The Philipsburg mail. [volume] (Philipsburg, Mont.) 1887-current, 1896-07-16
FREE SILVER IN MEXICO
The People All Enthusiastically in Fa
Won of Free Coinage.
REALIZE IT'S GREAT BENEFITS
That Country Enjoying the Greatest CT
Commercial Prosperity - Good
Times on All Sides.
REALIZE IT'S GREAT BENEFITS

said Mr.. Joseph NJ. Brown, traffic
of the Western and Atlantic
railroad. in an interview at Atlanta
Il am just back from a three weeks
trip to that country. | travelled for
thousands Of miles all over the colntrv, !
and III all that time l failed to find a
single man, native OF from the States.
who was not an enthusiastic free silver
maD.
Mr. Brown has just returned from
Mexico He travelled all over the coun-
try, talked with all classes of citizens
of the country, and made Il study Of
the business conditions.
81 went to MeXicO,' said NJ.
Brown. undecided as to the financial
question. | have returned convinced
of one thing, aud that is that if free
silver for the United States will do for
this country what it has done for Mex
leo. then free silver is what We need.
I found that country enjoying the
greatest commercial prosperity. Every
body is satisfied with the financial
status. business is prosperous, the mills
are all running on full time, and the
mark Of good times is manifest on all
sides. It seems to me that what IS
good for them would be good for us.
There is an old saying that whit is
sauce for the goose is sauce for the
gander, and if free silver in Mexico
means universal business prosperity. |
can't see why it would not mean the
same thing for the United States.
'I was forcibly impressed with some
facts connected with the situation i'll
financial affairs of Mexico. Little
things show which way tie wind is
blowing, and want to show by prac
tical illustration how matters stand.
These practical facts count for more
than theories. Now just before leaving
Atlanta [ bought pair Of shoes for
So i'll American money. When we got
to Mexico my brother who acconpan
led me on the trip, wanted a pair OF
shoes. We went into store, and we
got pair of shoes just as good III
every way as the ones l bought in At
lanta. He paid for them S6 in Mexi
can money. They say that the Mexi
can silver dollar is worth only a little
over fifty cents. That is the way fnan-
cial writers put it. Yet the Mexican
dollar in Mexico buys just the same as
the American dollar buys III the United
States. Theoretically, the latter may
be worth two Of the former; yet what
is the difference when both have the
same purchasing power. Money is a
medium Of exchange, and If a Mexican
silver dollar will buy dollars worth,
what difference does it make about the
theory of the thing:
Here is another instance: You go
into hotel in Mexico and get din
ner in eight courses. In Atlanta you
pay 81 at the Kimball or the Aragon
for such dinner. In Mexico you pay
IA Mexican dollar for the same dinner.
You get just as good a dinner III Mex
leo as you do in Atlanta for your dol
lar. Yet we are told that the Ameri-
can dollar is worth twice as much as
the Mexican dollar because it has gold
behind it, These are small matters,
but they are practical facts, and it is
these small practical facts that are Of
interest to the great mass OF the
people.
II have seen interviews in the pa
pers, - continued Mr.. Brown, "stating
that under free silver Mexico is in a
bad fix; that business is shal1y, and
industries languishing. l want to say
that if such is the case I failed to dis
cover any evidence whatever of such a
state of affairs, and l went all over the
country. This talk about Mexico not
thriving under free silver regime is,
to use slang phrase, all rot. In the
Valley of Mexico alone | found thirty
three cotton mills, all running on full
time and making money. If there was
any business depression, I failed to see
any signs of it. AS | came back on
the Mexican National railroad passed
an immense establishment, which |
was told was wOOlen MILL 1t en-
ployed 4,SO0 hands, and was running
day and night. That would seem to
indicate prosperity.
Everything that Mexico raises she
raises on the silver standard, and she
sells it to other countries on a gold
basis. Then she takes gold to the
money changers and sells it for silver,
and uses the silver III all matters OF
trade at home. To that extent the sit
nation seems to favor the silver stand
ard for the reason that it circulateS
very much more freely than gold, and
that money matters are easier with sill
yer than they are with the gold coun-
tries.
"But some will say, how about
wages?" continued Mr. Brown. Gun
der this condition does not the labore1
let less money for his work: The la
borer on the farm in the United States
is found, as we say in Georgia, and
gets from 25 to 80 cents day; in some
places less In Mexico he is found
and gets 37la cents day, or he find:
himself and gets 80 cents a day. With
} this 80 cents he can buy as much as
he can in the States. If anything, the
difference is in his favor, to say moth
ing Of the fact that everything is pros
porous, and everything running on full
time.
"The best evidence that financla
system is success is the way in which
the people like it. In all my travels
! in Mexico failed to find man who