Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1896-05-14

gold or its equivalent, but the prices OF
commodities had advanced 90 per cent.
The rise in the rates Of wages never cor
responded with the rise in the prices Of
other things until the year 1859, four
years after the close Of the war, when
the value Of our currency was n cents
on the dollar, and it was quite certain
that no further depreciation would &C.
cur.
The wages Of labor, measured by gold
as they were in 1860, when we had q
sound currency, had fallen about "a
per cent in 1868. more than 10 per cent
in 1854, and nearly Al per cent in 1865,
when we had a deprecated currency
Silver and Wages In Chile.
The recent experience Of the republic
Of Chile furnishes another impressive
warning to the wage Garner against the
evils Of deprecated currency. In 1875
the peso, or dollar Of Chile, was worth
about 88H cents in our money, but in
1885, ten years after gold went out and
silver came in, the peso was worth less
than So cents in our money. Silver con-
tinued to depreciate and besides large
amounts Of paper currency were issued
by the government and the banks, and
In 1895. 20 years after the change from
the gold basis to the silver basis, the
peso was worth only about 84H cents
In our money. Let us see now what ef-
feet this cheap money, or, in other
words, this system Of silver monomet.
allism which you are asked to adopt
here, had upon the wages Of labor in
that country.
In 1875, when the peso was worth
88k cents, o mechanic, boiler maker,
q blacksmith, carpenter, a fireman
and an ordinary laborer received togeth-
or for a days work l8H pesos, or
1857 in our money. In 1885 the same
persons received for the same work 20A
pesos, but, owing to the depreciation Of
the currency, this was equal to only
$1O.93 in our money, and in 1895, 30
years after the country had descended
to o silver basis, the same laborers re-
ceived for the same work %. % pesos,
but the value Of the peso was less than
IS cents, and consequently their wages
amounted to only IS. "a in our money,
or just about one-half of what they had
received 20 years before.
Our minister to Chile, after very
careful examination of the entire situa.
ton in that country, says, ut may be
taken for granted that in Chile, as in
all other countries which have like
financial experience, the consequences
Of cheap money have weighed most
heavily upon the classes that are least
able to support the burden. The evils
of silver recommendation and depre.
eiated currency finally became intolera.
bio in that country, and it has recently
adopted the gold standard Of value.
Mexico's Object Lesson.
Our neighboring republic Of Mexico
has the silver standard Of value, gold
not being in use, and if cheap money is
blessing to the laboring man he ought
to be prosperous and happy in that
country. The Mexican dollar contains
877.l7 grains of pure silver, or nearly
six grains more than Is contained in our
dollar, and yet, not being sustained BY
a monetary system which keeps it at q
parity with gold, it is worth only about
IS cents in our money. Wages are paid
In silver and are very low in compare.
son with the wages paid in this country
Tor the same services, in many instances
not being half as much, while tho
prices Of commodities generally are
much higher than they are here.
Tho prices Of imported articles espe-
cially are exorbitantly high in Mexico,
because they have to be paid for abroad
in gold, and the depreciation Of their
money is 80 great that it requires near
ly g. in silver to pay 81 in gold. AL
though our own silver dollar contains
less fine silver than the Mexican dollar.
one Of ours is nearly equal In ex-
changeable value to two Of theirs, be-
cause here the coinage is limited, and
the government issues the coin on its
own account and has pledged its faith
and credit to keep them as good as gold,
pledge that has been faithfully kept
up to this time, Notwithstanding the
complaints and denunclatlonS OF our
free coinage opponents.
If we are to have free aud unlimited
coinage Of legal tender silver for the
benefit Of the owners of the bullion, the
value of our dollar would be no greater
than the intrinsic or commercial value
of the silver contained in it, and its pur-
chasing power in the markets would be
diminished about one-half, but the
wages Of labor would remain, for long
time at least, substantially at the pres
emit rates, OF, if they should be nomi-
nally increased on account Of the depre-
citation Of the currency, experience in
the past shows that they would not in
crease in proportion to the increase in
the prices of commodities. Rises in the
rates Of wages take place very slowly,
while the prices Of commodities move
rapidly, at some periods changing sew
eral times in the course Of q single day,
and these movements are always more
frequent and more harmful when the
currency is in an unsettled condition.
Tho Free Silver Cyclone.
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