Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1896-10-09
silver Money and Wages.


The free silver advocates occasionally
claim that silver is the money of civil
cation. Now here are the "A countries
using the gold standard of values:
United Kingdom, France, Germany,
Belgium, Italy, switzerland, Greece,
spain, Portugal, Roumania, Servia,
Austria Hungary, Netherlands, Can
ada, Norway, Sweden, Denmark. Tur-
Key, Australia, Egypt, Cuba, Haiti
Bulgaria a the United States. And
here are the eight countries using the
silver standard: Mexico, Russia, Cen
raj American states. South American
tates, Japan, India, China and Straits
settlements.
Now which represents the best civil
zation. the "a gold standard or the
light silver standard countries?
With reference To wages in two of
the silver countries, the Hon, =. +.
tiraccy, formerly consul to Foo Chew,
'hr a, gives the following account of
he conditions existing in China and
leNico
when | went TO China in 1890 the
Mexican silver dollar was the common
currency in use by the natives in their
lcalingswith foreigners and were worth
% cents in gold After the change of the
;alue of the rupee in India the value
Of the Mexican dollar rapidly declined,
md in less than "A year the Mexican
dollar was only G3 cents, and in '93 II
fell to 50 cents, and since then has
maintained an average of 81 cents or
3 cents.
The price of all foreign goods was
Immediately affected and was soon
doubled. All native products were
| also advanced, but not to the same ex-
tent. Native labor continued at the
old price. We paid our help just the
| same number of dollars per month in
"a with the same silver dollars we
bought for 50 cents of gold, that we
| lid in 80 when we paid 90 cents for
| them. .-.--.
The natives will not work for for.
eigners as cheaply as they do for con
tractors of their own country. and we
had TO pay the high wages of 81 Next
can per month, or about IA cents per
| day. which on a gold basis was about
; cents and they found themselves IN
everything. Native contractors could
obtain the same class of laborers for
from 81. 80 to 81 Mexican per month
and for the best skilled labor, mechan-
| les. citizens, etc, not more than S3,
which at the present value of the Mex
lean dollar in gold in that country is
about Sl.lO to 81. 90 per month, or from
! cents to 6 cents per day in gold.
My son spent last winter in south
ern Mexico. and he tells me that la.
borers on the coffee plantations there
are usually paid about 20 cents per day
in Mexican silver This would be
much better than the wages of Asiatic
laborers in their country. for in China
there is no sunday, and men work
from new moon to new moon, and
from 10 to II hours day and call it a
| month.
Il recently met a gentleman in Bos
ton. who was here TO secure four or
five American citizens as superintend-
ents for departments in watch factory
he has established at Osaka, in Japan,
and he asserted that he could obtain
| the best classes of native skilled la.
borers for work in his factory at &c
cents per day Mexican, labor which in
this country commands 81. 80 to SO per
day gold.
What can our American working
men be thinking about when they
crowd Faneuil hall and shout them
selves hoarSe over proposition to pay
them in silver dollars worth only 80
cents, when all the world except coun'
tries like China. India, Japan, Mexico
etc, which are on a silver basis, is
maintaining a lOO-cent dollar as the
medium of payment to all wage earn
ers?"