The herald., 1896-07-08
THE WAGE GARNER
BY EDWARD T. suMWALT

| had a talk with an intelligent man,
who. although his hands were hard and
rough through toll could teach our way
ward silver brethren some lessons in
finance.
asked him If he was going TO vote for
free silver. His reply came quick and
| emphatic
Most assuredly not. Why should |?
In what way will l. or others who earn
their bread by the sweat of their brow
be benefited by voting to give the mine
owner two dollars for one? How will
get any part of it? VIII he even pay
his men one cent per day more? When
the government was buying 1000 ounces
of silver per month. did the silver kings
increase the wages of those who were
delving below the earth's surface to
make them rich. and in doing so risked
their lives daily? l have never seen it
stated. by the most ardent silver advo-
cate that this was done.
And pray, who are these silver mine
owners? Are they poor men. who need
class legislation to help them support
their families? On the contrary, with
the exception of the prospectors. who.
when they are lucky enough to strike
rich claim, are either robbed or cheat
eQ Oul OI 1t py some SILVER pdlon VINO
owns an adjoining mine, these mine
owners are mostly men who reside in
san Francisco. Denver. Chicago. New
YORK or London, and rake off the pot.
leaving for those who make the wealth
Tor them but bare pittance upon which
to support themselves and families
1T makes me tired to hear my fellow
wage earners denounce the CarneSies.
the Pulimans. the ArmourS. and that
class of employers. and yet lend them
selves to the task of helping these silver
kings rob the people, and bowling for
the free and unlimited coinage of silver
at ratio of 16 to l.
"A few days ago | read that an Eng
lish syndicate had already purchased
a one-fourth interest in the Anaconda
mine. in Montana. on the basis of $780,
OOO.000, and were negotiating for the bal
ance on the basis of $4,000. 900. Do the
employees get any benefit from the ad-
vance in the price of the property!
Again. l read that an English syndicate
was negotiating for the purchase of a
mine in this state to cost $4,000. 600. In
California, Idaho, Nevada. Montana.
New Mexico, Wyoming and Colorado
almost witl-out exception the paying
mines. both gold and silevr, are owned
by rich syndicates in this country o.-
Europe. Is it our duty. as free Ameri-
can citizens, to vote that the United
States government shall pay these syn
dicates two dollars for one, and thus
burden ourselves with a debased cur
rency = for that is what it means, in
my Judgment?
The silver men even go further than
simply coming American silver, they
want us to permit every other nation
to dump upon us their cheap silver
And what would be the result? There |
are far seeing men who would realize !
that the parity between the two metals |
could not be maintained, and they would |
exchange IOl fny
gold, and soon there would be nothing |
but silver in circulation, and our gold |
would be boarded or shipped abroad,
and we would have silver monometal- !
lism; and it would not be very long be-
fore we would have to pay two silver |
dollars for what we now purchase for /
one. If wages doubled we should be
no worse off, but it is we'll known fact
that wages are the first to go down and
the last to rise.
Il am earning now 50 50 per day and
can get gold, silver or paper on each pay
day; and as one buys as much as the
other, l am Indifferent as to,which l re-
ceive. On s.. so per day it is only with
the closest economy that ] can live and
keep out of debt: but if. as is claimed by
the silver men, the free coinage of silver
Will raise prices-which it undoubtedly
will. except wages, how am / to make
both ends meet? The silver men state
that if they succeed in getting into power
all debts, rational, state, municipal, cor
porate and individual can be paid in sill
Yer. Fortunately | am not in debt; but
this does not seem honest to me. Par
money was received when these debts
were contracted, and to pay them in de-
preciated money would not be honest. In
this state all mortgages are payable in
gold, so the debtor would have to pay in
that metal, even if he had to sell two sill
Yer dollars to get one gold dollar to do it
with.
Banks could pay off their depositors in
silver. The building and loan associa-
tions could pay the shareholder in the
same way. Life and fire Insurance com
panies could pay losses in silver. Old
soldiers their widows and orphans might
have to take deprecated silver, we wage
earners certainly would; but if you
wanted to borrow some money you
would get so cent? silver and have
to sign contract to pay in gold.
NO thank you-no free coinage for me.
When | am paid Saturday, ! know what
l am getting, and what it will buy. |
don't care to give a gold dollars worth
of work and receive 50-cent silver dol
lars for it. What the wage earners of the
United States want is work at good
wages-plenty of work-increased de-
mand for labor will increase wages; but
the government might coin all the silver
of the world and if there was no demand
for labor, the wage Garner would not get
one dollar of it,
In the above there is much food for
thought; no sentimentalism is indulged
in, and should be carefully considered by
everyone, who has no ak to grind by the
enactment of free silver coinage. Men
owning silver mines; spectators who
hope to profit by unnatural booms;
those who are head over heels in debt,
and would like to pay 80 cents on the dol
lar, all these perhaps would profit by free
silver coinage; but the masses of the
people, the la aborer, the farmer, the mer-
chant the frugal person who has his
savings in bank, all these and many
more would lose immeasurably by free
silver coinage.
fgfMj 60 DR.. Hobbs Little Liver Pills