The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1896-05-16
HOW 1T WORKS TN MEXICO.
A Letter in Relation to the Money
Question from a Former Resident
to the Chas. Mix County News.

Question from a Former Resident
to the Chas. Mix County News.
Yours of the 9th came duly to hand to
day. l am glad if anything l said i'll
my letter was or is OF any use in com
batting the free silver fallacy and at the
risk OF boring you, will Will try and
give you a more detailed and perfect
idea oftlle conditions here, in the hopes
that it NAV have some slight influence
on the sentiments of some people who
have bsen led to believe that in the full
and free coinage Of silver at the OLD ratio
lies the safety of the United States.
Ono OF the arguments frequently en-
countered is that Mexico is progressing
wonderfully and that the cause of this
progress is the white metal, That this
country is Increasing rapidly in manu-
featuring is undoubtedly true and the
true reasons are not far to seek. There
are two main reasons, 1st, Oil account of
the depreciation of the circulating
medium one gold dollar, or ole United
States silver dollar, is worth nearly two
Mexican silver dollars. AS a conse-
quence the manufacturer who comes
here with gold TO establish business,
does SO for ono half of what he would
pay for the same labor in the States.
His raw material. il indigious to the
country costs him One-half also; but.
when he sells, he guages his prices not
on the cost Of production, but on the
price of similar products Of countries
manufacturing on a gold basis. And
this leads to the second reason, which is
that the depreciation of silver acts as a
high protective tariff. This point IS so
self evident that ii needs no argument
to prove it.
You will notice that | hlve not said
that Mexico is prosperous. As an evil
dence of that fact might call your at
tention to the price of government bonds
(about 4G) but | prefer to put it On an
other ground. could go into the street
tomorrow in this city and hire any 1uan-
tlty OF labor for from so to 62h cents
Mexican silver. ] take 1t as a fact that
the prosperity of any country is indi-
Gated, not by the profit OF the millionaire,
manufacturer or tradesman, but by the
condition of the laboring classes, and
the people who IN fulti!mcnt primeyal
curse earn bread by the sweat of their
faces;" the people who furn the bulk of
the population. ana in a prosperous
country form the most formidable bull
work against enemies. either foreign or
domestic. This class i. liexico today is
undeniably and pitiably poverty stricken
and are glad to obtain wcil TOR 80 cents
per DAY and board themselves. What
would the laboring classes in the United
States do il they conih only earn the
half of fifty cent dollar for twelve long
hours work. But you will sometimes
have the argument used that they do not
do as much work as our lahorers. That
is false basis for an argument as is
illustrated by the fact that on the rail
roads which cross the Rio Grande (for
instance, at Eagle Pass they employ
Mexican laborers in both countries but
on the Mexican international, which
runs south from CindaId Porffus Diaz
the section laborers receive 621s cents
per day Mexican silver while on the
Southern Pacific morth from Eagle Pass
Texas, and owned by the same corpora
tion) .he same laborers get 81 gold orel
three times as much in favor Of the
country on gold basis. These exam
pies could be quoted almost without
limit. Take house servants for another
example; you can her" employ able
bodied men who can cook we'll, in theil
way, for $S per month, Mexican silver
and board. Women in the State ge,
$3.50 to $3.50 per week in gold. Thes,
are facts. not theories; they are facts ant
to mind show to what the laboring elias:
in the United States would be reduced
should the free coinage fallacy become
the law of the land.
Fine spun theories are well enough rol
political economists and college profess
ors, but the bare cold facts are what thu
common people have 70 deal with an(
they sh0pld be made acquainted will
them and helped to SEQ things as the,
really exist. LII the United States wer,
to endorse and adopt free coinage of sill
YER at the old ratio, in less than 80 dav
the American dollar would be worth les
than the Mexican dollar because 1t con
tains less silver, and wages of Iaborer
would thus be practically reduced tlft,
per cent. The blow would fall upon II,
one else because others would be able f
protect themselves. The merchan
would mark up his goods to meet tn
depreciation. The money loaner ha
already provided against this contingen
cy by requiring good mortgages; but til
poor devil wlio has only his hands 70
capital would bear the brunt as he al
ways does In this free coinage countr
we pay 45 cents per pound for cure
ham, 30 cents for cheese. 6 to / cents 10
flour, 21l5 cents for sugar (made in thi
country % cents for American graDu
lated sugar, e to 3 cents for Slelle
corn and almost everything else in Pre-
portion, and that where the very lara
majority are consumers and receivin
less than one-third the wages that al
paid TO section hands in the Unite
States.
II our people could only see thing q
they really are in Mexico today the
would never be deceived by the free 81
. yer cry. After nearly six years obse
vation here of the workings of free 81
yer, can sum up my faith In a re-
words. For Mexico free silver is doiu
a certain amount of good in fosterin
infant industries and encouraging IL
importation of foreign capital: hut Il