The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1896-09-13
gAer-EaGNERs AND FREE SILVER
what the salarled Man Would Lose Under
inIimitrd Coinage.

When wage-earners are told boy free
silver orators that the gold standard Ia
yors "tas creditor class" and that a.
dspreclafed currency OF silver dollars,
worth from 80 to 40 per cent. less than
the present gold or good-as-goid silver
dollars Of this country, would relieve
the debtor class they may wisely ask
themselves this question. To which class
% wase-earIers belong. creditors OF deb
tors2
Tho total outstanding Indebtedness Of
tho United STATES az this time IS N,--0-
Os.O00. using round figures. Whether
that be paid ia dollars Of gold or dollars
OF silver the rate OF wages ia tle United
states Will not Boz affected Therefore
as TO that mass Of national debt, the
wage-earner has nothing 10 gain by
changing the standard OF payment The
debts Of the States and Territories IS
somewhere about 81 l35 100000: the cen-
sus OF $3.50 SO certified t. It Will not
helD the waee-carners in any way %
have that debt scaled down Tho mort
care debt of the United States on
acres and homes is believed to be
about s2.50cmoo0 and the wage-earners
are not indebted for bat very mall frac-
ton of a. The debts of private inlivd-
uals and corporations engaged In business
on a large scale is not definitely known
but reasonable estimate places them ~
something over Sl0o0oo0oco. The wage
earners are not carrying that burden,
either and would not De benefited by
scaiing f. down.
The truth u.s. that the wage-ea-ers
cannot gain by tho "relief Of debtors, -
FOR they are not n the debtor class. They
are. on the contrary. the largest and the
most important creditor class in the
country. II existing contracts are 70 De
changed and debts are 20 De- 10 part re-
pudlated. by mailing them payable 10 an
Inferior dollar 90 the one now DO use as
tho STANDARD dollar OF this country the
wace-earner5 Will find thems Ives not
among the relieved debtors but among
the cheated and suffering creditors The
only sense in which they would be re-
Hevci hy free silver coinage is the same
I'm which the householder is relieved who
awakes In the morning and finds that he
has been relieved" OF his property by
burglars while he slept We ask each
Individual wage-earncr TO stop mo-
ment and take an account Of his own az
fairs. AM see Just where he stands IN
this matter OF owing and being owed.
According 20 official figures and The best
expert estimates the followine sums are
due and owing 70 wage-earnlng creditors:
Deposits in savings banks
Crrcasiirv report $500 81 s+4 357.7 9s
Deposits in building and
loan associations $500. $40 CO. 5ai
Tife Insurance policies con-
tlngenuy payable %
v.age-earncrs' families
(es'ima.eN ..............-.......s0 900 COO coo
Annual aggregate u wage
payments le-timltsd)..........4 600 10000
Now. the free silver proposition is 70
make M these enormous masses OF debt
owing 10 wage-earners payable in dollars
that win have from "rty 70 fifty cents
worth lcss Of PURCHASING power In each
one ~ them than there "a in the present
dollar OF gold or IN the present dollar OF
silver maintained. as II now rs by me
government on m equality with gold
I'm purchasing power TT us see how tnls
would work IN practice. "a applied 20 me
individual ware-earner. In the rrs'
nlace ne 70 his weekly wages II ne -
earning SIS per week. free silver coinage
bv raising the prices ~ food clothing ana
the neressaries OF life generally by az
lesst one third. VIII make his SD no Del