The representative., 1896-09-23
WHEAT $3.50 PER BUSHEL,
J. NJ. Hawthorne of St. Paul, Re-
ports Results of His Invcsti-
cations in MeNcO.
THE COUNTY is PROSPERING
Farmers Making Money, Wages Have In
creased, Industries are Running in
Full Blast.
(St. Paul Globe. Gold Bug. }


j. NJ. Hawthorne of this city, who
was sent as a special delegate to Mex
leo by the silver convention which met
in st. Louis last July, returned home
yesterday. He was sent there for the
purpose of securing campaign thunder,
and as he has had it all his own way
he had no trouble in performing his
work.
He comes back free silver advo-
cate of the most pronounced type, and
declares that unless this country adopts
the policy of Mexico the industries of
the United States will be ruined by the
manufacturers of Mexico and Japan.
Ten years is the limit of time which
Mr.. Hawthorne gives the United States
to become bankrupt unless the free sill
Yer policy is adopted.
To reporter of the Globe Mr.. Haw-
thOrne said he found Mexico prosperous
far beyond his expectations, with a sur
plus in her treasury and every industry
being pushed day and night to meet the
demands Of trade. All this has come
about since the mints of India were
closed and the Sherman act was passed
in the United States, according to the
st. Paul travellers view.
"All classes of business are prosper
ing" said Mr.. Hawthorne. Farmers
are making money, wages of all classes
have increased from 25 to so per cent,
the finances of the government are in
better shape than ever before, and the
banks are prosperous. And this pros
perity is directly due to free silver It's
results are apparent ON every hand
The country is a paradise for the farm
er Wheat is worth 81 80 per bushel,
cotton from 18 to 20 cents pound, corn
$3.50 per 100 pounds, and SO on. And
it should be remembered that in the
purchase of these articles a Mexican
dollar goes as far in Mexico in the pur-
chase of the necessaries of life as the
American dollar does in this country.
For instance. got meal that included
two kinds of meat, coffee, two side dish
es, and dessert, for 10 cents.
Following are some of the wages paid
taken from railroads and other pay
rolls in Mexico:
Conductors on passenger trains, $140
to $3.50 permonth; conductors on freight
trains, $125 to 5000 per month"; stenog-
raphers and typewriters, 500 to $500
per month; locomotive engineers, $3.50
to $3.50 per month; stationary engin-
GERS, 500 to 5000 per month; clerks in
stores, 81 to SO. SO per day; clerks who
speak English, from So to SIS per day;
plasterers and masons (American), 50
to 50. so per day; boiler makers from 81
to So per day; shop machinists, SO to
SIS per day. The wages for unskilled
labor are low, and meet an almost ex-
act parallel in the wages paid in the
states of South Carolina, Georgia, Ala
bama, and Mississippi by the sugar
planters to the negroes.
Il found further in Mexico that as
the business was booming, new enter
prises were constantly being inaugu-
rated, and there was an ever increasing
demand for labor, hence I was not at
all surprised at the statement of Fran
cisco de Velasco, of Puebla, the owner
of the PatriOtismo cotton mills, of that
city, when he stated that he had been
obliged to advance the wages of his
employees 25 per cent during the last
year.
Il visited great many mills and
factories, and have found them all run
ming and apparently prosperous. The
cotton mills. some 80 in number in
the republic, have run day and night
with some few exceptions ever since
gold went to its highest premium in
1898, at the time of the closing OF the
India mints. and the repeal of the
Sherman act in this country. For in
stance, l visited the cotton mills of
OrizabO, which are known as the Rio
BlancO mills. They commenced opera
tions in 1893. There are in those mills
$4,000 throstle spindles, equal to $4,000
mule spindles, and there are 1900
looms for weaving cotton. Now, mark
you. those spindles and looms have
been running day and night for the
past three years, except Sundays. And
what is true of the mills or Orizabo is
true of all the other cotton and wooden
mills of the republic.
There are ten woolen mills running
in the valley of Mexico, and these are
crowded with orders and have to run
double time. These mills are clearing
all the way, over all expenses, from ten
to forty per cent per annum. Among
the iron foundries I found none more
prosperous than. those of Monterey of
which J. A. Robertson is the president.
Mr.. Robertson has in his employ w,
NJ. and "A. r. Bushnell, formerly of
this city. He spoke to me very highly
of them, and of their reliability and at
tention to business. BY the way I saw
A. r. Bushnell and had long chat with
him.
"The iron works of Monterey are be-
ginning to crowd the American prod
uct. Mr.. Robertson told me that he
was selling goods now in San Antonio
Galveston and other places, and this is
how he does 1t: He manufactures on a
silver basis and sells in the United
States on a gold basis, then as gold is
worth premium Of 100 when his
money gets into Mexico, he practically
doubles It.
"Silver in Mexico has acted with gold
at a premium as the most comprehen-
sive and equitable protective tariff any
country has ever known. It protects
the farmer as well as the manufac-
turer, and stimulates all kinds Of bust.