The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1895-10-30
CHEAP MONEY CHEATS LABOR.
Experience Of This and Other Countrie.
With Deprecated Currency.

Undoubtedly thousands Of wage earn
ers believe that somehow they would
be benefited by cheap money. The most
modern form Of cheap money, as it ex-
lists in their childish minds, is the 50
cent silver dollar, made Of this value by
coming it at q ratio of. 16 to / with
gold. Such persons are either incapable
Of reasoning or they have never really
applied their reasoning powers to this
question. Neither have they learned the
lessons Of history in regard to cheap
money and wages. A pamphlet entitled
Quality of Money and Wages" has
just been published by the Reform club,
which is intended to teach the lessons
Of history and to facilitate clear think
ing on this important question. It's au-
thor, Mr.. Frunk L. Money, first demon.
strates in tho simplest way that a de.
prcciatiDg currency must injure the
wage Garner. Hero is tho way he bcgins
his discussion:
THE operators in our mills and fac
tories, together with those engaged in
day labor Of Other kinds, constitute a
great creditor class. They are creditors
in tho sense that they advance labor. At
the end Of a day or a week the amount
due them for services performed is
greater than that owing to any other
class. But in the majority Of cases the
wage Garner is dependent upon his daily
or weekly earnings, SO that tho vital
question with him is rs to their imme.
diate purchasing power.
"What q laborer really works for are
the things which he consumes. Every
thing that goes to make goods cheaper
tends to increase the real as compared
with the nominal wages Of the work
man, for he is then getting more goods
for the same money. On the other hand,
every tendency to make things dearer
tends to decrease III a corresponding de.
gree the real wages Of the people.
Wages are high or low according to the
abundance Of necessities, comforts or
.1uxuries obtainable for them"
Mr.. Money proceeds carefully to IN
quire' into the relations between money,
prices and wages. Hero Is another Of
his statements:
"The prices Of what wage earners
have to buy respond far more promptly
to changes in the quality Of money than
do wages-the prices at which labor Is
sold. Hence whenever money is getting
better. though nominal wages may tend
to decrease, wage earners IRE constantly
getting more goods In exchange for the
money they actually get for their labor,
and whenever money is getting poorer,
though nominal wages may tend to in
crease, wage CARRIERS are constantly get
ting less of the necessaries and comforta
Of life in return for the wages they re-
ceive. Appreciation Of the dollar in
which wages are paid and consequently
lower prices ore therefore constantly and
certainly to the advantage Of the wage
Garner. Depreciation Of the dollar and
consequently higher prices are always
and certainly to his damage"
After reaching conclusions from theo-
retical reasoning he studies the expe-
rience Of most Of the leading countries
Of the world. He finds that not only are
wages nearly always lower in silver
than in gold standard countries, but
that there is abundant reason why such
should be the case. To cite one instance
he shows by statistics and diagrams
that our wage earuers during our civil
war suffered a great loss in wages due
to the depreciation Of our currency. IN
1865 o days labor purchased only four
ffths as much as it purchased in 1850.
Wages had risen only about 48, while
prices had risen 90 per cent since 1851.
This Notwithstanding that the with
drawal Of one-fourth Of our best work
ers to serve as soldiers greatly lessened
the competition among laborers and
that both before and since our greenback
imitation period both nominal and real
wages have been advancing from year
to year.
Mr.. Mcvey closes with the following
impartial statement.
1.-THE only fair and just currency to
all parties is q stable one. Under such
a currency the conditions Of the future
are more eas;ly ascertainable, legitimate
enterprise rnre confidently entered upon
aud progress more sure. Wage earners
have no right to agitate for an apprecia-
sion Of a currency. Neither have they
any reaaou to submit to depreciation by
eshers,"