The Saint Paul globe., 1896-08-11

The most embarrassing question that
has been asked of the free silver peo-
n1e thus far is in what way the work
ingman is to be benefited or how ne
can possibly maintain even his pres
ent status, if the purchasing power OF
his wages is decreased materially,
without any increase in the volume of
them. This inquiry, which is circulat-
ed from one end Of the country to the
other. brings out another an
swer than that which we see
beginning to blossom in certain
free silver newspapers. to the
effect that the workingman will get
along all right, because other people
will be more prosperous and he Will
shar, their prosperity. The farmer Is
to get rich out of increased prices for
the products of the soil. and the
superabundance of his wealth is to
make a great demand for the labor of
the mechanic and the artisan. He,
therefore, in his turn, will be vastly
advantaged, he is told, by the new
order of things.
Now, there are one or. two flaws in
this which have to be taken care of
in the beginning. The most serious one
is that the assumption as regards the
farmer is an unqualified fallacy. The
farmer will not profit by free silver.
The price of his products, at least in
great staples, is fixed in the markets
of the world and measured there by
the gold standard. Nothing that we
can do will change that. He will get
just what the relation of the worlds
demand and supply fixes. 1t will be ex-
pressed in terms of gold. OF course,
he may get his payment in something
worth so cents on a dollar, in which
case there would be more dollars; but
the real value Of his compensation
would not and cannot vary, and his
expenditures must increase as rapidly
as his receiptS Furthermore, the
proposition that the capitalist, who
furnishes the necessary money to en-
ploy labor, is going to do that when his
investment will be subject to such un-
sarily attach to the silver basis, is
denial that men will act according to
motives that have always Influenced
them since we know anything about
humanity.
But, laying all these considerations
aside, we desire to call attention to
the beautiful correspondence between
the argument of the free silver baron
and the argument of the manufacturing
baron, who wants more protection to
increase his profits. The two are abso
lutely identical, and each is the most
gigantic confidence game that ever
was worked upon the laboring man.
Each represents a trust that asks leg
islative increase of its own profits,
and expects the workingman to trust
in the Lord for an, 1even divide.
What says the protective manufac-
turer? Give us more tariff, That will
enable us to charge higher prices, en-
large our industries, and make bigger
profits. Then we must assume on gen
eraI principles that the employer vol
UNFAIRLY divides his profit with his en-
pIoye. In practice we find that this
does not happen at all. The en-
ployer, under shelter of a high tariff,
enters into a combine with other en-
ployers, hogs all the profit and gives
to labor exactly what 1t can extort
by organized effort and repeated
strikes, and no more.
So the silver baron says, give
us law that will enable us
to enlarge our product for dou-
BILE its market value. We are pub
lie benefactors. 1t is true that we
would make a good many millions
year out of it and the workingman
nothing; that he, indeed. would be an
immediate loser. But think how pros
porous everybody would get to be
after while. and how willingly they
would share that prosperity with him.
It IS the same old claptrap. He is
the universal contributor. He buys all
the tickets but one in the great nation
81 Industrial rattle. and when the num-
bers are drawn the one ticket which he
does not hold is the only prize-win-
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