote fur Free BIWer. QuestionWhat Issue outwolghs all others In this yenr's campaign? Answer" Tho question of the restora tion of the principle of bimetallism In our monetary system. Q. Why la so much earnestness felt on tho Bubjcct7 A. Becauso tno voto noxt Novombor will probably determine tho question finally ono way or tho other. Q. Is not tho tariff equally an Issue in tho campnlgn? A. No, there Is no npprcclablo oppo sition to a protectlvo tariff, and all oth er Issucb aro lost In tho great ono of gold or bimetallism. Q. Explain tho position of tho gold advocates? A. They Insist that 2322 grains of gold shall constitute tho mcasuro of tho dollar, no mntter to what point gold may advanco. Q. Why aro they so wedded to tho gold standard? A. Bocauso it Is tho English stand ard, and England Is looked upon ns tho most enlightened nation of tho world. Q. Ib there any reason why wo ihould havo tho samo standard as Euro pean countries? A. Nono whatever. Tho monotary system of a country is purely a matter of Its own Internal concern. Q. What Influence has precipitated tho lssuo at this time? A. Tho Bpecudve monoy influonco. Q. What do you moan by Bpoculatlvo monoy Influence? A. Capital legitimately employed has llttlo to mako or loso by tho ques tion of tho stnndards. A piece of prop erty is worth just as much whether ex pressed In English pounds or in French francs or in Amorlcnn dollars. So in vested capital represents tho samo in trinsic vnlue whether It bo measured by gold dollars or silver dollars. Only large Investors In monoy havo any very real Interest in maintaining forovcr tho gold stnndnrd. Q. But would not a chango of stand ard bo an Injustice to them? A. The Ibbuo had hotter not havo been raised nt this tlnio, but as It has boon raised somo Injustlco must bo ex perienced on one sido or tho other. Q. Who raised tho lssuo? A. Tho advocates of tho gold Btand nrd. Q. What are their chief arguments? A. Denouncing tho advocates of bi metallism ns populists, anarchists, fa natics and cranks. Q. Aro theso denunciations Justi fied? A. No; many nblo political econom ists and statesmen advocate bimetal lism. Q. Does freo silver carry with It tho destruction of tho national banking system, tho restriction of tho powers of tho government to prcscrvo tho peace In times of riot and Insurrection, and other so-called popuilstlc meas ures? A. By no mean6. The remonetlza tlon of silver la a legitimate question of statesmanship with a solid basis of scientific truth underlying It Q. Just what do the bimetalllsts con tend for? A. For the freo colnago both of gold and silver. Q. What do you mean by freo coin age? A. Tho prlvllego on the part of any holder of tho precious metals of taking them to tho mint and having them coined into money without limitation. Q. Then tho term "free" simply means unrestricted as to amount? A. Exactly. If every coin contdlns tho full weight of pure metal and passes at what It is worth, there can bo no object in limiting the colnago. The moro money we have tho better. Q. But how about the expense of running the mints? A.-rAt present gold la coined at tho rxpenso of tho government. In some countries the cost of coining fe charged to the person getting his metal convert ed Into coin. That would be a matter for congress to settle. Thero can be no objection to a charge for coinage. There may bo advantages In It q. Then free silver simply means putting silver on an equality with gold In throwing open the mints to us coin age? A. It does. q What do you mean by 16 to 1? A. Tho present sliver dollar has 16 times the weight of tho gold dollar. Tho expression 10 to 1 means the contin uance of the coinage of the silver dol lar at the present weight, or at 16 times tho weight of tho gold dollar. Q. But tho present silver dollar has but half the bullion value of the gold dollar, has it not? A. True, but its depreciation results very largely from Its demonetization. Restore Its functions as real money and it will certainly advance. q. -Will It return to a parity with gold at tho 16 to 1 ratio? A. Many good thinkers believe It will. In any case the disparity would be but very small compared with what it is to-day. q What advantages are claimed for free colnago? A. It would break the existing cor ner in gold and cause the dollar to re turn to Its old value. Q. What would bo the effect of that? A. Prices for all products of labor would advance, business would revive, debts would be more easily paid, labor would be In greater demand, and strikes and riots would cease. Pros- 1 nerlty would be restored to tho country. Q. Thon tho support of free silver docB not mean anarchy and repudia tion? A. Far from it; tho Intelligent and cotiBclontlous frco-sllverndvocntes havo solely in vlow tho prosperity of th nation. TO OPPRESS LABOR. AldrlchV Commit ton Mlarrnrnaent the rrtc. Now York Journal: What aro thoso statistics In which such constant ap peals aro madte, and for which men aro nsked to distrust their common