Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1896-10-13


pay about $3.50 a square yard for brick
paved streets. Monterey will set her
streets paved for little less than So. 80
a square yard, and that price will be in
money worth one-half the American
price.
Other Occupations.
I As in mining and in brickmaking: so 1t
is in all industries. Monterey is BOOM
| ing. Wages remain fixed at the old rates,
| and can be paid In the deprecated ST.
yer, That gives the margin of proht.
The most striking of the object lessons,
PernaPbs are those which the aran aas
well managed. The depots and sur,
roundings are marvelously clean and
! neat. The roadbeds will compare most
tayorably with those in the states. Inc
train service is excellent. Mexican
money does 1t. East from Laredo to
Corpus Christi, on ths, Cult, wholly Wholly %, on
a division 100 miles long. Southwark
from Laredo the first division of the
same road. within Mexican territory, ex-
tends to Monterey, 16S miles, about the
same distance. On one side of the Rio
| Grande the Mexican National pays
wages in Mexican silver. On the other
| money.
Conductors between Laredo and Corpus
get sos a month in gold. Conductors
| between Laredo and Monterey get $13O
| month in Mexican silver, which is
worth $3.50, for the same kind of serv-
| ice.
Engineers on the Texas side are paid
$3.50 in gold for 100 miles. Engineers
on the Mexican side receive $3.50 in
Mexican silver, worth $3.50, for 100
miles.
Brakemen running to Corpus get $50 a
month in. gold; to Monterey. 500
month in Mexican silver, worth $1,000.
at the rate of $1.S0 in gold for 100 miles
travelled; on the Mexican division, $2.25,
worth SLIT.
A general officer of the Mexican Ma
tional, too modest to have his name in
| print, gave these wages from his books.
| When he had read them off to this point,
an interested looker-on interrupted with:
:. Il should think all of the fellows on
the Monterey division would want to get
on the Texas division"
Probably they would" said the officer,
| but we have combined the runs so that
| on all mixed trains the crews go through
| from Corpus to Monterey. That gives
them 160 miles on gold basis in Texas
and 16S miles on a silver basis in Next
CO.. They have the gold and the silver di-
| visions alternately. We do that to give
| them all the same chance"
When did the company adopt this plan
of evening things"
| About two years ago."
How about wages of section hands y
! The official turned to the books again.
| 'On the Texas division" he said, fore
men get $40 month in American money.
| The laborers get rs cents day. On the
Mexican side foremen get $40 month in
Mexican silver, and laborers G213 cents,
| both in Mexican silver"
AT the prevailing rate of exchange this
gives section foremen on the Mexican side
so month and section hands about 81
cents day in American money
railroad official. '.these figures for fore
men and labor hold good only as far be-
low the border as Saltillo. That is $40
miles south of the frontier. As you go
toward the interior wages decrease.
From. Saltillo southwark to San Luis
Potosi, 26S miles. section foremen are
paid. 81 30 a day and laborers SOC day,
all IN Mexiean silver; Still further
south, below San Luis Potosi, the nav is
Sl,25 day for foremen and for laborer
5l72e day, Mexican silver"
Haye railroad wages undergone any
change with the decline of Mexican sill
verg
mo. These are the rates today. and
they were the same in 1885, when silver
dollars were worth half more than they
are now"
Concerning Lead.
THE silver mine owners of Monterey
would be greatly gratified to see Mr..
Bryan restore silver to 81 20 an ounce ~
was suggested to Mr.. Joaquin Maiz.
ION the contrary" replied the owner
| of San Pedro quickly and with decided
emphasis, "the less silver is worth, the
better for u.s."
This seeming paradox Mr.. Maiz pro-
ceeded to explain. In so doing he threw
yer basis in silver country. What he
said of wages and living will be par
ucularly interesting in the United States
IF we got $1.29 an ounce" he be-
gan, sit would be $1.29 in Mexican
| money. Mexican money would be the
| same as American money, and both the
same as gold. Under present conditions,
suppose we got only 60 cents an ounce in
American money for our silver. That
American money is worth 100 per cent
more than Mexican money. In other
words, the TO cents an ounce in Amer
lean money or gold for our silver is
worth double that in Mexican money
So you see we would get no more per
ounce in Mexican money If silver was
worth $1.29. Now the main value of
our Monterey ores does not come from
the silver, but from the lead. If have
lead in my silver ore running % per
cent. that will be 500 pounds of lead
to the ton of ore. At 3 cents that lead
is worth SIS in the United States. That
is $15 in gold, which is $50 in Mexican
money.
"Silver, you must remember" Mr..
Maiz continued. doesn't govern the
price of lead. If silver should go up TO
$1:29 an ounce, or, which is the same
thing, to par with gold, my lead would
keep about even, regardless of the fiuc-
tuation of silver. 1t would still be
worth cents in gold. My 500 pounds of
lead per ton would be worth SIS in gold.
but it wouldn't be worth any more in
silver. 1t would be SIS in gold in Amer
lean silver and in Mexican silver"
Having shown that he would get very
little If any more in Mexican money
for his silver If it commanded ST. %.
or par with gold, and having demon
strated that the advance Of silver to
81. 20 would knock him ont of half of
his return for the lead. measured by the
Mexican money, Mr.. Maiz proceeded to
that phase of the silver question which
is most interesting to Americans.
"Now, there is another thing" he said.
"and it is this: When gold was about
even with Mexican money, or when there
was very little difference, we paid our
labor at the mines 20 cents a day. The
amount was equivalent to about 70 cents
day in American money Today we
pay those same miners 70 cents a day
IN, ,chioh &c,