The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1896-07-07
THE LAND OF THE MONDAY
SUN.-MEXICo IN MID WINTER.
BY JUSTICE WALTER CLARK, LII. D.
From Arena for JuneO

In Mexico, as in this country, the
money in circulation is paper and sill
yer, aCd in both countries IN about the
same proportions. In neither is a gold
dollar often seen by the masses or used
in the ordinary transactions of life.
The sole difference between the cur
rency Of the two countries is that l
Mexico gold aud silver remain still, as
formerly, the money Of redemption,
and hence prices of all things remain
as formerly, while In the United States,
half the money of redemption having
been struck down, the value Of the
dollar has doubled, with the necessary
eff ct that fixed charges, like debts,
public aud private, and interest thereon,
taxes salaries, railroad passenger and
freight rates, etc, though nOminally
the same, have in effect doubled, while
those things which have to buy dollars
as produce, labor, etc, have decreased.
Produce is half it's former prices,
while labor has had need for all it's OF
CARNATIONS g. d Efforts to prevent fall
ing quite so far when, in fact, owing to
natural development, labor in this
country should have advanc d as 1t is
doing to some extent IN Mexico. On
both sides of the Rio Grande, paper
ard silver are intrinsicalIy of the same
value, and till we demonetized silver,
were ex changed between the two c0uu-
tries at par. Taat one Of our paper or
silver dollars is now 8~xch8ngeable for
two of theirs. Is due to the fact that
money Of redemption is only half
the volume it was when the currency
of the two ccuntries-paper and silver
was at par, our redemption money
being now practically gold Only, iu-
stead Of gold and silver as at that time
To undo the surreptitious set Of 1873
would be to place this country, as to
prices, where it stood before that act
We have an object lesson of that IN
mistakable import IN the fact that in
Mexico, where the standard of re
damptiOn has remained gold and silver,
cotton brings sixteen to eighteen cents,
and wheat and corn $L25. and fxed
charges like debts, taxes, and railroad
rates have not gone up. Gold does
not circulate there IN the ordinary
transactions Of life, nor does it do so
here. That it is the standard OF value
and not the m9taI that causes the ap
probation Of our dollar, is proven by
the fact thai our silver dollar ia worth
as much there as our gold dollar.
The magnificent climate of Mexico
should attract thousands of people to
spend the winter there, as it is suTe
rior, immeasurRbly, to the s2uth of
Frarc9 and the Riviera. If the Mex
lean railroad companies would copy
the example Of the English railways
and erect and run their own hotels st
each important city, travel would III
crease 5eHfOld. 1t is a great induce
ment to travellers, especial my a for
eign country, to be a0le to get eff the
train directly into a first class hotel,
owned and managed by the railroad,
without having to inquire for a good
hotel or to bother with q hack. Taese
hotels have proven a fine investment
for English railways, as they would
for those in Mexico.
ARTISAN wells are not mfr; qIent in
Mexico, and furnish excellent water.
In some places e~ql4ducts are Sill used,
notably at Q lereJarO, where there is
an aqueduct five miles long passing
through the valley On tall arches,
many of them one hundred feet high,
resembling those IN tho CRnpagpa
around r me.
While the reform" in Mexico, which
overthrow the power of the Catholic
Church and confiscated it's entire
property, was not religious, but eco
nomic and democratic, there was a
necessity that its leaders should have
a association into which no devout
Catholic could enter-intO which the
church itself forbids them to enter
hence it is said to be g fact that, al,
most without exception, every holder
of an ofic9 of any Importance in the
whole country is a Freemason.
Bull fights have too often been de-
scribed to enter into details here. They
have been occasionally suppressed,
first in n place and then another, to
be afterwards permitted again and
again. But there is a public sentiment
gradually growing up against the u
tom; and while ladies of the better
classes still attend l was told that there