The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1896-10-14

many wage carriers there are mere, L
don't know. How many salary earners
there are here, | don't know, unless |
count Mr.. Pitney and myself in that list.
I certainly am a salary receiver, whether
l earn it or not Qaughter), and whether
am going to get my share of that fund
or not, may depend upon your action.
Every Wage Garner Interested.
If you are a laboring man, or if you
are a salary Garner, you are interested in
this question, because this wage fund, if it
is a million dollars in gold, it is million
dollars, if it is a million dollars in silver
it is only half a million-and your
wages go down. Now, it is sometimes
thought that the working man is inter-
ested in having more dollars. That de-
ponds upon whether he gets them or not.
Laughter.) It does not matter how
many dollars there are in the world, ex-
cept to your disadvantage, if gou don't
get them.
There are two ways in which your
wages may be made more valuable. The
first is by having more dollars. The sec
ond is by having your dollars buy more.
Well now, which is the best way. when
you fight up to more dollars, it is fight,
isn't it? Did you ever get anything
without fighting, on that subject? Are
You ever likely to, with human nature
what it is? Now if your dollar decreases
in value, is not that the same as having
less dollars? If your dollar is discount
ed by rising prices, are you not worse off
as you have got to fight to increase the
worth of the dollar. Climbing prices
will decrease the value of the dollar you
have.
Why, they say the laboring mems
wages will be increased. Will they !?
How do you know Why, some gentle
man comes around and says So How
do / know the contrary? Because | have
not spent my time in studying the his
tory of Mexico and China, but / have
devoted myself somewhat to the study
of the history of the United States,
(applause) and know what has happen
ed in the United States of America, be-
fore my eyes. and under your noses.
Wages the Last to Go Up.
In 1861 we had gold at a premium.
That was the case until 1865, by which
time the greenback currency was very
much depressed. What effect had it on
the laboring mans wages and on the
commodities the laboring man bought.
Why, on the average, the commodities
went up 1872 per cent. How much did
the wages of labor go upg They went
up 4S per cent. The consequence was
that the laboring man, during these
years, lost upon an average 80 per cent.
of the available power and products of
his labor. That is a fact. 1t is not
something that | say to you, but some
thing you can find indisputably proved
by the experience of men in this vast
multitude. It is not only history, but
common sense.
Did you ever think of the nature of
labor? If you have got days work to
do, you haze got that dag to sell it. You
can't sell it tomorrow, because then to-
days labor is gone forever. If you have
got barrel of flour, and somebody don't
want it to-day, you can sell it tomorrow.
Labor has got to be sold where it is, too.
If you can't sell it at Morristown, you
have to waste day in hunting up some
other place. But if you can't sell your
barrel of flour in Morristown, you can
sell it in Newark. "But," you say,
''don't working mems wages ever adjust
themselves p BY the year 1869 wages
did adjust themselves and, came together
with the prices of commodities. But
for the four years between 1861 and 1865
that ''scoop" of thirty-six per cent. was
lost. Have you ever found it, any of
you2 Did anybody ever offer you your
share in it Is anybody likely to do it !?
Do you want to do that some more
daughter and applause)
Now | can recollect the voices of these
men, and those voices are not two years
silent, since they were proclaiming a
great desideratum, urging lower prices.
Well they got them, and now the same
men in the same tone are clamoring for
higher prices, They told you you were
going to be helped by low prices, and
you got them. Now they say you are
going to be helped by higher prices, and
hope you won't get them, except to a
certain extent | believe in low prices,
but with this limit, that they should be
consistent with fair profit and a living
wage. (Applause.) If they are lower
than that, don't want them, or if they
are higher than that don't want them.
Our Success Under the Gold Basis
Well, they tell us that we had a crime
committed in 1878, or rather they have
fallen strangely silent about the "crime
of 49," They used to be vociferous I'M
til they discovered that the men who are
oocY,,ind nc tha rbiaf anuipaerS in thiS