The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-07-24


therefore would be to increase greatly the
price Of all necessariss, and the people,
being compelled to buT them. would
have DO alternative but to pay the en-
HANGED price. The cost of living of every
man rich OF poor would be Increased at
least one third and very likely more.
This is not o matter Of theory, but of ex-
perionoe No country has ever had de-
preciated and depreciating currency with
cut an enhancement in the price of the
necessaries OF life. Our minister Mt Co.
lombia in his report to the state depart
ment which we published some days ago,
stated that since Colombia had gone on
to a silver basis the cost of living had in
creased 200 per cent. Prices of comma obi
ties in this country moro than doubled
from 1861 to 1865 when this country was
ON greenback basis and our currency
was constantly f1uctuating in value The
silver men themselves do not deny that
free silver would cause a large rise in
the prices of commodities. Indeed that
1T would cause rise ia their chief recon-
mendation of that policy.
Now If salaries and wages rose as
rapidly and as much as the prices of
commodities the cheapening of the dol
lar would make very little difference to
tbs great mass of people who are work
ing for wages or are employed on salar-
les. Tho advance of their wages would
offset the advance in price of the things
they have to buy and they would be no
better and no worse off than before. But
nothing is better proved by experience
than that salaries and wages do not rise
along with tue price of commodities, and
that they never rise in so large ratio
as commodities. During the war com
motities rose from 100 In 1861 to 247 in
1865 while wages and salaries rose only
from 100 to 149 The difference repre-
sented the extent Of the disadvantage the
wags earners were under by reason of
auctuating and dopreoiating currency. 1t
stands to reason that salaries cannot rise
as rapidly as commcdities-that is COM
Inodities that are necessaries. The owner
OF the latter has almost complete control
over them. He is sure of market be-
cause the people must buy, and therefore
he can fix the price, But the wage earn
or in the great majority of cases is to
large extent at the mercy of his employ
or. If the latter deems his price too high
he Gun refuse to employ him, and the
man who is working for salary knows
perfectly we'll that there are always men
to be found who Will readily take bis
place even at lower pay than that he is
working for. Hence the rise OF salaries
and wages Is slow and is very seldom
large enough to Offset the rise in the price
of commodities. In Mexico which is fire.
qucntly pointed out by the silver men as
an example of prosperity brought about
by free silver the laboring man receives
on the average about 25 cents a day.
Evidently free coinage has not benefited
him much, however it .may have aided
the capitalist. In England many manu-
facturers are urging the use of silver
avowedly for the purpose of reducing the
wages of their operatives.
The class that will suffer from the free
coinage of silver, if 1t ever comes, is not
the capitalistic class, though because that
class generally Opposes free coinage it is
sought to make 1T appear that free coin-
age will despoil them OF their property or
make their opportunities for aocum 1lat-
ing wealth scaIcer. The capitalstic class
can take care of itself, and we have no
doubt it will find abundant opportuni-
ties in the disarrangement following free
coinage to add to Its wealth. The GLASS
really threatened by free coinage is the
wage earning and the salaried class and
the class whose incomes are Fixed. 1t is
the poor and persons Of small means who
will chiefly suffer il the theories Of the
silver men are reduced to practice.