The record-union., 1896-09-27
MEXICO'S PROSPERITY.
Testimony Of an Entirely DisintereSted
Man.
Rsv. VIM. 81. Sloan Tells About What
Free Silver Has Done for
Mexico.

Qn note accompanying the following
communication, Mr.. Sloan writes: i re-
ceive so many letters of inquiry from the
United States relative TO prosperous
Mexico that 1 have felt constrained to
lot down the inclosed facts, and offer them
to your paper. Perhaps they may be OF
assistance to some one.'O
Eds. Examiner: Will you permit me
to give a few personal impressions on
money matters in the Republic OF Mex
| leo and the condition of affairs here
where free silver is all the rage, and
gold has been driven out of circulation!
l will be brief, giving you simply what
have seen in everyday experience, ana
as a result of some seven years resi-
dence among the people. vii not the
| OriZe.
| There are silver enthusiasts in Mex
| leo who see things differently from what
l do, or, at least, they have different
| Interpretation of them, and among
them one or two English dailies- But
| these are so lukewarm in their support
| of silver that one cannot help believing
| they advocate it mainly because they
live in the country, and do not wish 10
| appear to fly in the face of the old ira
olNiOAifo VI liiC pCopiS oihcii5 "AAOA' N--O'
live and earn their livelihood When
surprise is expressed at the enormous
prices charged for imported goods, the
merchants excuse themselves by say
| ing, I'VE are not here for our health"
| Now, what are few of the facts
about Mexico, with reference to her
so-called prosperity on the silver ba-
sis? Simply this: The rich are very rich,
| and the poor are very poor. and the
| latter class embraces nearly all the ar
| tisan and working classes of the coun-
| try.
| Americans are beginning to learn that
| in the Republic of Mexico they have a
powerful and promising neighbor, a
| land possessing ineXhauStible mineral
wealth, reveling in magnificent scenery,
| RICH in an agriculture that neither
| recognizes the change of seasons nor
| requires the stimulating aid of manures,
and other scientific appliances, to enable
| 1t to bring forth in OverfioWing abun-
dance; that rejoiceS in a climate more
| balmy and equable than that of Florida,
Italy or California 1--WE sleep under two
| blankets while you are sweltering with
the heaD, and whose thirty-seven States
and two Territories are occupied by
twelve and a half millions of people,
who see all about them mountains full
| of silver, and yet ten millions Of whom
are struggling for the necessities of
| life. This is certainly land Of noble
cities, of rapidly extending railways, of
telephones, of street cars, electric lights,
and of Government possessing wis
| dom and energy, knowledge Of men and
affairs, foresight and firmness, that
| promises soon to reach state Of ad-
vancement that will place it at the
front of the Spanish-speaking nations of
| the Western Hemisphere. Here we
| have the finest and coolest summer re-
sort in North America, owing to the ex-
| treme elevation of the central portions
| OF the country, and we have a splendid
| field for the investment of capital. Here
are mountains of mineral, practically
| untouched, and millions of acres Of fer
] tile land untitled.
Still, it is no place for laboring man,
nor for young man on a salary (unless
| 1t be assured to him before he comeS);
| but it is the place for the man who has
capital, and is seeking for investments,
| hoping to increase his capital by taking
| advantage Of the cheap labor of the
| country, for the day-laborer must toll
for pittance that almost merits the ap-
| pellation of starvation wages. l will
presently give you a few figures.
During the last twenty years Mexico
has seen more prosperity than at any
| time in her previous history, but this
prosperity is not due to the fact that she
is on a silver basis. She has always
| been on a silver basis, and she has al
ways been poor, except as to mine-oWn-
erS and the proprietors of great estates.
Her present prosperity is due entirely to
the fact that she has had, under Presi-
dent PorfiriO DiaZ, stable government
! that the period of revolutions has passed
away, and that the Government offers
inducements to American and English
capitalists to invest funds here in the
building of railroads, the opening up of
coffee lands, the development of mines,
| the cultivation of sugar, cotton, tobacco
rubber, vanilla, henequin, and scores of
other products that are chiefly produced
| because of cheap labor. Thus money
| calls to itself money, at the expense of
| the laborer. The vast production of sill
| yer seems in no way to aid the labor
| ing man, for his wages remain substan-
TALLY the same, Notwithstanding the
large influx of new capital.
EFFECT OF SILVER STANDARD ON
WAGES.
! An American dollar at this writing is
worth one dollar and ninety cents in
Mexican silver In other words, one
Mexican dollar is worth about fifty
one cents in American money although
it has more silver in it than the Ameri-
can dollar has. / believe this cheap
ness in silver is due to it's enormous
production. Immense quantities are
| brought out of the Mexican mines to be
coined, the owner of the bullion paying
about four cents for the coinage of
each dollar, and of course profiting by
the added value supposed to be placed
upon it by the Governments stamp.
Day by day the silver is cheapened
but wages are not raised; the price of
the necessaries of life steadily increases,
house rent becomes dearer, and the pow
| erty of the people becomes distressing
| beyond description. Let me give you
a few figures drawn from the daily life
| of the people. You know l am not a
newspaper correspondent nor an ed
| itor seated in my comfortable sanctum
and theorizing upon this subject. For
years 1 have seen the people in their
homes; know the wages they receive,
| and the food they eat, for I have eaten
| it with them; know their appeals for
| better wages. the destitute conditions of
their squalid homes, and 1 know that
their life is cheerless and hopeless. If
free silver could have made any peo-
| pie prosperous and contented it would
have done so with the Mexicans. But
it has been blessing only to the cap
| italist, who could buy silver with gold,