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About The Columbus journal. (Columbus, Neb.) 1874-1911 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 4, 1896)
i-AJt!TV te - .--sj-h. t r v. r -i - J - ,- - iT . -i.. '- 0mtoL - I - r - , V' - . ? - c VOLUME XXVII.-NUMBER 30. COLUMBUS, NEBRASKA. WEDNESDAY. NOVEMBER 4, 1896. WHOLE NUMBER 1,382. r; ft a . - A: ji .- . t - ''. : I! . .- V l I SILVER IN MEXICO. A TRIP OF OBSERVATION .THROUGH .THAT COUNTRY. " Vjsi Low and Coat of Living High .Miserable Condition of the Farmer . . r fctu-k Conditions Would Bring on a . Speedy Itctolntion Here. : El Paso, Texas, Oct 26. I have just ..concluded a tour of Mexico, -which I made for the purpose of determining .whether business and wages and prices ;.o farm produce were really as satis- .; factory as has been claimed and partic ularly whether the conditions are such as to encourage the people of this coun ; try in adopting the financial system of Mexico. I met and talked with two passenger .conductors between Torreon and El Paso, Texas, about the wages of that "class of railroad employes. Unlike the" officials of the Mexican Central and other roads in Mexico, the men in the operating department do not receive gold for their services. They are paid . in paper money or silver worth a little more than 30 cents on the dollar. Theso ' gentlemen would not permit me to quote them, but talked freely with the . understanding that their names were not to be used. They said it was the policy of all railroad corporations in that country to "stand in" with the . powers that be, and refuse to discuss the financial system of the republic. This, they explained, was because the government granted big concessions to the railroads which were developing ! I 1 7 FARM HOUSES IN MEXICO. the 'resources of the country. One of these conductors said: "My salary is $160 per month. 1 pay $20 a month room rent, or a total of $240 a year. I pay for board that I would not eat in the States, $1 per day, or $365 a year. It costs uie $20 per month for room rent for my wife. There's $240 more. Then 1 have to pav $25 per month for her board-$300 a year more to add to the i total. The rules compel me to buy two suits of clothes per year, for which I have to pay $70 per suit. Out of the 50 cent dollars which wc have left after iwying out these sums wc must buy all of our clothing. Figure it out your- self and you will find that it takes con- c B rflt 1 n wl am r hSVX am w 4 - or 1 a A m ends meet. The American who is down here railroading ought to be pretty well up in arithmetic, because he has got to do some calculating each month to -find out just how much his dollar is worth." The other conductor corroborated all this and more. "My expenses in Mexi co arc greater," he said, "than in the United States. For a while 1 -s uu tho upper end 01 a mn on the fc.a,ie Pass route and boarded at San Antonio Texas. There I paid $18 per month board. Now I am boarding in Torreon and pay $40 per month in Mexican money. Hut the greatest expense to a railroad man in this country :s the nt,n price he has to pay for clothing. Hi could do as the Mexicans do, go ball naked, wear sandals for shoes 01 -go barefooted, I could get along prettj well on $30 per month, for that is wliat iw In Mexican money is worth. especian when the cost of living here is more than double. I have to buy American shirts, American shoes and Hats, anu, indeed, practically "" "" conies from the United Mates. 1 uey don't manufacture articles of a charac ter here in Mexico suitable for our use, so when 1 buy a pair of shoes I have to pav double value and the duly added. This pair of shoes 1 am weai ins cost me ."COMMON C $7.50 in Mexican money, and I could buy the same shoes in Texas for $2.50 . or $3. The same is true of every other article that I wear. I wish every Amer ican railroad man who believes that tbe Mexican 50-cent dollar system is a good thing for wage earners would come to Mexico and take a few object lessons. I have had all I want of it, and will get back to the States as soon as a position opens for me." House Kent. If the railroadman in Mexico should " rent a house as good as the home of the average couluctor, engineer, fireman, brakcmsD or telegraph operator in this 1 -" country, he would find himself bank--rupt at the end of the first month. Rents are doable what they are in any of the towns or cities of the United States. For instance, in the City of i Mexico a six-room house' crowded up into a row of one or two story build ings rents for $60 per month $10 per room. A railroad man who cares for the comforts of his wife and children