The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1896-08-19
POINTS FOR woRgiSonry.

statement which, he gives to the press
says:
Last summcrtt went to Mexico md
made n study or tho free silver question,
II was n thorough investigation, | took
an Interpreter with me and went right
III among tho %wdrkIng,ncn. invest.
gated the ratcfof wages paid nnd hnw
tho worklngmcn lived. Lot mo rive
you nm instance! In GunnnIuntn |
found about 200 Mcxlcnna employed In
mnkInE u reservoir. 1t WINS the hardest
kind OF work. They carried tho sand
ana earth out OF the excavation on their
backs In HnCks and baskets. Their
hours were from G o'clock In the morn
'nE TO q o'clock at night with two inter-
missions or hnlf an hour each making
eleven hours labor, For this they rc-
ccived :! cents n day In Mexican silver,
or about IL cents in American money.
was there when the bell rang tor the
hnlr hour for dinner. Tho men sat
DOWN IN groups. and | saw what they
hnu 10 at. Tho meal conslRtcd Of cold
corn cakes. which some warmed on q
charcoal fire, ind cold baked beans, or
'ofii'ihs' On their cakes they spread
what Is called Mexican butter. This Is
q pcar-Ehaped fruit called ngtlncata,
WIN II rev red peppers In their beans,
meg" hr'lclvS composed their meal. |
u'V no see II eating II piece Of meat.
Naturally, | was Interested TO know
how men could live. cvcn SO poOrly, on
y ccntn Mexican money Per day. In
qutry showed thnt their food was nil
produced by home labor paid ut the
same low rates as themselves. None OF
That clnaS OF products IL being exported,
and they simply consumed the products
oroih"r cheap labor. Now, II they used
coh"r, an export article. they Ind to pay
from . 10 GO cents per pound In Mexican
money. the price being fixed by the cX-
port price In gold, Consequently fol-
lows that the lnhorins people can only
use articles that nrC not exported. I
oun that there Ind been practically
no advance In wages during the last, -
arS,while there had been n very great
advance In the prices OF all articles
advance IN the prices Of all articles
they export. | have never been IN Chi
ma, India or Japan. but | have Travelled
In nearly all the countries OF Europe,
and Mexican labor Is the poorest paid
that l have ever seen.
IL was OF especial interest to note.
too. the effects OF free silver on the
interests and labor In Mexico.
All the railroad mortgages are held
abroad and payable, principal and In
tercst. In gold. the same as ours are.
Gold when | was there. was at 4 pre-
MUM OF IS per cent. Whcn.thc compa-
ny paid Its interest on the bonds and
mortgages, 1t had to pay 81 IS for
every dollar in interest. This almost
doubles the fixed charges on the rond.
Fare and freights were raised with the
premium on gold. but, with the fixed
charges almost doubled, wage were
not raised. They remained the same
about so cents a day. 1t Is true that
the wages of the American engineers
and conductors were raised as the pre-
MUM on gold Increased. These were
paid American prices In Mexican mon
ey. But the superintendent said they
must do this, as 1t was necessary 10
have American workinGmen Tor some
branches OF their work. lie said: III
an engine breaks down. Il Mexican en-
gineer folds his hands and goes 10
praying. but an American engineer
Swears Il little, perhaps. and then fixes
his engine" The bulk OF the labor em-
ployed is Mexican. however. paid Mex
lean rates in Mexican money.
While | was in the city Of Mexico a
bricklayer came taere from Denver. He
had read in Tom patterson's paper
OF the prosperity In SIcxico, and came
to try'it. He f~oundzthat the best wages
he could get were from 60 10 80 cents 4
day in Mexican silver. At Denver he
had received 81 a day in money rs good
gold In Mexico. to he equally well
nDlI hn 1hnifiI 1,ny,.N 49, ..,r. -
and" Sc. But 50 cents was the highest
offered. and. he being out OF one
we Americans there raised n collection
to send him back TO Denver.
1t IS the common free silver arru-
ment here. that Mexico was never 80
prosperous as unw. The statement e
true, but free silver IS not the cause,
II Is because, for the first time in over
a century, Mexico is peaceful and well
governed. II IS good order that makes
tn" prosperity. and peace and security
invite foreign capital there with which
TO develop the country. President Diaz
has enlisted 200 men who were former
ly bandits and stag" robbers. has put
uniforms on than and set them to
hunting down other robbers. When
BaEarc Taylor went from Vera Cruz
TO Acapulco by stage years ago, he was
vv,tb t,n = Hi 'te way. Now
s.c,inrs C rp u cettaln
man cI, , 49, s"er% are INDIANS. a
Srn,r az e.; ~ safety on a picycle
hmnr,coc r .evao" ~ anoIher' l met
o,,, on",hair SIS HI'e VINO nad gone
Frorn va w. ~, 'l[SS,eS o"eNIF-HEe miles
va ,ba'. NY W NsNico, ana they Old
pleasant word.
crt.,oa rL,ms a EatheFlm6 OF
employeg In nv e,oIc onJ , rT,.a5
80, ~ ...1I $3.50 ~ 4 lS'iHtFH