Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1896-04-19

Gn the central part of the country the re- suit was substantially the same, though not quite so injurious to the laborer. In 1875 a days wages for five men, a mason, a carpenter, a gas-ftter, a painter ana an
 ordinary laborer, amounted altogether 10 $6.45 in our money, but in lSS5 the wages oI the same men were $5.53, and in 1S9o, S4-s9. In the southern part of the republic there
 was some increase in the nominal amount of wages paid between 1876 and 1889, on ae- count of the fact that a line of railway was
 then being constructed through that
 region by foreign capital, but since the latter date the general average rate CT
 wages has remained substantially the
 same. although paid in constantly de- preciating currency.
 Wages in Silver Standard Countries.
 Our minister to Chili, after a very care l ful examination of the entire situation in i that country, says: Tt may be taken for l granted that in Chili, as in all other coun- 1 tries which have had a like financial eX-
 perience, the consequences of cheap money 1 have weighed most heavily upon the 1 classes that are least able to support the l burden" The evils of the silver monomet- 1 alIism and depfeeiated currency hnaily
 became intolerable in that country, and, 1 although it produces considerable silver l and very little gold, it has recently adopted 1 the gold standard of value In nearly l every country in the world having the gold l standard of value the wages of labor have
 increased materially during the last 25 1 years, and, at the same time, the purchas-
 ing power of the money in which wages l are paid has increased also. while in the l countries having the silver standard of l value wages have been actually reduced by ] the depreciation of the currency to such l an extent that the laborer is in much l worse condition than he was at the be- ginning of that period. Japan, by far inc l most progressive and pIospefous country I in the east, coins both gold ard silver at the
 ratio of 1918 to 1, ratio which greatly
 overyalles silver, and as the govern~aent I does net maintain the parity of the two
 metals, the currency is on appreciated
 silver basis. Wages are paid in silver cf l course, because the 1aboring men and | ~1 -4 rl,r. sEacfs 3-~a circulation, ard they generally pay toe 1 highest prices for the articles they buy,
 for the reason that their purchases are l usually made in small quantities at time. l The Japanese silver ven is worth a little l less than 50 cents in our money, and when
 the wages of labor, paid in this depreciated 1 coin, are reduced to eur standard of value.
 they appear so insignificant that # is diff
 ficult to understand how the people who l receive the miserable pittanee can live 1 and maintain their families The average
 daily earnings of a brieklayer amount to
 33 cents blaeksmiths, carpenters and l cabinet-rnakers receive 30 cents: com I positors in printing offices. % cents: press
 men, 26 cents; roofers. 20 cents. stone l cutters S6 eents ordinary taf1ors 2S I cents: weavers. 15 cents. and in all the long 1 list of occupations and wages no laborer, i however skilled, can be found who receives more than 49 cents per day. except poTee- l lain artists in the great city of Yokohama, 1 who get 72 cents. Factory 1aborers. even l in that city where most of the great in i dustries are carried on by American or
 European capitalists. receive 21 cents per l day and in other parts Of the country 1 they receive less.
 High Cost of Commodities.
 Our neighboring Republic of Mexico. i with a constitutional government very l similar to our own, with an area of 767,000 square miles and popula ton of only
 about 100000, with almost marvellous I natural resources awaiting development, l and offering q most inviting field for the l investment of capital and the employ l ment of Ia abor, has the silver standard of | value gold not heinz Tn and if C1eap money is a blessing to the 1aboring man 1 he ought to be prosperous and happy in I that country The Mexican dollar con- I tains 371l7 grains of pure silver, or near I ly six grains more than Is contained in our I dollar, and yet, not being sustained by I monetary system which keeps it at pall- 1 ty with gold, it is worth only about B cents in our money. Wages are paid in 1 silver and are very low in comparison l with the wages paid in this country for the i Same services, in many instances not be- l ing half as much, while the prices of com nodities generally are much higher than i they are here. The prices of imported 1 articles especially are exorbitantly high l in Mexico, because they have to be paid l for abroad in gold, and the depreciation of i their money is so great that it requires i nearly two dollars in silver to pay one in 1 gold. Although our own silver dollar con ] tafns less fine silver than the Mexican dol i lar, one of ours is nearly equal in Px- 1 changeable value to two of theirs, because 1 here the coinage is limited and the govern I nent issues the coins on it's own account l and has pledged it's faith and credit to 1 keep them as good as gold, Q pledge that l has been faithfully kept up to this tirGe 1 notwithstanding the complaints and de- I nunciations of our free coinage opponents I Under this policy the dollar paid to the laborlng man for wages is just as good and l will purchase just as much in the mar | kets as the dollar paid to the bondholders | or to any other class of creditors; but if | we are to have free and unlimited coinage of legal tender silver for the benefits of the l owners of the bullion, the government and | the people at large would have no interest ! and hr l grossly unjust to require the government | to keep them equal in exchangeable value l to gold. The dollars, as rapidly as coined would be delivered to the owners of the bullion free of charge, and the government would have no legal or moral right to
 tax all the people of the country in order to l procure gold with which to redeem these | private coins. The value of our dollar would, therefore, be no greater than the l intrinsic or commercial value of the silver contained in it, and its purchasing power
 In the markets would be diminished about
 one-half; but the wages of labor would re-
 main, for long time, atleast, substantial l ly at the present rates, or if they should l be nomfnally increased on account of the l depreciation of the currency, experience in 1 the past shows that they would not in crease in proportion to the increase in il. e
 prices of commodities Rises in the rates | Of wages take place very slowly while the l prices of commodities move rapidly at l some periods changing several times in
 the course of single day, and these move 1 ments are always more frequent and more
 harmful when the currency is in an unset
 tied condition
 American Workmen Deserve Good Money.
 You have doubtless observed recently
 what appears to be quite formidable
 demonstration in favor of the free coinage
 of silver by certain large manufacturing
 interests in the eastern part of the country 1 upon the ground that if we continue to
 maintain our present standard of value | the silver standard countries especially 1 India, China and Japan, will soon be able 1 to undersen them in the markets of the
 world. Reduced to it's simplest form, the l proposition of these gentlemen is that the l manufacturers of certain kinds of goods in l this country cannot continue to pay their
 laborers high wages in gold, or its equiv l alent, and compete successfully in the 1 markets abroad with the manufacturers of l similar goods in silver standard countries,
 who pay their laborers low wages in de-
 preciated silver and, therefore, they in
 sist that monetary system shall be adopt
 ed here which shall give them the ad-
 vantage of paying for their labor in depre-
 ciated silver. The theory is that with 1 free coinage of legal tender silver the wages l of laborers in this country would be paid
 in silver dollars worth about half as much