The morning times., 1896-07-19
Wage. Farmers Would Not Be Benefited.

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contest between parties, will it result in the
victory of any recognized political principle The
try is rapidly dividing the question of gold silver
monetary Standard and the November polls must decide
whether not to have several years of industrial
and commercial descriptions while attempting to adopt
system of free silver coinage. The Republican party
will be compelled to lay aside its timeworn campaign
tariff cry and adopt that indicates protection to
national credit and financial honor and the anarchrats
Democratic disguise will up signal demanding free
silver and higher prices Knowing that party lines will
be practically obliterated and that many people will be
by the claim that cheaper money will create less
misery the Central Labor Union has done well to advise
its membership not to take part the controversy
ganzed bodies.
Generally speaking wage capable of TAX
ing of themselves all political questions But the
subject of finance intricate and has been sufficiently
discussed be thoroughly understood therefore the de-
usive argument of the auarchrats that free silver will
stimulate trade increase prices and give everybody
ployment misleading and likely tempt the uniformed
to seek their destruction The anarchrats doubt
base their assumption that prosperity will follow the
adoption of free coinage the ground that this country
is of the most powerful, and consequently strong
enough to mint the surplus silver of the world without
debasng its money THE TINES has already shown that
the surplus silver of this country alone would be
than 500 O0O O0O and only of several
heavy silver producing nations difficult to how
could coin their surplus products addition to
own without serious injury. subscriber asks The
TIMES to explain the meaning of 16 In this
tion it will be appropriate to do 1t that Con
gress by its fiat shall make 16 pounds of silver equal in
value to pound of god and also to maintain that parity
for all time regardless of the commercial value of these
metals the relative quantities of their production At
present it takes 81 pounds of silver be worth as
much pound of gold and 16 to also that sill
producers to be enriched by Congressional
to the tremendous amount they would realize by TAX
coined free of charge into dollars which the public ex
pected to accept 100 cents when in reality they
only worth about one-half that amount.
Naturally an attempt to force parity between two
metals disproportonate in commercial value would
reyolutonize prices and create disastrous uheava
the financial world Gold would go to premium and
silver become monetary standard This would cause
an imitation of prices and the cost of living would be ma
teriay increased The effect of such change could not
be otherwise than injurious to earners, both from
the standpoint of wages and the volume of their employ
men and it is this ground than any other that
THE TINES opposes the free silver heresy Mexico is
without question the most prominent free silver country
in the world Mexican dollar contains 35 grains more
of silver than dollar, and yet it is only worth
in Mexico 5s in gold. The parity policy does
not work in this instance, although there is free
coinage of both gold and silver 1t costs about |
one quarter more to live in Mexico than it does in
Washington, and wages only about one-haf much
as those paid in this CITY, Flour is 5H cents pound;
sugar. 19 cents; beef 6H cents pork, 81 cents; coffee
cents ST. cheese Is cents, and are of the
Chicago sky-scraper variety. Street employees are
paid from so cents to 81 day; bookbnders ST.: car
Denters $780, engineers, $15O; harness makers pot
ers ocksmiths plumbers and turner's 81; machinists
s175; brickayers stone cutters and house painters
81 25 and laborers from 37H to SO cents day.
All the above wages paid in So cent Mexican dollars
Perhaps the worst feature of the freesilver scheme
on
md their employees Most of railroads and MANY of
large industrial plants being largely operated
With foreign capital payable, interest and principal in
gold. a debasement of money would compel these
enterprises purchase gold at premium make these
payments while all their would necessarily be
made up of 52cent dollars estimating from the present
ralue of silver Under such circumstances how could
hese corporations consistently advance wages 1t is
Universally conceded that the of living would in
rease under free:sver policy Conseauentlx these