The Penn's Grove record., 1895-09-13
SILVER IN MEXICO.
HOW THE LAeoRER is ROBBED BY
THE CHEAP DOLLAR.

SAN
try Is a Warning to BE ueeded-wages
Merely a Pittance, and Living Is Made
Higher by Free Silver.
Some things would seem to be SO GER
tain that it is a waste of time to argue
about them. Among these is the condi-
ton of the people Of Mexico, which ey-
erybody knows is in every respect in
ferior to that of the people Of the United
States. Yet the silverites have cheek
enough to brazenly claim that the Mex
leans are more prosperous than we are.
The following letter, recently published
in the New York Sun, shows the real
facts as to Mexico's alleged prosperity:
MEXICO, July 6, 1895,
The fight over the financial question
now on in the United States is watched
with eagerness and interest by mine
owners here. Whenever the United
States throws open her mints to the free
and unlimited coinage of silver the
mining property Of Mexico will be en-
HANGED in value in 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. The dividend of the
stakeholder will alone be increased.
The average of wages ranges from 1915
to % cents a day in the cities and haci-
endas or plantations of Mexico, and in
| the remote mining districts it is a 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 Oh 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 i'll Mexico?
Why, ever on a silver basis, are they so
much lower than the lowest paid in the
United States? 1t 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-
p~ortionately. The only products which
have remained at nominally the old
figure are those which are not grown fol-
export and which do not come i'll con-
tact with similar products grown in
countries which have q sound currency,
Even coffee, which is one Of the staple
products, has risen to such a point as tc
practically be beyond the reach of the
peon and the laborer, while the only
beef even 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 q lux
ury to all classes, and it is ordered il
restaurants as dainties are. Beer, which
is q standard drink here, sells for II
cents o glass, and the only liquor which
is to be had by the laboring classes is {
native drink called ''pulque, n milk
like looking beverage which produce!
some of the results of the malt produc
without possessing any of its virtues.
When these facts are pointed out Il
the silver man from the States, he a
once says that such a condition of thing
could not exist there; that labor is to-
we'll organized to permit such a state o
affairs to last. Tho politician as we'll n
the laborer knows that there can be N
fictitious value in labor, and, moreover
that less than 2 per cent of the grea
mass of labor in the United States is or
ganized. The low wages here are no
confined alone to what may be terme'
the laboring class, but all salaries ar
proportionately small. The best Of clerk
in the stores get from $50 to 800
month. The most expert b~ookkeeper
can seldom get more than from $50 t.
500 q month. Yet in this class Of lif
the clothes they wear, the food they eat
are bought at gold prices. While hi
salary is higher, yet the bookkeeper'
necessities are so much the greater.
Argue as they will, there can be bu
one result from n silver basis in tn
United States, which should be mad
clear to all who are dependent for thei
living upon their labor. tits that wage
would not be perceptibly increased, an,
that the purchasing power of thos
wages would be diminished almost half
Rents have been steadily advancini
here, and they would be put up in an.
country which depreciates its money
Whenever the United States goes upon
silver basis, the earning power of he
1aborers, artisans and clerks will be Gu
almost in two, while the clothes the.
wear, the houses they live in, the foo
they cat, will be increased almost dou
: BILE. Seeing the condition of the toile
and the peasant here, in a country upoi
q silver basis, it can be but the on
prayer of an American visiting Mexic
that his WI country may be spared tn
folly of doing what would DO an ire