The Green Forest tribune., 1896-08-20
TO GUT DOWN WAGES.
BY Paying the Workingman In Cheap
Silver Dollars

"y oS'n6 Iho w man In Ch62p
Silver Dollars.
Ex-Gov. Horace Boies, of Iowa, is
franker than his fellow silverites, who
pretend that their 50-cent-do1la ar scheme
would benefit the working classes. In
recent interview he says
II have myself in this state two farms,
paid for largely with money l have
earned as a lawyer. One is a farm Of
2,eo0 acres of land, aIrd the other con-
teins 1000 acres. With the present
price OF laborand the present price paid
for farm products, no man in the world
could take either of these farms, even If
I should present him with The ground,
and make dollar out Of it. l mean, OF
course, that he could not equip the
farm and pay interest on the money
invested in the equipment and wages
for labor out Of the income he would
get by selling the products. A farmer
who works himself and is assisted by
the labor of sons and daughters
could make a small farm pay. But
no farm is profitable when conducted
on the basis of g. manufacturing busi-
ness. Cheap and abundant money is
the only remedy for this intole1able
state of things"
This Is q candid admission THAI he
thinks that wages are now too high, and
that in some way free silver will give
the formers cheaper labor. The mere
fact of al increase in the price of farm
products would not make farming prof
liable, il, as is claimed by ;A4ost Of the
sixteen to one leaders, wages would be
doubled along with doub,ed prices OF
everything the farmer buys. Mr.. Boies
clearly expects that the result Of cheap
and abundant money" will be the prec-
tical reduction of the prize paid for
farm labor This would no doubt be
a very good thing for rich man with
$500 acres of land. But what doe;
the poor laborer think of the scheme2
Are the American people ready to vote
for debased currency which will 1T.
duce the wages of The workers?
Next In Importance 30 the confession
that free silver would cut down wages
is the admission that "a farmer who
works himself can make q small farm
pay" What kind Of farmers does Mr..
Doies expect to see prosper2 Men who
have bought up big tracts of land which
they hold out'of use in the expectation
Of selling It at high priee, and in the
meantime are working it with hired
labor? That is not the kind Of farmer
which Americans wish to see thrive.
ThesTnan who owns and works his own
land is the ideal farmer Of this country.
The big-estate with its ''gangs" of hired
men may do while new territories are
being opened up, but the welfare of the
republic depends on the men who culti-
vate the soil owning the land they till.
If ex-Gov. Boies thinks himself entitled
to an income from his land without
working it himself, he is very much
mistaken. No farmer should prosper
who simply Gowns land" and expects to
make a profit out of other men S labor.
That under free silver a few men could
use cheap money to speculate in land
and get rich out of the toll Of the under
paid laborer-s Is the very best reason
why the masses should vote against It,
Gov. Boies admits that the farmer
who works car make his farm pay. But
in another part OF the same interview he
says that farms bought 20 or 25 years
ago cannot be made to Fay interest on
their cost This is a strong argument
against cheap money, for it was the
geeen back imitation of the war period
which put the pr,ce Of land so high
that the men who bought farms have
been struggling ever since to Pay for
them The heavy mortgages. with
high interest rates. which are crushing
so many farmers, have their origin IN
the high speculative price Of land
caused by the cheap money craze Of the
last generation. Free coinage would re-
peat the evils brought about by the
oyeriseues of greenbacks. and while not
helping the present owners of farms
would benefit spectators and make 1T
harder for tie millions of landless and
homeless men to get piece of land on
which 10 make a living.
Mr.. Boies is evidently sincere man
and is advocating free silver with the
idea that it will help men, like himself.
who own b1 tracts Of land. But as the
only results of that policy would be the
reputation of debts, the reduction Of
wages and the enrichment of the men
who speculate in land but do not work
themselves, he is not safe guide for
honest citizens.-Whidden Graham.
---%n-0---