Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1895-09-07
SILVER IN MEXICO.
HOW THE LAsoRER IS ROBBED BY
THE CHEAP DOLLAR.

HOW THE lABORER Is HO66ED BY
THE CHEAP DOLLAR.
The Condition of the Tollor In That coun-
try Is q Warning to 10 Heedcd-Wases
Merely Pittance, and living Is Made
Higher by Free Silver.
Some things wcala seem to be 80 Ger
tain that it is waste Of tiro TO argue
about them Among thcso ii the condi-
ton of the people Of Iie@iea. which ev-
erybody knows is il every IesrccS in
ferior to that of tho poaTie e tie United
States. Yet the silveriies have cheek
enough to brazenly claim that Ito Mex
leans are moro prosperous than 80 are.
The following letter. recently pEhiishcd
in the New York Sa9, sAo.Ts TIE real
facts as to Mex.oo's s,le5asi rrosne-ity:
MEXICO, July G, 1895.
The fight over tho financial question
now on in the United Stf..es Is watched
with eagerness and interest By mine
owners here. Whenever the United
States throws open Ter mints to tho free
and unlimited coinage Of silver the
mining property OF Mexico will be en-
HANGED in value III the same proportion
as that in Colorado, though experience
has shown that the salary Of the laborer
will be the same, at least SO far as Mex
leo is concerned. Tie dividend Of the
stakeholder will alone be increased.
The average Of wages ranges from 12h
to 20 cents day In the cities and haci
endas or plantations Of Mexico, and In
the remote mining districts it is little
more. All laborers have to find" them
selves in Mexico On all plantations
there are stores owned by the landlord
What is usually earned by labor on the
land is always spent with the owner of it.
The question naturally arises, espe-
cially after one has heard the promises Of
the silver men on the floors of congress,
Why have wages not risen IN Mexico?
Why, even ON a silver basis, are they SO
much lower than the lowest paid in the
United States? It must be remembered,
too, that the wages paid here are in a
deprecated coin, worth only half as
much as the same amount received for
labor in the United States.
On all sides one hears the answer that
the silver basis In Mexico is not respon-
sible for the low wages. This is partially
true, but still wages have not increased
or made any advance under the free
coinage of silver. The chief argument
of the silver men IN the States seems to
be that wages will advance and that
the volume Of currency will be largely
inflated.
Nothing which has been promised by
the silver men has come TO pass here
Wages are lower and living higher.
Since silver has decreased in value to
about one-half, everything produced in
this country which completes with the
markets of the world has increased pro-
portionately. The only products which
have remained at nominally the old
figure are those which are not grown for
export and which do not come in con-
tact with similar products grown In
countries which have a sound currency.
Even coffee, which is one Of the staple
products, has risen to such point as to
practically be beyond the reach OF the
peon and the laborer, while the only
beef ever in reach Of the peon is that
which is cut from the dead animals aft
er the bull fight.
Butter is so dear as to make 1t lux
ury to all classes, and it is ordered in
restaurants as dainties are. Beer, which
is standard drink here, sells for 10
cents glass, and the only liquor which
is to be had BY the laboring classes is
native drink called "pulque," q milk
like looking beverage which produces
some Of the results Of the malt product
without possessing any Of its virtues
When these facts are pointed cat to
the silver Ltus: from the States, he at
once says that such condition Of things
could not exist there; that labor Is too
we'll organized to permit such state Of
affairs to last. The politician as we'll as
the laborer knows that there can be no
fictitious value in labor, and, moreover,
that less than . per cent of the great
mass Of labor in the United States is or
ganized. The low wages here are not
confined alone to what may be termed
the laboring class, but all salaries are
proportionately small The best of clerks
in the stores get from $50 to 500 a
month. The most expert bookkeepers
can seldom get more than from $50 to
800 month. Yet in this class of life
the clothes they wear, the food they eat,
are bought at gold prices While his
salary is higher, yet the bookkeeper's
necessities are SO much the greater
Argue as they will, there can be but
one result from a silver basis in tho
United States, which should be made
clear to all who are dependent for their
living upon their labor. 1t is that wages
would not be perceptibly increased. and
that the purchasing power Of those
wages would be diminished almost half.
Rents have been steadily advancing
here, and they would be put up in any
country which depreciates its money
Whenever the United States goes upon
silver basis, the earning power of her
laborers, artisans and clerks will be cut
almost in two, while the clothes they
wear, the houses they live in, the food
they eat, will be increased almost dou-
BILE. Seeing the condition of the toiler
and the peasant here, in country upon
a silver basis, it can be but the one
prayer of an American visiting Mexico
that his own country may be spared tho
folly Of doing what would be an ire
parable wrong.
AN AMERICAN DEMOCRAT.