The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1896-08-14

lU. Sl.1 W. lUO lOS.6
There are in almost every community men
who worked by the day before the war. Any
young workingman who is at all taken by the
glowing promises of the free silverites would
do well to ask one OF these old gentlemen how
much he really was paid in those "bimetallic"
days and how much he could buy with his daily
pay In the way of necessaries and comforts.
We have seen that the condition of American
workngmen has vastly improved since the
days when we had free coinage of silver. 1t
has been shown, also, that opening our mint
TO coinage of silver on private account would
OF once send us to silver basis. How would
this affect wages and the mon who earn themp
y who "a his daily fSosa Sy his
he holds dear to think this over carefully.
Any man who will examine daily quotations
soon discover that they change from day to
day and sometimes change very greatly in the
course OF month. But every man who earns
change slowly, an increase of 10 per cent in a
year being quite gain. Prices change quick
ly; wages change slowly.
silver claim-that going to the silver basis
would "double tho prices Of commodities"
Does Seyo that that
be. how much would the wage Garner profit
by the changer No intelligent workingman
believes for n minute that his wages would be
increased by more than a small per oent-that
is, while his wages might be nominally in
creased somewhat the prices Of the things he
has to buy would be increased very much
more. So the real purchasing power of a days
work would be greatly diminished. All expe-
rienco shows that any debasement In the mon
than Il oes Wages msSs n
ence some employers to consider the propriety
OF debasing our currency, but 1T Is precisely
So far as workingmen are concerned the
whole silver question is to be summed up in
one query, Do you want your wages cut DOWN.
II 80, vote for the FREQ coinage OF silver.
Would Not Help tho Farmer.
What Inducements do the silver producera
hold out to the farmers to get them to cooper.
alto in this scheme? They promise the farmers
higher prices for their products. The sensible
naturally ask is, Could they and would they
keep their promisef Let US see what the
They claim that "silver would increase in
value and would carry with 1t the prices of
farm products"
10 say that there is any relation between
the price OF metal dug out of our western
hills depending for its value upon conditions
peculiar to itselfl and the price of any of the
vegetable products of our fields leach of which
depends for its value upon set of conditions
peculiar to itself)-to tell men that there Is
any relation between the prices OF things so
different in their nature and uses, is to insult
the intelligence OF those who arc addressed.
But looking at IL from another standpoint,
let US sec what the probabilities are that the
promise could be kept
talk that silver production Is one OF the over
shadowing Industries Of this country. Let US
make few comparisons
United States in 1892, even when reckoned at
the price before 1878, was $50, 101, 900, and this
was the greatest yield in the history. Of our sill
yer production mint Report, page 242).
According TO the Statistical Abstract, page
267, the farm value of tho cotton crop of this
country in 1891 was $3.50, 600, 600; that of the
wheat crop was, In round numbers, S4OO, 0O0.-
600, and that Of the corn crop WINS over $780,
100000. The value of our corn crop alone was
ten times the value Of the silver crop OF this