The Kootenai herald. [volume] (Kootenai, Idaho) 1891-1904, 1896-09-26
SOME FACTS ON MEXICO
LETTER FROM An AMERICAN II
YEARS IN THE COUNTRY.
People Prosperous, and There Are
Good Wages and Employment
for Skilled WOrkingmcn.


teresting letter to the Boston Herald,
a pronounced advocate of the single
gold standard. Mr.. Guernsey writes
from the City of Mexico. as follows:
For myself | may say that I do not
care a button whether the standard
here is platinum, gold. copper or sill
yer so long as the country keeps busy
and the outward movement is uncheck-
cd Without any sort Of doubt. cheap
silver money has given this country
under its peculiar condition, a great
boom. We were all in the dolefulest
of dumps here when silver began its
downward plunge, and bankers and
importers were sure that we were go
ing to the dogs as rapidly as an eX-
press train could carry us down grade
TO perdition. The importers naturally
made the loudest cutlery; they are al
ways a timid lot. and have no real
interest IN the Industrial development
of country. Their interest is to keep
a country dependent on a foreign ma
ton. and so insure a continuance of
high profits. The government was
badly frightened, too. and small won
der, with it's large gold interest to meet
for customs taxes and all other CON
tributions. Railway managers grew
melancholy and a deep gloom settled
on the entire business community. We
were sadly ratified lot ana no mis-
take
The first man here who showed genu-
inc grit and courage, and OWNED the
present happy emergence from the evil
state we were in, was H G. Waters,
general manager of that important in
stitution of credit the Bank of London
and Mexico Eight years ago, this
NJ gacious business man told me that
Mexico would profit by cheap silver;
that new Industries would arise. and
the railways turn to cultivating local
traffic and let that will-o'-t they isp,
foreign freights, become a secondary
consideration. In short, he predicted
ultimate prosperity and a more than
recOuping OF all we had apparently
lost A very shrewd man. with a
sound Scotch head, Mr. Waters, adj
viseG his friends to go into manufac-
tureing. and he did not hesitate to act
on his own advice, with the result that
he is now a man of large fortune
prominently identified with indus
tries that have grown to large proper
lions under the protection which the
gold premium has thrown around our
native industries
Good Wages for Good Men.
Many American papers reaching me
have much to say of silver cursed
Mexico" of the poverty Of the masses
and of the 'humbug" OF the reported
prosperity OF this country. There is
much poverty here. but il existed when
gold was commonly used. and comes
from the social conditions slowly yield
ing to new forces, mainly to the loco
motive, which is a better missionary Of
progress, a greater motive force for
good than whole libraries of tracts
and whole regiments Of theologians
The laboring man is beginning to get
ahead here and every poor chap who
acquires technical skill i'm anything
Immediately finds employment at liv-
ing wages. The assertion that here
any amount of men can be had to
work for Is TO % cents day is pure
nonsense
The average Mexican mechanic. and
! am speaking Of men who go on con
tentedly i'm the old way. are not paid
highly. and they do not merit better
wages than the So to Is cents a day
they get a bright American of The
same trade will do the work of four of
them. and one American house-build-
ing contractor found that American
brick layers could do five times as
much work as the natives.
But MeXicans as / said before. who
becomes as skilled as foreigners. i'm
can set up and run threshers or other
machinery viii earn from "a to $40 a
day. The latter amount has been paid
to my knowledge for jobs of a fort
night in putting up ana running com
picated machinery.
Mr. Reed said. the other day, in d
speech down in Maine that in Mexico
prosperity was confined to the manu-
factUrers. He is badly informed. III,
middle classes hero are better eft b,
80 per cent than 10 years ago. They
are building themselves homes Of thel
own. and Sc emancipating them
selves from the landlord and the ex
actions of rent day.
A Prosperous Middle Class.
Middle class families who, 10 year.
ago, bought only pine furniture staiue,
black, made mp i'm ugly forms, who at
off common German pottery. now bu,
expensive American furniture and tn
best china. I called on young Mexi
can friend the other day. He was
new benedict, and he expansively ush
cred me into all the rooms Of his house
fitted up with all American furniture
"Todo de su pals he added, "All from
your country" 1t had cost this youn
man. a good sample Of the wide-awak