The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1896-05-20
A BUSTED RHICAGO
SENATOR STEGMEN PLAINLY HOW
R1GE WOULD lNJURE THEM.

R1GE WOULD lNJOnC iflE"'
Gees Rise Quickly but Wages Slowly
when Money Is Depreciating-Experi-
encs of United States, Chile and Mexico
with Cheap Money - Wage Farmers
Would Also Lose one-half OF All Past
Savings Deposited In Banks, Building
and Loan Associations, Etc, Total OF
Billions.
Secretary Of the Treasury John u
Carlisle made another Of his mastery
speeches on the currency question, III
Chicago, on April 10. 1t was to an I'm.
mense audience composed largely of
workingmen, many of whom, especially
in the beginning, were skeptical as to
the blessings of 100 cent dollars. The
secretary's argument as to the effects OF
cheap money on wages was most con-
vincing and effected notable change ID
the attitude Of his auditors. We quote
part Of his speech on this point:
Labor cannot be boarded. The idle
day is gone forever. Lost wages are new
er reimbursed, and therefore steady en-
ployment and good pay III good money
are essential to the comfort and happl-
ness of the American laborcr and his
wife and children, and he will be I'M
faithful to himself and to them if he
does not insist upon the adoption and
maintenance Of such q policy as Will
most certainly preserve the value and
stability of all our currency and promote
the regular and profitable conduct OF all
our industrial enterprises. He cannot
prosper when the country is in distress,
when its industries are Frustrated, Its
commerce paralyzed its credit broken
down, or its 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 80 cents will not purchase
as much in the markets as dollar
worth 100 cents. To call dime a 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 III
deprecated currency the rates OF wages
must be increased in proportion to the
depreciation CT the money and in pro-
portion to the increase in the prices Of
other things CT the laborer will suffer q
loss.
But affirm that it is the universal
rule that the rates of wages do not III
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 i'll proportion to the in
crease in the prices Of the commodities
the laborer is compelled to purchase.
Our Experience With Cheap Money.
Congress, early in the year 1862, in
augurated the policy Of issuing legal
tender paper, gold was driven out OF
circulation, specie payments were sus-
pended, the currency began at once tc
depreciate, and before the close Of the
year the paper dollar was worth less
than 70 cents in gold.
In 1862 the wages Of labor, paid il
deprecated paper, were less than pei
cent higher i'll paper than when paid IL
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 thar
they were when paid in gold. In 1861
the wages Of labor paid in deprecated
paper worth about 60 cents en- the dol
lar were 1917 per cent higher thai
whom paid i'll gold, but the prices OF thu
articles the laborcr had to buy with hi
wages were nearly 40 per cent higher
In 1864 the wages of labor paid in de
preciated paper dollars worth 40 cent
Zach had advanced 251a per cent, bu
the prices Of the nccessaries Of life hat
advanced COZ per cent. In 1865 wage
paid in paper currency worth 63 cent
on the dollar had advanced 43 per cen
above the rates previously paid III gold
or its equivalent, but the prices Of com
modities had advanced nearly 1T pc
cent--that is to say, had more than dou
bled, and in 1866 wages paid i'll q cur
rency worth II cents ON the dollar ha
advanced fraction more than so pc
cent from the previous rates i'll gold, o
its equivalent, but the prices Of com
-, H,l ,lx
rise in the rates OF wages never CORE
sponded with the rise in the prices of 9th
er things until the year 1869, four yea1
after the close of the war, when til
value Of our currency was II cents o
the dollar, and it was quite certain tha
40 further depreciation would occar
The wages of labor, measured by gol
they were in 1860 when we had
sound currency, had fallen about "a pt
cent in 1868, more than 10 per cent
s64, and nearly "A per cent i'll 1866
'slien we had deprecated currency
aud, gentlemen, the force of this illu
tration is greatly augmented by the fac
that these reductions i'll the rates {
wages occurred ut time when sewers
hundred thousand laborers had bee
withdrawn from the field Of compel
ton, when the government was engage
in the prosecution of great war al
was expanding money lavishly for a
kinds of supplies for the army and nav,
and when the prices of all the produc
of labor had largely increased.
Experience of Chile.
The recent experience of the republ