would not pen them up in a sun-dried mud house of two or three rooms for which he would have to pay $25 to $30 per month all he could afford to pay so he leaves them in this country ,and if he has anything left after his living expenses are paid at the end of each month he converts his 50-cent dollars into dollars worth 100 cents the world over and sends them to his family. Railroad Wage. Locomotive engineers in Mexico re ceive from $125 to $225 per month in Mexican money, while on the vestern roads in the United States they are paid from $125 to $200 per month in gold .or its equivalent. Freight conductors are paid from $12." to $200 per month in Mexico, while the wages range the Bame in this coun try with a dollar worth twice as mucX Firemen get from $70 to $100 pe. month in Mexico. Here they get from $60 to $100, and at the end of the month they don't have to figure how vmuch their dollars are worth. Division superintendents in Mexicc receive $350 per month in the chear dollars, but just over the line their sal aries range from $250 to $325 in gold. Trainmasters average about $165 in Mexico, but in this country their aver age is about $160 nearly double when figured on a gold basis. Mexican railroads pay telegraph oper ators in a depreciated currency front $10 to $80 per month. On our western roads tley get from $40 to $100 a month in dollars worth 100 cents everywhere. Chief operators, to whose hands arc entrusted life and property, are paid from $80 to $150 per month in Mexican silver, while the same class of men in this section are paid an average ol $140, or almost double. The Mexican railroad companies pay their station agents from $50 to $175 per month. On western roads the wages rang3 from $40 to $150 per month in 100-cent dollars that's the difference. I am certain that there Is not an American laborer who works on the section who would want to go to Mexi co. There the average price paid sec tion hands is 50 cents per day, and they work from sunrise to sunset. Compared with the money paid to American labcrers, these poor unfor tunate section hands receive practically 2C cents a day. On ray return home I talked with several gangs of section meQ wno receive from $1 to $1.25 per day in sound money, and 1 did not una one who intended to vote for a policy which would reduce the value or Amer- ican labor to a level with that of Mexi co. Another class of poorly paid railroad laborers iu Mexico is the freight brake- men. They, too. are the victims or me 50-cent dollar, receiving from $35 to $75 per month, while on this side of the Rio Grando American railroads pay from $60 to $100, in gold if they want In Mexico a section foreman wno lives in a mud house and on a mud floor, with a sheep skin to sleep on, without a change of clothing or enougn q wa(J a gun is paid the , ifl . j-. of frora 73 cents to , dgy in chcap dollars, of whQ hag nQt nQtcd tbe well. 1 paintcd homes of tbe scction foreman , sa oycr Kans&s railroads? j yQH ony observe comfortable , ho wRh gfecn ,awns in front. faceJ cbildren piay- do()r but f you w11 look .. yQj wU gee modern furnituP2 jnd q u caTlpetea floors, papered j walJg ictures fcooks magazines, lace ( curtajns at tbe windows and in many ns(Jmces a piano or organ Rraces the par,or M1 these things the section , ,, ,,., t ,., , lorcman has accumulated from his sal ary, which averages anywhere from $45 to $75 per month. The reason 's plain. Every dollar is worth 100 cents and its purchasing power is three times that of the Mexican dollar. &BRIERS. What Money Bays. I found in my investigations of paid mechanics and skilled labor in the shops of the Mexican railroads that wages ranged about as they do in the United States. The shop men at To peka receive about the same wages that are paid on the Mexican Central and other roads in Mexico, with possibly a few exceptions, but when you consider the 100-cent dollar of Uncle Sam and Its purchasing power, and compare it with the Mexican dollar at 50 cents and tbe prices of the commodities of life in that country, en object lesson Is pre sented that a child can undertUnd. Railroad men arc consumers and are interested in buying their goods where they can get them cheapest. If the Mexican dollar would buy as much as the American dollar in such articles as food and clothing, the railroad man in Mexico would have little to complain of. The American dollar will buy double the amount of the staple com modities in Mexico, and in this country It will buy nearly three times as much in the common articles of food. The best place to ascertain the cost of articles in general use is at El Paso and Juarez, border