Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1896-05-20
CARLISLEATCHICAGO
TELLS WORKlNGMEN PLAINLY HOW
FREECOlNAGE WOULD INJURE THEM.

PriCC5 l.isc quickly Dut wages SLOWLY
when Money Ia Depreciating-ExPeri-
eEoo Of United States, Chile and Mexico
With Cheap Money - Wage EarncrS
Would Also Lose one-half OF All Past
Savings Deposited In Banks, Building
and loan Associations, Etc, q Total Of
BiIliona
Secretary Of tho Treasury John G.
Carlisle made another Of his mastery
speeches on the currency question, in
Chicago, ON April 10. It was TO an i'm
mense audience composed largely Of
workingmen, many of whom, especially
in the beginning, were slseptical as to
the blessings Of 100 cent dollars. Tho
secreta1y's argument as TO the effects Of
cheap money on wages was most con-
vincing and effected notable change in
the attitude Of his auditors. We quote
part Of his speech on this point:
Labor cannot be boarded. Tho idle
dayis gone forever. Lostwages are rev
er reimbursed, and therefore steady c.
ployment and good pay in good money
are essential TO tho comfort and happi-
ness of the American laboror and his
wife and children, and he will be un-
faithful to himself and TO them if he
does not insist upon tho adoption and
maintenance of such q policy rs Will
most certainly preserve the value and
stability Of all our currency and promote
the regular and profitable conduct Of all
our industrial enterprises. Hc cannot
prosper when the country is in distress,
when its industries are Frustrated, its
commerce paralyzed, its credit broken
down, or It's social order disturbed. Nor
can he prosper when the fluctuations Of
the currency are such that he cannot
certainly know the value of the dollar
in which his wages are paid.
Money received for wages, like money
received on every other account, is val
liable only to the extent that it can be
exchanged for other commodities, and
it is scarcely necessary TO suggest that a
dollar worth so cents viii not purchase
as much in the markets rs a dollar
worth 100 cents To call dime dol
lar would add nothing whatever TO its
intrinsic value or to its purchasing pow
er. If these propositions are correct 1t
is clear that when wages are paid in
deprecated currency the rates Of wages
must be increased in proportion TO tho
depreciation Of tho money and in pro-
portion 10 tho increase in the prices OF
other things or -he laborer will suffer
loss.
But ! affirm that it is the universal
rule that the rates of wages do not in
crease in proportion to the depreciation
in the value Of the money in which
they are paid, and that when the cur
rency is deprecated the rates Of wages
do not increase in proportion TO the in
crease in the prices Of the commodities
the laboror is compelled to purchase
Our Experience with Cheap Money.
Congress, carly in the year 1862, in
auguratod the policy Of issuing legal
tender paper, gold was driven out OF
circulation, specie payments were sus-
pended, the currency began at once 20
depreciate, and before the close Of tho
year the paper dollar was worth less
than 76 cents in gold.
In 1862 the wages Of labor, paid in
deprecated paper were less than per
cent higher in paper than when paid III
gold, but the prices Of the 223 articles
used by the laborers and other people
in the maintenance of their families
were nearly IS per cent higher than
they were when paid in gold. In 1868
the wages Of labor paid in deprecated
paper worth about 60 cents on the dol
lar were 1917 per cent higher than
when paid in gold, but the prices OF the
articles the laborcr had to buy with his
wages were nearly 40 per cent higher
In 1864 the wages Of labor paid III de-
preciated paper dollars worth 40 cents
each had advanced 251a per cent, but
the prices Of the nccessaries Of life had
advanced 0O16 per cent. In 1860 wages
paid in paper currency worth 63 cents
on the dollar had advanced 43 per cent
above the rates previously paid in gold,
or its equivalent, but the prices Of COM
modities had advanced nearly III per
cent-that is TO say, had more than dou'
bled, and in 1866 wages paid IN cur
rencv worth II cents on the dollar had
advanced q fraction more than 52 per
cent from the previous rates in gold, or
its equivalent, but the prices Of COM
modities had advanced 90per cent. The
rise in the rates Of wages never CORE
Fponded with the rise in the prices Of 9th
er things until the year 1869, four years
after the close Of the war, when the
value of our currency was II cents on
the dollar, and it was quite certain that
!. .....-1os, sr.r, .rrrrr11 ccfTrr
The wages Of labor, measured by gold
as they were in 1860, when we had a
sound currency, had fallen about q per
cent in 1868, more than 10 per cent III
1864, and nearly 81 per cent III 1865,
when we had deprecated currency,
and. gentlemen, the force Of this illus
tration is greatly augmented by the facts
that these reductions in the rates Of
wages occurred at a time when several
hundred thousand lab0rers had been
withdrawn from the field Of compoti-
ton. when the government was engaged
in the prosecution Of great war and
was expending money layishly for all
kinds Of supplies for the army and navy,
and when the prices Of all the products
Of labor had largely increased
Experience Of 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 $50 cents in cur 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-
i 1.-~.~