Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1896-10-06

! EWlNU bNOS., OOiS hSOht0'
who understands his real interests cam
favor a policy that impoyerishes the
nroducer. the greatest shipper. Senator
Camden adds;
on the other hand. I am not willing 10
vote to pay the 2.5OO or 5VOV laoorlig men
! employees of these enterpriSes-uh clud-
ing mines lumber plants ana ralroadS) a
/ depreciated dollar for honest labor Wheh
/ I knew from experience and observation,
/ as we'll as from the history of other coun-
/ tries. that under a deprecated currency
/ the price of labor never advances IN pro-
/ portion to the depreciation in money.
/ Mr.. Camden then goes on TO tell US
about Mexico and the wages paid to
labor down there. Now, we have az
hand the last issue of The Chicago Rsc-
ord, which is not supporting Mr.. Bryan
in this campaign, by the way, but has
taken an independent course. The Rec
ord has sent a responsible representa-
tive to Mexico, Mr.. Trumbull White, TO
investigate the condition of the people
down there, their finances, wages anc
the general state of the country. In his
last letter Mr.. TrumbuH has this to say
about the pay of railroad men in that
! free silver country:
The salaries Of railway employees in the
! Mexican republic have been discussed as
much perhaps as any phase of the labor
question here. And yet there is some in
| formation remaining which makes a repe-
ution of some figures permSsable on
the Mexican Central railway. whose lines
/ include about one-thiTd of the total mile
/ age in the republic. the following wages
/ are paid as taken from the payroll books
! of the company: Locomotive engineers,
from $50 TO $3.50 a month: locomotive fire
men. from SO to 500 a month; passenger
I conductors. $3.50 q month: freight cOnduC-
tors, from S125 TO 5000 a month: freight
brakemen. from So to SO a month: tele-
graph operators. from $50 10 $3.50 month;
SwitchmCn. $50 a day; station agents,
from 500 TO 500 a month"; section men,
~ 10 20 cents day; section foreman. from
81 to $3.50 a day. OF these the tiTemen.
brakemen. switchmen, section men and
section foreman are MeNicans Inc others
are Americans.
From all the railway men I have ques-
/ toned, there has been no dissenting voice
/ to the information that wages OF these
native Mexican employees have increased
gradually ever since the era OF construc-
ton began. This applies to the cOmmOneSJ
/ peon labor employed as truly as TO other
branches. As an instance Of the latter
fact citation is at hand:
Ten years ago j. X. Hampton was bulld-
! ing portions Of the Mexican National rail-
way. For peOn labor he paid - 10 81
! cents day. At the present time ne IS
building what is known as the Paclhc eN-
tension of the Mexico, CuernaNac3 "
/ Pacific railway. of which he Is president.
For the same CommOnest peOn labor ne IS
paying - cents. and even ~ cents daE.
This is not because the iaborcrS are any
better IL is simply because the ADVANCE
in the general prosperity OF the country
by the extension of industry mas mace q
! scarcity OF labor. and the price was
! bound to rise with increasing demand.
! The ultimate credit is due TO Whatever
! influences combined TO advance SehtId
prosperity by extending industrial actlV-
( ity of all sorts.
This non-partisan testimony shoul4
be sufficient to reassure Mr.. Camden
that his fears that he will, under free
coinage, have to pay. his employees in.
ffty-cent dollars are groundless. The
same conditions prevail among all
classes of labor in Mexico. There wages
have been steadily rising and all classes
are prosperous, while in this and in all
gold countries wages have been falling
and the condition OF labor growing stead
lily worse.
Mr.. Camden refers to the currency in
fation during the war and knocks the
props from under the gold argument
that plenty of money is not necessary
to produce good times and that depre-
ciated currency means bad times, by ac-
knowledging that even the deprecated
currency Of the war times brought good
/ times He says:
It must also be remembered that the
great reason for the good times then
was that the government was keeping us
| presses busy issuing money and paying
! il out directly to the people for all kinds
of supplies needed by immense armies
/ i'm the field while free and unlimited COIN
/ age Of silver means that the coined DOL
| lars 90 into the hands of the bullion own
/ ers who will soon be Of the syndicate
! class" Mr.. Bryan is warning you against
The money the government was forced
NO issue in the exigency of war is not
the kind of money the Democrats want,
for that was fiat money and not money
Of final redemption, and yet, Senator
Camden. VINO well remembers the condi-
ton Of things during the war, recalls
that the government issue Of this money
in an immense quantity was the cause
of the good times that prevailed then.
Mr.. Camden's argument that the silver
dollars under free coinage would not 90
into the hands of me people but into the
hands of the bullion owners is hardly
worthy of man of Senator Camd ms
intelligence, although it is the favorite
goldbug argument What would the
silver bullion owners do with these dol
lars? Would they lock them up in a.
vault? If they did they might as well
not have them. They could get no ben
eft from these silver dollars in any way
| UNTIL THEY PUT THEM IN CIRCU-
LATION AMONG THE PEOPLE. IN
! TIL THEY INVESTED THEM, IN BUY
ING SOMETHING, IN COMMERCE.
OR IN INDUSTRY. That IS how this