The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1895-02-13
PRESIDENT RAOUL'S VIEWS
From Being a Gold Standard Man
He Has Become a Strong
Silverite.
Silver Means the Prosperity of the
Man i'm the Country.


est goldbugs to be met with are forced
to admit that under the flood of So
called ''dcpreciated silver" the coun-
try is progressing rapidly.
President Raoul, of the Mexican Ma
tional railroad. gave me an inkling of
this state of affairs just before l left
Atlanta.
II have changed my views on the
money ques tion," said he. "You will
recollect that less than one year ago,
in a conversation 1 had with you, eX-
pressed myself strongly against the
free coinage of silver, and in favor Of
the gold standard. Well, l have been
in Mexico since and have had an OBJ
ject lesson in the management of the
road of which l am president. AL
though the road is forced to pay its in
tereSt and fixed charges at to |, the
exchange price Of silver for gold, yet
it has made money through the en-
HANGED business done.
THE SILVER DOLLARS VALUE.
"How, you may ask. In the first
place, the silver peso, or dollar, is as
good in Mexico today as it ever was
You can buy as much Of the products
of the country with it as you ever
could. Wages remain at the normal
mark, and have not been affected by
the disturbance in the price of silver
The only occasion upon which you can
detect aything against silver is when
you want to buy gold with it. AS it
buys everything else except gold, the
people are in no wise troubled about
it. Silver will buy food and drink; it
will buy labor and native material-in
word, in a MeXican's pocket and for
Mexican's use, it is as good as ever.
Let me put it more strOngly-the de-
preciated price of silver abroad has
been a blessing to Mexico.
'The Mexican imports, owing to the
gold basis in England, and practically
in the United States, have fallen off.
The extent to which imports have
fallen off is the limit of the increase Of
internal trade. When Mexican can
get what he wants at home for silver
dollar he has no occasion to pay a for
eigner gold dollar for the same thing.
Every country that adopts the gold
standard simply cuts off the possibility
of extended trade in silver countries.
"As an illustration of this 1 will
make statement in my annual report
for the Mexican National stockhold-
ers, which l am now preparing, in
which l will show that last year
81 100000 worth of material. which we
had previously bought from the
United States, was spent in Mexico in
stead. AS about the same fact is true
Of the other railroads running through
Mexico, you may put it down that at
least $6,000,000 was withdrawn from
the United States last year and in
vested in Mexico, all because of the
embargo which meets silver at the Rio
Grande. 1t is mistake to suppose
that the silver dollar has lost any Of
its purchasing power, or that because
OF the fluctuating price of gold bullion
when purchased with silver dollars
that the internal trade of the country
has been at all disturbed, except for
the better.
THE ISSUE DRAWN.
Il have come to this conclusion, :"
said President RAUL, that in the
present state of affairs in the United
States the issue is clearly drawn. Sill
yer is the money of the people, and
gold is the money of the corporations
The gold standard will kill the farmer
and destroy all hope for him, but it is
the life of the corporation. Silver is
the money Of the people-the money
of farmers and of small traders. I'm
der silver basis the people of the
country will prosper, but the corpora
tionS will be hurt.
Now, the question is between the
people and the corpora tions. One of
the two must suffer, which shall it be :?
Ito return to Mexico again? Money
that previously went abroad for in
vestment or for purchases, is now kept
at home for development. Mexico is
increasing her cotton area and cotton
factories are either In existence or be-
ing built. While the cotton planter
of Georgia gets cents per pound for
his cotton and can only get cents Of
trade in exchange for his money, the
Mexican cotton planter gets cents,
and gets his full cents worth of trade
for his money. This is but an illustra-
tion of the disadvantage at which a
farmer is placed in gold country and
conveys it's own lesson"
Since my advent into Mexico have
seen abundant confederation of all
that President Raoul says. There is
nothing but silver here-the people do
not seem to have ever heard of any
thing else-yet they buy all they want
with their own money, and no depre-
citation on the one hand, nor imitation
on the other has taken place. Mexico
is acountry of extremely rich and ex-
tremely poir people. The rich have
been in the habit of lending their
money abroad, and kept it out of Cir
culatiOn so far as their own country
was concerned. Now they are attacked
from two sides.
I. Their coffee, sugar, hennequin,
oranges, etc, are money crops, which,
when sold, brings them money worth,
in quotation, 9 to l. II they spend
that dollar abroad they only get 81
worth of products Of trape for it. If
they keep it at home and convert it
into their own money they get 81 for
Thence it is to their interest to keep
it at home.
2. 1t pays them now better to in
vest their money in lands, agriculture,
manufactures and building than it
does to sacrifice half it's value by con-
verting it into American or British