The record-union., 1896-10-17
LESSONS IN CURRENCY.
Grocery Stores In Laredo, Texas, Sell
Mexican Dollars.
How the Blight of q Debased Cur.
rency Falls Upon the Labor.
ing Man.

search of financial wisdom
You can get it at any of the grocery
stores; they all keep it," replied the
Laredo hotel clerk.
Thus prompted, the traveller entered
a Laredo emporium where clerks were
selling sugar and other things by the
pound and said:
"A dollars worth of Mexican money,
please
In the rear" responded the clerk ad-
dressed, indicating the location by toss
of the head
" A dollars worth of Mexican money,
please" was repeated to the clerk.
Out came a drawer. Nimble fingers
ran over the compartment. A handful
of strange coins chinked on the counter.
The American dollar went into another
drawer. The clerk turned away. The
sale was made. The customer gathered
up a Mexican dollar, a Mexican half
dollar, a Mexican quarter, a Mexican
dime and a Mexican cent; total 81 Sc
in Mexican coin.
To the hotel clerk the inquiry was as
usual as one for the direction to the
Postoffice. To the grocery man the tran
saction was simply the ordinary course
of business. Upon the traveller was i'm
pressed the difference between every
dollar as good as gold" and unlimited
coinage Of silver independent Of any
other nation"
Mexican money is a commodity in La
redo It is bought and sold just as but
ter and eggs are. The grocery stores
keep it.
Mexican dollars took another drop
to-day" said the Laredo paper Of this
date noting a market change. They
are quoted at 81 cents offered, 53 cents
asked at the banks"
The same paper in it's telegraphic re-
port gave the rate Of exchange Of Mexi-
can money at 81 SS1a. Thus it appears
that Mexican money has it's local and its
foreign fluctuations, like coffee. 1t also
appears that when the grocery man sold
81 Sc of Mexican money for an Ameri-
can dollar he exercised the inalienable
right of the middleman to his profit.
He was not in the business of selling
Mexican money for his health. He was
not giving change to draw custom or to
accommodates He had Mexican silver
| in stock just as he had other goods. He
| took care to sell it high enough to make
the transaction swell his profits. There
| is a retail trade as Well as wholesale
| trade in Mexican money. There Is a
| margin between the retailer and the
| wholesaler in Mexican money just as IN
| any other commodity. If you want to
| buy dollars worth Of Mexican money
to-day you can get 81 Sc If you want
to sell dollars worth, you must give
| 81 go Tomorrow 1t may be a cent or
| two up or down. The man who has
little is the one who Is shaved closest.
| The small buyers contribute the great
profits. This way of the world holds
| good on the border between the gold and
| silver standards. The poor are hardest
pinched by the decline Of silver.
| 1t requires two trips over the foot
| bridge between the LaredOs to master
| the second lesson in free silver on the
lilo Grande. Even then some doubt re-
mains as to the precise difference be-
tween United States of America" and
"Republica Mexicana" stamped on the
same amount of silver.
| How much, senor?" This to the griZ-
zled toll taker who stands beside the
barrier with a slit in the top Of it.
| Fl cent" he answers.
Out comes a Mexican coin.
NO. Americanos, f. cent; Mexica-
nos, eight cent" sputters the old man
with additional explanations which dc
not explain.
"How's that?" asks the confused
| traveller
A bright faced Mexican boy, with his
wits sharpened and his language i'm
proved by early American contact
comes to the relief.
You pay cents, senior, in American
money-a neeckel-to go over" he says
IF you come back before dark, you pay
another neeckel and get your centa-
| vos change. If you pay in Mexican
money
Hold on, my lad, let us get at this
slowly"
The nickel goes into the slit, and the
passage is paid. On the return another
nickel is offered and the tolltaker lays
down with elaborate care Mexican
copper cents, each as large as 3 Ameri-
can cents.
That is half of the lesson. Now, for
a trip on the Mexican basis. Mexican
| quarter is offered. The old tOlltakel
deals down the change with that same
precision, coin after coin, until he has
iii row 1O-cent piece, 5-cent piece
and coppers, all Mexican. Thus the
journey on the Mexican basis calls fol
| an original investment of cents in the
coin Of that realm. So much to cross in
| to Mexico with Mexican money. The
return brings the complication. How
much ought the toll back to be in order
to preserve the relationship between
American and Mexican standards? He
is able at finance who can figure out
what the old tolltaker is going to an
swer on the return trip to his
How much, senor?"
-Four centavos" the old man re-
spends without a moments hesitation
as if there could be no other amount.
ou have paid American nickels and
received a rebate of 4 Mexican copper
cents for round trip between the Lare-
dos You have paid cents in Mexican
| silver and 4 Mexican copper cents fol
another round trip between the Lare-
dos. With q grains more of pure silver
In the Mexican dollar than in the Amer
| ican dollar, and with the Mexican dol
lar to-day worth 81 cents in American
gold. silver, nickel. copper or paper
| money, which Of these round trips be-
tween the LaredoS was the cheapest!
Let some of the Coin" Harveys wrestle
with that problem. Two conclusions
seem clear. One is, the American nickel
like the American silver, is as good as
, gold; the other is, the Mexican copper
has gone down with the Mexican sill
| YER.
There is SOLDERING side to this study
Of silver in silver country. The time
was when every one Of these "eagle
dollars" was worth 81 10 at any bank
counter on the border. John F. Walls
The American Vice-Consul-Genera al
Nes1va Laredo, remembers that time
very we'll He was in business in Mata-