towns separated by the Rio Grande river, which is the bound- ary line. There the man who desires to ascertain the relative values of the two moneys will gain some valuable information. While I was there Mayor ; R. F. Campbell of El Paso went to the stores in El Paso and secured prices on the staple groceries and articles that a laboring man would have to use. Tnen 1 he went over to Juarez and got the prices of the Mexican merchants on the same articles, for whlcn tney wouiu pay in Mexican silver. After compiling his figures he made affidavit to the statement which follows: In In TS. Mx. I Matches, per gross 5 -f Mckles, in live Ballon koRs 2. .oJ Vincpar. In live sallon kesh - '- riaklng soda, per .loaen i.w -J !alt. in two-pound Nick -J - Koyal baking powder ' ' Molasses, per gallon $ Reans. per pound ? '11 Catsup, per dozen - - '.-- Dried plums per pound 11 -. Macaroni, per round f Dried apples anil pvacbes. per n. pound ' . Dried prunes, per pound '" $ Arbuckle's coffee, per pound.... -0 .11 Test pe-r pound. :5."i cents to $1 in .. V.l Paso: In Mexico '0 to !... Siear. ner 10" pounds... 10. Kice. per pound .03 .IS Canned tomatoes. ier case ---o .Ji r"nnnoil neas. iter fise - rr o: Crackeis, per pound 07 '21 Fought for Corn At the town of Siloa, 150 miles from the City of Mexico, I saw an object les son of Mexican energy and activity. Travelers who have explored Mexico will tell you that the masses are lazy, listless and indifferent, but there are exceptions to the rule. When the Mex ican Central passenger train hailed at the station the usual great crowd of natives were there to meet it. The venders and beggars and the curious specimens of humanity of the neighbor hood were all there. On the opposite side of the depot stood a train of hogs which were being shipped by Armour of Kansas City to the City of Mexico. It had been sidetracked for the passen ger. Instantly there was a mad nish of men, women and children for the hog train. The brakemen had takon from the caboose several sacks o' shelled corn and were feeding the hogs. A few gallons of the corn fell to the ground, and one hundred men, women and children fought each other like demons to get hold of a few kernels to eat The race was to the swift, and decrepit old women and half-clothed children were trampled upon by the muscular Mexicans whose hunger for food made demons of them. Farming. The traveler who goes to Mexico to study the conditions of the people ought to stop a day or two at the bor der, as I did. I crossed the line at El Paso, Texas, where I had a good op portunity for comparing the methodsW farming in both countries. On the Mex ican side of the Rio Grande is a valley that stretches away for many miles, which has been under a crude system of cultivation for over three hundred years. The -lack of enterprise, thrift and prosperity is noticeable every where, while over on the Texas border with fewer natural advantages, art large and commodious homes, well im proved farms, big stock ranches, anc every evidence of a contented and pros perous people. Tbe Clanes of Mexico. There are only two clseeee In Mexico to verx rich and the very poor. There are about 13,000,000 people in the republic, and one million of these own the lands, the mines, the manufac tures and other enterprises. The rail roads arc owned by foreign capitalists. This class is prosperous because it is the policy of the government to aid by large concessions any enterprise that will tend to the development of Mexi co's inexhaustible resources. Back of this is President Diaz' standing army which would shoot to death any body of laboring men who would even con sider the matter of striking for better wages. Why should not these big en terprises prosper when they can employ ' '" V,VS S ' V ' S ' sCo , ; y ( Va. McKinley, Jr., Republican Candidate for President. labor for almost nothing? But the magic touch of this prosperity has not left its impress on the other 12,000,000 who constitute the toiling mases of Mexico. The men who work on tho great haciendas, or plantations of the rich, arc today in as deplorable condi tion as they were before a mile of rail road track was laid in the republic. During the past seventeen years that country has experienced its greatest growth in railroad building and min ing. Within this period the Mexican dollar has fallen from S per cent above par, as compared with American gold, but labor has remained stationary. The common farm labor has ranged from 2.1 to 37 cents per day. while the Mexi can dollar has fluctuated from $1.08 to 48 cents. Therefore, It is not true that there is a tendency to increase the