The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1895-12-20
The Yellow and the White.

That is to say, either the yellow
man and the white man, or the vel
low coin and the white coin. The
disastrous monetary policy of the
great white nations in demonetiz-
ing silver has forced rs into a ruin
Gus competition with the yellow
nations of Asia and Monaghan
Islands adjacent.
Gold mOnOmetallism means a
competition between white men of
the western countries and yellow
men of the eastern countries. The
first effect of demonetizing silver is
to lower the purchasing power of
silver (bullion) in all nations that
have the silver basis for their
money. At the same time, by
limiting the money function to gold
alone, the same law that reduces
the purchasing power of silver in
creases the purchasing power of
gold. Prices have therefore, fallen
in the gold basis countries, while
they have maintained steady in
silver basis countries. Silver, in
the silver markets, has fallen fifty
per cent since 1873, and during the
same time gold has risen relatively
| in liken proportion. The practical
effect is, to give the eastern silver
nations fifty per cent advantage
over us even if wages were nomi-
nally the same. If wages in China
and Japan were one dollar a day,
and ours the same, we would be
handicapped with this difference in
the value of our money in the mar
kets. Fifty cents there is equal to
a dollar here. The Chinaman can
buy twice as much with his silver
money there as we can buy with
our gold money here. So it hap
pens, then, that at the same wages,
we are fifty per cent the loser by
reason of our gold basis policy.
But wages are not the same, and
that makes the situation still worse
for us. The average wage in the
Oriental nations is little, if any,
more than one-f fifth as much as it is
among the people of the United
States. If one dollar be taken as
our daily wage here, twenty cents
would be fair average there.
And, having fifty per cent advan-
tage of us, on account of our none
tary system, this twenty cents is
reduced to ten cents. That puts
ten cents worth of labor in Japan
or China and one hundred cents
worth of labor in the United States
on an equal footing in the home
market. In other words, the
Chinese or japanese farmer or me-
chanic can procure in his own
country for ten cents as much
of the necessaries of life produced
there as the American farmer or
mechanic can purchase for one dol
lar in his country.
And now we find that our Opienr
tai competitors are taking our cot.
ton and lumber to their own shops,
manufacturing them into such
PARTICLES as we use, and bringing
! them to our doors, paying freight
both ways, commissions, insurance,
duties, and all other charges, and
selling them to us fifty per cent
cheaper than we can procure them
ourselves.
The same rule, with its inevitable
results, applies to our farmers and
every other class of producers. The
same terrible grinding process must
proceed in its deadly work until
our voters see the danger and stop
short. We are now rapidly, rap
idly sinking toward the civilization
of the Asiatic nations, and nothing
can check the descent but a change
in our monetary policy,
Reconciliation of silver is the
| first essential step. When will the
people see this pregnant truth p
w. A. PEFFER, in the Silver
knight.
The Good Times