The Portland daily press., 1896-07-29
CURRENT COMMENT.
THE EFFECT OF FREE COINAGE
ON WAGES.

New York Investor.)
Here is one argument which has boon
| advanced recently in favor Of free silver
BY very prominent southern man. :"
and we especially commend 1t to the at
tention of every person on salary or on
weekly wages.
1t seems to me that my fellow Demo
Gratis are blind. / cannot understand
why they hesitate for one moment to
endorse free silver. AS a party we favor
the widest possible trade. We wa MT to
push our products into all the markets
OF the world, and the only thing which
stands i'll the way of our so doing 10 the
high price Of our labor. Everything that
| we make has come down in price, But
while every thing else has declined In
cost, our labor still sticks at the old
prices, and there doesn't seem to be any
way to bring labor down except through
some sort of q protraoted revolution. Free
silver, however, would solve the question
IN an hour. IL wouldn't 3 advance the
price OF any kind of labor because all
labor Is now at initiation prices, and just
| as high as it would be under any condi-
| tions. But if free silver were adopted,
we would pay labor in fifty cent dollars.
| That would cut labor in two at once,
thus fetching it down ta the plane of
every thing else. This accomplished, we
would be in shape to successfully COM
pete with England or any other country
for the markets of the world. Therefore
| can't see why our party does not at
once and entirely endorse free silver, be-
cause by so doing We should esta blish our
commercial supremacy among the nations
of the earth.
| sWe will not DISCUSS the economic absur-
dity OF the above views regarding the re-
lation of prices and wages, but will con-
tent ourselves with asking the wage
Garner how he likes the prospect that is
here outlined. In 1870 the index numb
representing the wholesale prices of q
large number Of commodities was 2, $50:
on june 26 1895, it was 1,947. Here is o
drop of nearly as per cent. In 1870, the
average wages paid to each working man
in this country were $50 a year; In $780,
they were $465, gain of over so per cent
| Now If the Democratic platform means
anything, it is that we should get back
to the prices which prevailed prior to
| 1873. But the prominent southern
man" whom we have just been quoting
would, at the same time, leave wages
nominally unchanged, practically QUITTING
| them in half. In fact, the above figures
would seem to hold out little encourage
ment OF wages being advanced materially
beyond the present point. In that event,
! the wage Garner would suffer untold
hardship
| Rochester, N. Y, Post Express.)
w. P. Sedgwiok has placed in his store
window the most practical illustration of
the silver question which has yet been
devised, says the Steuben Courier. On
one side are ten silver dollars, good the
world over for their face value, by reason
of the credit of our government, Under
meath these he has a block of silver
which is the melted product of tan silver
dollars, and which in that form is worth
just SIS. 24A. On tho other side is ten
dollar gold pieoe, aud underneath a piece
of gold obtained by melting ten gold dol
lasr. Both pieces of gold have the same
value whether they bear the government
silver melting, however, MIR. Sedgwick
will have to lose $4.75 as he can never
get that block of silver which is worth
only 1924 24baok into the shape where ii
was worth So