wages of the millions whose toil pro duces the wheat, the corn, the cotton, the coffee, the tobacco and the fruits of Mexico. The agricultural lands of Mexico are owned by a few men. They have amassed great fortunes off the cheap labor of the poor people and are grow ing richer every year. These great ha ciendas contain from 10,000 to ::50,000 acres. Each landlord employs from 300 to 1,500 men. I visited several of these haciendas. The owners live in palaces and are surrounded with every com fort that heart could wish. Around and about these palaces are scattered the adobe or sundried, one-room mud houses of the laborers. The average wages paid these men is 26 cents per day. A few get three bits a day, but the number is limited. In many of these so-called homes the luxury of a dining table, chairs, bedstead and kniv3s and forks to cat with are un known. A sheepskin or a mat thrown upon the dirt floor serves as a bed. Not one in twenty of these huts have a floor. There is no paper on the wall, no pictures, no books, no music, except the cries for food which come from the lips of the half-naked, hungry children. It matters not to this great class of people who plant, cultivate and harvest the crops what the price of wheat, bar ley, potatoes or other staple m?y be, lor they have no share in the profits of their labor. In fact, they never taste many of these articles. Their food is corn, with an occasional allowance of bears. These they get through the hacienda store. The ration for each man is one ind one-half pints of corn per day. If he has a wife and six chil dren, as is generally the case, he would have to draw from the store account twelve pints each day. The hacienda owner charges all the way from S to 12 cents per pint for shelled corn, and at the end of the year when a settlement is made the poor farmer finds himself helplessly iu debt, and his slavery con tinues. There are those who insist that these people do not desire and would not en joy and appreciate a better condition in life; that they prefer a mud house to a comfortable home; a choepskin in preference t a bed, and a blanket to cover their nakedness and keep them warm instead of clothing. There is just as much reason and truth in such a declaration as in the oft-repeated claim that the free silver policy of that country It beneficial to the laboring classes, for neither assertion is true. Tnerf It no mora peaceable, patient ad hard-working class of people on Ik globe than the peon laborers of Mexico. They are $ responsible for the policy that has tended to degrade rather than lift them up. They know thing about the benefits and bless ings of education, but they can look out them and observe the conditions ef the rich, and although they may MTer hope to advance from the life of slavery that is now upon them, it is I41e folly to say that these people would nt appreciate the little home-com-ftrts that make life worth the living. Beggm Kverywhcre. Tke City of Mexico is the flower of ' ' the republic. I was not disappointed in finding there the concentration of enormous wealth, because I had heard much of the magnificent homes, fine business blocks, the beautiful drive to Chepultepec, the great parks and the bull fights. But amid all this gorgeous display of wealth I found undeniable evidences of poverty and hunger every where. The halt, tho lame and the blind are not the only class who beg you to give them money on nearly ev ery street corner. Strong men and wo men, able to work, vio with the af flicted in their appeals for "ccntavos." The only reason I can give for this gen eral begging is that they can make more money at it than they can to work from one to three bits per day. How many thousand beggars there are in tho City of Mexico can only be guessefl at. The newspapers of that city admit that the beggars are a reproach to the republic. It is claimed that of the 300, 000 inhabitants, 7,000 are homeless and HOME OF THE SECTION FOREMAN sleep in the parks and en the streets, with the broad canopy of heaven as ( their shelter. A Comparison of lru-crs. I The prices of some of tho common articles of merchandise furnished an object lesson which I shall not soon for get. The City of Mexico is the metrop olis of the republic, and it is fair to t presume that the merchants are not un- f dersold by those of the smaller towns. For example, a pair of blankets that I I can buy in Topeka for?2.50 would cost ?6 there. A three-piece oak bed room set that could be purchased atan iur niture store in Kansas for $2o was of fered me for $150 in the City of Mexico. Unbleached muslin costs 13 cents and the cheapest calico 