The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-06-23
waEe. md silver.


states are continually appealing to thoss
who work for wages to take a position IL
favor OF the free coinage Of silver, but
they do not undertake to show how wage
earners would be benefited II the coinage
OF silver were made free. We have nc
doubt that some of these papers are sin
csre. but they ought not 10 advise wage
earners unless they are prepared 20 show
that their advice is good. The main reason
why so few wage earncrs are found in the
ranks OF the silverites is that they fail to
see what advantage free silver coinage
would be TO them. They are intelligent
enough 10 understand that the money that
is best for them is that which has the
greatest purchasing power They know
there is nothing more difficult than TO get
wages raised. especially By unorganized
labor. and when organized labor succeeds
in forcing up wages the increase. as a
rule. is very small.
If the free silver coinage idea should be
adopted we should have silver monome-
tallism. There isn't shadow OF doubt
about that. Even the silverite leaders ad-
nit It. II we had silver as our standard
of value our money would have only about
half the purchasing power IL now has. The
wage Garner. therefore. would get practi-
cally only about half the wages he now
gets. In other words. his wages would
purchase only about half what they do
now. Why then should any wage Garner.
whether he is professional man or a Ia
borer. favor the free coinage Of silver?
Some Of our weekly contemporaries call
attention to the low wages which farm
laborers in this and other southern states
are now receiving. We are not prepared
TO say how much less wages they are re-
ceiving than they received five or ten or
twenty years ago. TO get at the exact
truth it would be necessary 10 find out
what wages. they received in previous
years and what the purchasing power of
their wages was in those years, and COM
pare them with their wages. and the pur-
chasing power Of their wages. at the pres
ent time.
But assuming that their wages are
lower now than they were ten or twenty
years ago, is it not better far for them
that they should be paid their earnings in
money as good as gold than in money only
half as good as gold? If we should adopt
free silver coinage the wage Garner would
get about the same wages. in amount,
that he gets now. but they would buy
only about half what his present wages
would buy.
,l,ol
would say, that wages would advance.
But what ground have they for saying
they would advance? The Atlanta Consti-
tuition. an extreme silverlte organ, said a
few days ago that wages depend upon the
demand for and supply. of labor-that is,
that wages advance when labor is scarce
and fall when it is abundant There is no
doubt that this statement is true. Would
the free coinage Of silver make labor
scarce IN this state? We do not see that
it would. 1t follows then that wages would
not be increased If the country should go
to a silver basis.
Do we find better wages paid in free sill
yer coinage countries than in this coun-
try? We certainly do not. Wages are
lower In those countries, very much lower.
Indeed, the material condition of the la
boring people in free silver coinage coun-
tries is deplorable We ask again, there
fore. why should any workman, or
any other wage Garner, favor the free
coinage Of silver?
And why should any merchant who So
licits the trade of workmen favor free sill
yer coinage. Under free silver coinage the
wages of workmen would buy only about
half what they will buy now. and conse-
quently the business of merchants would
be greatly reduced.
Anyway we look at the matter 1t is i'm
possible to figure out that free silver coin
age would benefit any class of wage earn
ers. or any other class of people, except
perhaps debtors, who might avoid pay
ing a part of their obligations. but that
would be distinctly dishonest. Is there a
dishonest sentiment at the bottom of the
silver agitation?