Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1896-07-10
TO CUT DOWN WAGES.
BY Paying Labor In Cheap
Dollars.
THE SILVERITES SCHEME.
Why Ex-Governor Boies Wants
Free SilVer-Rich Landlords
Could Then Make
Big Profits.
THE SILVERITES SCHEME.


pretend that their so cent dollar scheme
would benefit the working classes. In
recent interview he says:
Il have myself in this state two
farms, paid for largely with money
have earned as a lawyer. One is a farm
of $500 acres Of land, and the other
contains 1000 acres. With the present
price Of labor and the present price paid
for farm products, no man in the world
could take either Of these farms, even If
| should present him with the ground,
and make a dollar out Of it. l mean, Of
courge, that he could not equip the farm
and pay interest on the money invested
in the equipment and wages for labor
out Of the income he would get by sell
ing the products A farmer who works
himself and is assisted by the labor Of
sons and daughters could make a small
farm pay. But no farm is profitable
when conducted on the basis of manu-
featuring business. Cheap and abundant
money is the only remedy for this intol-
cradle state Of things"
This is a candid admission that he
thinks that wages are now too high, and
that in some way free silver will give
the farmers cheaper labor. The mere
fact Of an increase in the price Of farm
products would not make farming profit
able. if, as is claimed by most Of the is
to leaders, wages would be doubled
along with doubled prices Of everything
the farmer buys. Mr. Boies clearly eX-
poets that the result Of "cheap and
abundant money" will be the practical
reduction of the price paid for farm Ia
Dor. This would no doubt be very
good thing for rich man with $500
acres Of land But what does the poor
laborer think Of the scheme? Are the
American people ready to vote for a
debased currency which will reduce the
wages Of the workers:
Next in importance to the confession
that free silver would cut down wages
is the admission that "a farmer who
works himself can make small farm
pay" What kind Of farmers does Mr..
Boies expect to see prosper: Men who
have bought up big tracts Of land which
they hold out Of use in the expectation
Of selling it at a high price, and in the
meantime are working it with hired la
Dor? That is not the kind Of farmers
which Americans wish to see thrive.
The man who owns and works his own
land is the ideal farmer Of this country.
The big estate with its gangs" Of hired
men may do while new territories are
being opened up, but the welfare Of the
republic depends on the mon who cult
vate the soil owning the land they till.
If Ex-Governor Boies thinks himself en-
titled to an income from his land with
out working it himself, he is very much
mistaken. No farmer should prosper who
simply towns land" and expects to
make profit out Of other mems labor.
That under free silver few men could
use cheap money to speculate in land
and get rich out Of the toll Of the under
paid laborers is the very best of reasons
why the masses should vote against 1t.
Ex-Governor Boies admits that the
farmer who works can make his farm
pay. But in another part Of the same
interview he saws that farms bought 20
or 20 years ago cannot be made to pay
interest on their cost. This is a strong
argument against cheap money, for it
was the greenback initiation Of the war
period which put the prices Of land so
high that the men who bought farms
have been struggling ever since TO pay
for them. The heavy mortgages, with
high interest rates. which are crushing
so many farmers, have their origin in
the high speculative price Of land caused
by the cheap money craze Of the last
generation. Free coinage would repeat
the evils brought about by the oyeris-
sues Of greenbacks, and while not help
ing the present owners Of farms would
benefit spectators and make 1t harder
for the millions Of landleSs and home
less men 70 get a piece Of land on which
to make a living.
Mr.. Boics is evidently sincere man
and is advocating free silver with the
idea that it will help men, like himself,
who own big tracts Of land. But as the
only results Of that policy would be the
repudiation Of debts. the reduction Of
wages and the enrichment of the men
who speculate in land but do not work
themselves, he is not a safe guide for
honest citizens.
WurDDrN GRAHAM