13 cents per yard, and with 33 inches for a yard, at that. Coffee, one of Mexico's staples, costs 00 cents per pound, and butter ranges from 75 cents to $1 per pound. Before going to Mexico I was told that I could buy as much with the Mex ican dollar in Mexico as I could with our 100-cent dollar on this cide of the line. -I am prepared to deny that prop osition, and in proof need only refer to another object lesson which impressed itself on me. A street car line connects El Paso, Texas, with the city of Juarez, the Rio Grande river between them forming the boundary line. I rode over to the Mexican town, and on the car was an intelligent young Mexican. When tbe car approached the Juarez end of the bridge he crowded up into the corner to hide a handle behind him. Just then the representative of the Mexican toycnuMUt cam. ibPifd to S"'lfl-ri'NlaKa8l see If the occupants had dutiable goods. Nothing was found on which a tax could be levied and the young man smoked his cigar leisurely until he was out of sight of the Mexican officer. Then he "alighted, takiug with him twenty pounds of American granulated sugar which he had purchased at El Paso for $1. If he paid for this sugar in Mexican silver it cost him a little less than $2, for Mexican silver was worth 52 cents that day. The same qual ity of sugar was selling in Juarez for 15 cents per pound, and if bo bad pur chased it on the Mexican side would have paid $3 for it This little incident caused me to make some investigations as to the price of staple commodities on each side of the line. In Juarez these prices pre vailed: Beans, 5 to 6 cents per pound. Sugar, 14 to 15 cents per pound. Coffee, 50 to 60 cents per pound. Soap, 9 cents per pound. Bleached sheeting, 20 cents per yard. Prints, 12 cents per yard 133 inch es). Candles. 3 cents each. On tho western coast of Mexico corn is a drug on the market, and the far mers were selling crops grown two ye:rs ago for from 20 to 25 cents per bushel. Beef cattle, as fine as any on the American ranches, are sold on the Mex ican plantations at from S23 to $35 per , Lsi- . ... ttln lirtnnr frnm $.12 neaii. wdik iautu ,..- ..... - to $16 per head. All classes of stock are sold by the head, and uot by the pound. Ranch horse." can be bought tor $12 per head. Mules were quoted at from $20 to $50 per head. The above pricrs, of course, prevail in the cheap Mexican dollar, worth a little more than 50 cents, and these ar ticles are produced by the toil of mil lions whoso average daily wage Is 26 centB, in the Fame depreciated money. P. O. MAVOY. Wlipr Stamp Speaking Originated. A Kentucky paper says the expres sion "stump speaking" was originated by Kentuckians, and gives this account of its origin: In 1815, John McLean, at the age of 21, moved from Logan county, to Shawneetown, 111., without other capital than is generally pos sessed by lawyers of that day "poor, talented and ambitious." Natuie and Vfc on tlue grass soil made him a great orator. Indeed, as u biographer ex pressed it, "besides his great strength of mind, there was no man in Illinois, before or since his day that surpassed him in pure, natural eloquence." Mc Lean's first serious trial of his power as for a seat in congress upon the ad mission of his adopted state into the union, in 1818. His opponent was Dan iel P. Cook. al.co a Kentuckian, from Scott county, "quick, wiry, eloquent and determined." On stumps of trees (.literally) the two spoke all over the country, and from that campaign orig inated the title since given to "word of-mouth" politicians. Mt!lia I'uns. Millaio was an inveterate joker and he never could resist any opening. When Cardinal Newman went to give the first sitting for his portrait, Millais said to him: "Will your eminence be good enough to place yourself upon that eminence?" pointing to a platform in the studio. The cardinal was offended for a minute and whispered to the friend who accompanied him: "Don't you think I ought to take notice of that?" However, his wrath quickly abated and he became charmed with Mil'ais before the sittings were fin ished. Exchange. Keatna Detbreaed. Judge "Did you ever notice any tigns of insanity in the deceased?" Witness (a member of the legislature) - -Well, once, when he was a member of the legislature, te introduced a hill that I wasn't r particle nf intereat u aabray-except uxpayftri." FARMER'S FRIEND. CUTTINOI DOWN THE WAGES OF HIS HIRED MEN. V Cel. Caleatatlag Farmer Kxatelaath Sltmatloa te Ills Wlf Ha Tnlaks II Wilt Gala ICaariy SS.OOO by tha Six teen ta Oa ScheBte. Farmer I reckon this free silver's about the best friend of us farmers that's come our way