sonso nnd common observation? Fortunnto ly, this queallon may bo briefly nnBwer ed, bocaiiRo nil theso labor sympathi zers refer to tho samo Bet of statistics tho only sot in tho world that would answer their purpose It Is tho report mndo by Senator Aldrlch of Rhode Is land to thoonnto finance committee In 18D3. Thoso who know nothing about tho wages accepted tho committee's Bum mnry, but others looked to boo In whnt Industries this astonishing rlso In wages had takon place They found that upon "books nnd nowspapors" wnges had fallen since 1873; In tho "building trades" they had fallon; In "city public works" they had fallen; In "cotton goods" thoy had fallen, but that in "dry goodB," where tho greatest fall was expected, wages wero reported to havo risen over 40 per centl Turning to tho omploycrs' reports In another volumo to learn whero tho wagea of clerks had been rising at such a phenomenal rnte, It was found thnt but n Blnglo dry goods store, up in Nov Hampshlro, had mado a return. Less than twenty clerks wero employed by It, and yet the Aldrlch commlttco as sumed that all clerks throughout tho country had had a similar advanco in wages. As clorks aro moro numerous than cotton opcrativo, for example, a rlso of 40-odd per cent In tho wages of a ncoro of clerks was mado to offset a fall of about ono-Blxth In tho wnges of over a thousand cotton operatives nnd lenvo a handsomo balance to bo applied to othor Industries as needed, Othor methods llkowlso extraordinary woro used by tho committee, such as tho separation of tho foremen from tho hands, nnd tho making n rlso in a fore man's wngos offsot a fall in tho wages cf a Bcoro of men under him. By theso means tho desired results woro secured. What tho employers' returns really showed was something very different, nccordlng to an Independent investi gator, who went ovor tho returns a few months ago. The summary for all tho porsons employed In all tho industries covorcd was as follows: Average Avenge Aggregate dally dally T'rrxon wagca wagea wage Date RtnpolriMl. (dally.) currency. ((Told.) January, lSOO.,o,fini MO.KGfl B1.18 BUS .January. 1H73 . ,0,1B3 l2,T.OO 2.04 1.81 January, 1801 ,.7,7(13 18,123 1.09 1.09 In other words, between 18G0 and 1873, under bimetallism, gold wages roso 53 por cent In thirteen years; be tween 1873 and 1891, under tho incom plete monometallism, gold wages in tho most favored establishments fell 7 per cent. Since 1893, under complete monomet allism, the decline in wages has been at a much moro rapid rato. In Massa chusetts the labor report for 1894 show ed that In two years tho nominal rato of wages in tho factories of the etato had fallen 7 per cent and that oven thlB lower rate was received by fewer hands, working fewer days. Wage-earners who do not know tho statistics know tho facts from hard experience, and thoso who depend upon statistics to persuado tho wage-earners to tako tho side of money lenders and tighten their grip upon tho industry of tho country hav a difficult task before them. "Fool Lotto." St. Louis Republic: In tho same col umn a republican organ tells tho work lngman that If ho votes for Bryan ho will voto 47 per cent of his wages into tho pockets of mino owners, and that ho will vote to depreciate not only the silver dollar, but all tho currency to 53 cents on the dollar. How in the name of Hnnna can freo silver coinage put 47 por cent of each dollar colnod into the pocket of tho silver miner and at tho same tlmo reduce the value of the silver dollar and all the currency de pendent upon it to tho value of 53 cents? Any schoolboy can figure out that If the value of the silver dollar depreciates to 53 cents, or anything less than Us face value tho miner can not mako 47 conts by its free coinage at tho mints. Or, to put It tho other way, if the miner makes 47 cents, the value of the silver dollar will have to bo raised to tho value of the present gold dollar, In which case thero will be no depreciation of the currency. Tho gold standard advocate can take his choice of alternatives, but not both. This is n fair sample of the kind of logic with which Hanna's agents are flooding tho country. It-proceeds on the asaump tlon that the worklngmen are fools. Fata Ita Foot lu It Kvery Day. Chicago Tribune, today: This sliver agitation Is all in the interests of the silver miners. They want to make fifty cents' worth of silver worth a dollar.. Chicago Tribune, yesterday: Tho value of silver cannot be increased: by unlimited coinage. Query If the value of silver cannot bo increased by free coinage, how is free silver going to benefit tho silver miners? More Money Wanted. It Ib more money that the people want and making all the silver bullion Into money gives them a larger supply, but oven when this Is 3ono there Is yet a short supply. Nothing less than $50 per head for every man, woman and child Is sufficient to make the people prosperouB and happy, and put them out of the reach of the goldbuga. Times, Longmont, Colo.