Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1895-08-29
SILVER IN MEXICO.
HOW THE tABoRER IS ROBBED ~
THE cHEAP DOLLAR.

The Condition OF the Toiler In That Coun-
try Is q Warning to Bc Hceded-Wsges
Merely q Pittance, and Living Is Made
Higher by Free Silver.
Some things would seem to be SO GER
tain that it is waste Of time to arguo
about them. Among these is tho coliHi;
tion of the people Of Mexico, which rv-
erybody knows is in ev'>S respect in
ferior to that Of the people Or tho United
States. Yet the silvcrites H. } cheek
enough to brazenly claim that ,no Mex
leans are moro prosperous than wo arc.
The following letter, recently published
in the New York Sun, shows the real
facts as to Mexico's alleged prosperity:
MEXICO, July e, 1896.
The fight over the financial question
now on in tho United States is watched
with eagerness and interest by mine
owners here. Whenever the United
States throws open her mints to tho free
and unlimited coinage Of silver the
mining property Of Mexico will be en-
HANGED in value in tho 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 The dividend Of tho
stockholtler will alone be increased.
The average of wages ranges from 12H
to rs cents day in the cities and haci-
endas or plantations Of Mexico, and in
the remote mining districts it is a little
moro. All laborers have to "1lnd" them
selves in Mexico. On all plantations
there are stores owned by the landlord.
What is usually earned by labor on tho
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 silver basis, are they SO
much lower than the lowest paid i'll the
United States? 1t must be remembereH;
too, that the wages paid here are in h
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 arc lower and living higher.
Since silver has decreased in value to
about one half, everything produced IN
this country which competes 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 III
countries which have sound currencT.
Even coffee, which is one of the staple
products, has risen to such a 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 it a lux
ury to all classes, and it is ordered i'll
restaurants as tlainties are. Beer, which
is a standard drink here, sells for l5
cents d glass, and the only liquor #l,ich
is to be had by the laboring classes is d
native drink called "pulque, a milk
like looking beverage which produces
some of tho results Of the malt product
without possessing any of it's virtues.
When these facts are pointed out to
the silver man from the States, he ut
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 3 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 he termed
the laboring class, but all salaries are
proportionately small. The best Of clerks
in the stores get from $50 to 800 a
month. The most expert bookkeepers
can seldom get moro than from 800 to
500 a 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 bo6kkeeter's
necessities are so much the greater.
Argue as they will, there can be but
one result from silver basis in the
United States, which should be made
clear to all who arc 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 III any
country which depretiatea its money.
Whenever the United States goes upon q
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 cat, will be increased almost dou-
bic. Seeing tho condition Of the toiler
and the peasant here, in country upon
O 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.
wouldn't Suit Them.
We would offer no objection to tho
4 Z L.,