since the war. Al lowing Bryan's elected all right this year, I calc'late I'll be worth nearly $2,000 more next year than bow. Farmer's Wife Nonsense, Hanre! I don't believe silver's going to make folks rich. One'll have to work for a living if Bryan's elected Jut as bard as if he Isa't. F I don't eny .but what yoar head's level there. Jaae. Ss folks 111 in ii aiiah aidar bliU aUn't be us farmers. We'll come out on top witb free silver. That's suro's shooting. F. W. What crazy notion's In Your head now anyhow? D'you think farm ers are smart enough to make laws that'll take money out of other folks' pockets and put it in theirs? p. P'r'aps not, but they're going to try it. I s'pose you don't see how free silcr'll help us, but I do. p. w If you'll take my advice, you'll not bother yourself to death try ing to get rich by free silver. I'll war rant it won't work as you calc'late. F. I'll tell you one way it'll help me, Jane. .You know that If we get free coinage we will have silver dollars worth 'bout 50 cents same's Mexican dollars now. v w I thought Bryan said that silver'd be worth just as much as gold when we get free silver. p Yes, that'3 what he says in the east ss's he won't scare, the millhands and savings bank folks too much. But he don't talk that way out here, be causo he knows that ain't what we're after. We want cheap money so's prhes of wheat, corn and pork'll be twice as high, same as in Mexico. p. w. Supp's'n they are. Wouldn t you have to pay twice as much for clothes and groceries and everything else you'd have to buy? If you got ?2 Instead of $1, you'd have to spend $2 instead of $1. It'd be as broad as it's long. If that's the way silver's going to make you rich, you'll never get itch. F But I wouldn't have to spend ?2 for every $1 I spend now. You know, we have at least two hired men the whole year and three to five more from April to November, besides the hired girl for most of the year. Da you reckon I'm going to raise their pay when we get free silver? p. W. I s'pose so. Why shouldnt you? F. Just because I wouldn't have to. P'raps after a year or so I'd give 'em $2 or $3 more a month, but nothing like double what they're getting now. I calc'late I'd save between $800 and $1,000 in wages not quite so much on John and Dave, because they board with us. and of course the prices of some of the things they cat would go up, but I'd save 'bout half on my day hands who live and board at home. That's how I flgger it, and it's 'cording to tne opinion of Governor Boies and other big silver people. They say farm wages is too high for profits and that silvcr'H bring 'em down. F w. And so that's why you're fcr free silver, Harvc Grimes; want to cheat your poor hired hands out ot nan their wages, men who now can hardly keep their families out of the poor house! I thought it was them Wall street shylocks and goldbugs you're after with your free silver stick and that you're trying to square accounts with them rich fellers, but it seems F. Hold up there, Jane! Free sil ver's going to save us 'bout $1,000 on what I still owe on that $4,000 mort gage. Who d'you think'll lose that? p. W. I don't care who'd lose it Taint right to cheat anybody, but I wouldn't say a word so long's it's some body who could afford to lose it, but when it cornea to cheating your poor neighbors it's time to put a stop to It. I don't care if you never get that "other farm paid for. I guess we won't starve on this old farm. I'm going to tell Tohn and Dave and all the others just ho-.v free silver will hurt them, and I'll get them all to vote against Bryan. The idea of such farmers as you trying to elect Bryan to cut down the wages of your hired men! I'm ashamed of you, I am! Farmer Want Cheap Money The advocates of free coinage in the west and south "don't take any stock" HOMES OF THE POOR FARMERS in Bryan's occasional assertion that he "contends' that the adoption of this policy would put up the price of silver to $1.29. Indeed they would lose all Interest in tbe agitation if they sup posed that the silver dollar under free coinage was to be worth as much as the gold dollar is now. The real senti ments of these people are clearly ex pressed by James Kitchen, an exten sive farmer and stockman of Grayson, Ky., who. when asked the other day why he was for free silver, made this reply: "I am for free silver because I am In debt, and if we get free coinage I can pay my debts with one-half of what it now costs under our present money standard. And another reason. I em ploy laborers on my farm. They are tbe creditors. I am the debtor. Under free coinage Z can pay them with one half It coiti me