The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1896-05-18
SILVER MEXICO.
A Railroad Official Tells a Reporter
His Observations.

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His Observations
Joseph E. Brown Of Atlanta, Georgia,
traffic manager Of the Western s. At
1antic railroad, recently returned from
a trip in Mexico. In telling a reporter
for the Constitution what he saw he
said:
7 am just back from a three weeks
trip to that country. I Travelled for
thousands Of miles all over the country
and in all that time failed to ind q
single man. native or from the states,
who was not an enthusiastic free sllVeF
man.
7 went to Mexico undecided as to the
financial question. have returned con-
WINGED of one thing, and that is if free
silver for the United States win do for
this country what it has done for Mex
leo, then free silver is what we need. I
found that country enjoying the great
est 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 1t
seems to me that what is good for them
/ would be good for us. There is an old
saying that what is sauce for the goose
is sauce for the gander, and If free sill
yer in Mexico means universal business
prosperity, / can't see why it would
not mean the same thing for the United
States.
Il was forcibly impressed with some
AaElS connected with the SlEuaIlOn IN
financial affairs of Mexico. Little things
show which way the wind is blowing,
and I want to show by practical Illus
tratlOn how matters stand. These prac-
teal facts count for more than theories
Now just before leaving Atlanta I
/ bought a pair of shoes for Sc in Ameri-
can money. When we got to Mexico my
/ brother who accompanied me on the
/ trip wanted a pair of shoes. We went
/ into a store and we got a pair of shoes
4 just as good in every way as the ones
i bought in Atlanta He paid for them Sc
1 IN mexican money. They say that the
] Mexican silver dollar is worth only a
/ little over SO cents. That is the way
/ financial writers put it. Yet the Mexican
/ dollar in Mexico buys just the same as
/ the American dollar buys in the United
+ States. Theoretically, the latter may be
+ worth two of the former, yet what is
/ the difference when both have the same
4 purchasing power? Money is a medium
/ OF exchange, and if a Mexican silver
I dollar Will buy a dollars worth what
dlfterence does it make about the theO-
| ~ Of the thing?
Here is another instance: You 20 in
to hotel in Mexico and get a dinner in
4 eight courses. In Atlanta you pay 81 at
the kinball or the AragOn for such a
4 dinner. In Mexico you pay a. Mexican
/ dollar for the same dinner You get Just
as good a dinner in Mexico as YOU do
/ in Atlanta for your dollar Yet we are
/ told that the American dollar is worth
4 twice as much as the Mexican dollar
/ because 1t has gold behind it. These are
Smau matters. but they are practical
facts, and it is these small practical
facts that are of interest to the great
mass of the people.
Il have seen interviews in the pa
pers," continued Mr.. Brown stating
that under free silver Mexico is in a bad
/ fix that business is shaky. and indus
tries languishing. I want to say that if
such IS the case. failed to discover any
/ evidence whatever of such state Of af-
/ fairs, and I went all over the country.
1 This talk about Mexico not thriving
under free silver regime. is to use q
slang phrase, all rot, In the Valley OF
Mexico alone I found SO cotton mills
all running on fun time, and making
/ money. If there was any business de-
preston. failed to see any signs of it.
As / came back on the Mexican Nation
al railroad [ passed an immense estab-
/ llshment which [ was told was a wool
en- mill 1t employed 4.S00 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 bas-
is. Then she takes gold to the money
changers and sells it for silver. and
uses the silver in all matters of trade
at home. To that extent the situation
seems to favor the silver standard for
the reason that it circulates very much
more freely than gold. and that money
matters are easier with silver than they
are with the gold countries