The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1896-09-20
THE PROSPERITY
IN MEXICO
How That Government. With Free
Silver, Raises Revenue for
It's Expenses.
FREE SILVER AND mIGm TAXES
Low Wages and High Prices on Al Ar.
ticles of Necessity Says without
High Taxes the Country Would
Become bankrupt

The following Interview with Cob c.
H. Moriaun,. which hrst appeared In
the San Jose Daily Mercury. was iIn3-
cd 10 the AEtorlan for publication by
his brother, who lives in this city:
Charles T.. Mordnunl. who has 'or the
past thirty-onc years becn resident
" Mexico, Central and South America.
and who at present owns 5000 acres Of
land In the State of Chiapas. Mexico a
large portion ~ which II planted to
coffee. Is nov In this city with his
family. at 15i North Fifth street
Mr. Mordaunt went 20 Central Amer
lea In 1868. and In 1874 WAS chief of stan
" General Garcia Grenada, In the sue
ccHsful revolution 10 overthrow the
Clerical party In Guatemala.
He IN native ~ Maryland. but has
bc-n va long associated with the ma
lives ~ the southern countries that
hc n as thoroughly convcrsani with
their language. customs. politics and
commercial interests az any native.
His large property interests In Mexico,
valued at 100000. have placed him In
close touch with the government and
the commerce of the country In which
he resides, and makes his opinions on
Mexican AFFAIRS NJ indisputahle value.
In conversation with a Mercury repcrt-
cr yesterday. Mr. MordRunt said:
AN of the Mexican. Central and
South American Republics. with the
exception ~ Costa Rica. have metal
ne money standard. They wight AS
wcll call It a silver monomctsi.c
standard. Tor gold is never seen In the
ordinary Affairs ~ commerce and cam
not be secured unless a iargc premium
Is paid 10 the dealers In exchange.
"untli about iiftccn years ago there
wRs considerable gold In these corr-
tries About that time, or say about
1850 silver began to decrease In value .
and as a consequence gold disappeaie' .
The established ratio was l6 "a !. IS
by the Democrats Tor ,als I
country.
The value of silver money IN Mexl-
20 Is estimated by the value ut the
silver bullion In London The value OF /
he metal iluctuates so rapidly and Is
70 unstable that our coffee / rccogniz-
Al As more stable prcduct ana Il is
,ften the case that persons desiring ex-
'hUngc on London or san Frrrc,srn
will pay me an extra large price for my |,
'ofree In order to ship II as exchange.
AN or the labor employed In Mexico :
= paid In silver Labor can be secured {
or 81 cents a day In silver money. az Ii
'oursc we sell our products for gold ,
md pay labor In silver.
Mexico Is rated MS wonderfully .
prosperous country and Is | see cited I
" advocates ot free silver rs an ex- In
.mplc uf the progress tn hc secured q
~ the adoption of the silver standard. @
ieNico is country Of vast natural I
esuurceS Its growth has been rctard- h
d during the past nfty years by al q
most continuous Internal conflicts.
incc the election Of Dinz as president
nd peace has been restored by the
lection of n man who could hold the L
,uyalists down by grip of iron the
evclopmcnt OF the country has COM
Fenced,
This Is being done by foreign capt d
llists, who are attracted by the enor- II
lous profits to be made upon some ST
the products. AS nm example of W
Ms | will say that from about three ol
,r,s Of land | reaped FIVE and half SC
ms Of coffee, which | sold at % cents. 81
pound, This coffee cost me cents 81
pound to land In san Francisco, and u
'tter coffee was never raised. Enor- oi
Gus tracts Of land are being planted ca
coffee by foreigners | do not think al
ere are ten natives who own coffee m
u"
Foreign capital Is, however kent II
ON investment In Mexico by the out III
hN'h" AHNNNlNH liiAiNSNu ny INV NuN-
nment to raise revenues. 1t may
orally be said that everything is
Xed in every conceivable manner in -
eXico, 1t is one Of the highest pro.
rtive countries in the world, and this =,
events the country from becoming a.
nkrupt With only silver and mod
ate tariff the government could not 81,
Y its debts, As an example Of the
riG win cite you few articles
llch have had occasion to send {" m
n Francisco to my place and paid
q customs duties myself: on qour, !
'ents a pound; kerosene, 80 cents Or
Hon; window glass, 7xlO inches, Z w,
ats; cut nails, 10 cents per pound; Ea
n work of any description, cents fai
: pound; $22 saddle, $25 duty; ham, 16
Its per pound; common shoes Sl.5O
: pair; maccaroni, G cents n pound;
cooking stove, $50 duty, and other 4
ngs in proportion. ele
on six pairs OF blankets which I Av
rchased from O. A. Hale & Co, In thi
8 city and sent to my ranch the
~ was S102, How Is that for -, L
tive tariff? The tariff, however, is Phi