now, for It will raid? tbe prl of producte, and X can theu PV9SbbbVSHbV Cji'aV S" CamV-''' C - Cj"3r-Jia ' s ,R9Bl24'fip$4CuSs0!c22BBBBl hire my farm help for 80 cents a day and pay them ia bacon at 15 cents a pound." It must become more and more plaia, as tbe campaiga proceeds, that this Is the motive and must be the result of the free coinage.agltation. Tbe ques tion at fssue will thus finally resolve Itself Into the larger question, whether the American people still believe that honesty is the best policy. SILVER IN A NUTSHELL. fraa Calaage ef Brlcka Waald Stat Their rrlee. Did you ever stop to think what would bo the result if the government should by legislation determine that ordinary building bricks 2 by 4 by 3 inches in sixe should be legal tender in any amount for $1 eack and should ar- range to bavt them so stamped la any quantity freer eTcsst' to the persoaV presentiag them? Under such circumstances the price - kiMIagZwicksuweWt-SiL vance to $1,000 a thousand, for iftheyt could be "coined" without cost the bricks "uncoined" would be worth just as much as ths "coined" bricks $1 each. But did it ever occur to you that it would not be an advance in the value of the bricks, but a decrease ia tho value of the dollars, which would thus establish a new "parity between money, and property;" that under such a sys tem $1,000 would be worth only l.OOOi bricks; that that 1,000 bricks would ex-J change for no more commodities or labor than it does today, and conse-. quently that $L00O would mean no, more to us than 1,000 bricks do now? In other words our government can determine by legislation what commod ity and what amount ot that commodity GARRETT A. HOBART. $1 shall be. but It must leave it to the laws of comparative supply and de-j mand, cost of production, etc., to de-. terniine what the value of that com-j modity shall be. It may declare that a, brick shall be a dollar, in which case, $1 will be worth whatever a brick will exchange for. It may declare that 23.S grains of gold shall be a dollar. In which case $1 will be worth whatever 23.8 grains of gold will exchange for. or it may declare that 112 grains of silver shall be a dollar, in which caso $1 will be worth only what 4122 grains of silver will exchange for, the samo today as 50.3 cents in gold, or, "giving the debtor the option" as to what dol lar he shall use with which to pay his debts, it may declare that each of these three shall be a dollar. In which case $1 will be worth Just as much as the least valuable of the three, which under present conditions would be the brick. L. Carroll Root. Why Doea Not Mr. Bryau Answer? Mr. Bryan tells the farmers that frco coinage of silver will give them cheap dollars with which to pay their debts. Mr. Bryan tells city workingmen that free coinage of silver will raise tho metal to $1.29 per ounce, bringing tho silver dollar at par with the gold dollar, thus giving city workingmen another dollar as good a3 the present one with which to buy the farmers products. That Is to say, to the farmers the Bryan silver dollar is to be a cheap dol lar to pay debts with. To city labor the Bryan dollar i3 t" be a dollar of high purchasing power to buy with. Free coinage of silver cannot produca these two dollars. It can produce only one of the two. Why do not would-be supporters of Mr. Bryan ask him which dollar he really means? Both the farm er, who wants to pay debts, and the workingman. who must buy farm pro duce, are interested in having this question answered. Chicago Times Herald. An Object I.eoa la SlUer There is an American silver dollar. There are two Mexican dollars. There WHO WORK FOR 2Gc PER DAY. is more silver In sach of them than in the American dollar. I bought both of them for that. What is the reason? The sole reason is that our dollar is a limited coinage, backed by gold. There is another coin. That is a French 3 franc piece. I paid 95 cents for that. It carries a little less silver than the American silver dollar. France and the United States are both gold stand ard countries. They keep In circulation a thousand millions of silver, and Mex iso, China and Japan have not got one dollar of gold coin In circulation. The gold standard country can keep silver in circulation. The silver standard country can keep no gold. That is the example of every nation today. Gold all leaven the free coinage country. Gold and silver both circulate in tbe gold standard countries. From s Speech by Senator Lodge. Never work for & candidate wltU poor memory. aft-. IB a4 sCBaav Ii r aiw fHaaV. if lattLwralBr IV .-525. S .aanMaamlm? I -'5wSt JaiMSJiBBBamWK jjp . v---3Kk ' ' JSifJ v.:
