The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1897-12-18
A EALLAoY OF snvERIrEs.
What the DIFFERENTIATION of Our
Currency Would DO.


One Of our European consuls has re-
ported that In Paris syndicate has
been formed with a capital OF two mil
lion Mexican dollars TO establish n
large factory Of shoes, boots, etc, in
Mexico. The work of construction VIII
be commenced at once. and the object
OF the syndicate Is 10 send an immense
quantity Of shoes OF cheap quality TO
the American and European markets
Commenting on this item. free silver
organ says:
There f. no occasion for them 10 stop az
cheap shoes they can make the best with
equal profit TO themselves.
1T Is a singular thing that our hnanciers
willfully shut their eyes TO the prospective
ruin OF all our manufacturing Industries by
Mexico
80 many OF our newspapers and finan-
ciers pretend 10 see no more In this silver
question than one OF making our obliga-
lions payable IN a deprecated currency.
'rhat Is not the issue at all.
This difference IN exchange. making n
/ Mexican price OF S232 for our gold dollar.
will IN time ruin every producer In tho
\ United states.
THE question Is one or competition only.
! And the only reason why Mexico and other
\ silver countries have not supplanted our
i manufactures before tnis 10 an tAlti oA
i their extinction ~ solely due 70 the lack or
education 10 that end In silver countries.
''In an else they are our masters, and can
/ M Will drive out or the open market every
thing manufactured by gold nations"
All Of which is bosh. The difference
in exchange has nothing 10 do with the
subject at all. The root Of the matter
is. that i'm Mexico the wage rate is much
lower than in the United States or in
Europe. There are thousands Of people
in the United States who do not under
stand why n dollar" in Mexico Is not
as valuable as a dollar" in the United
States, and until they recognize the diff
ference between value and price they
will fall into confusion.
The fall in the worlds price Of silver
since the early '70's has carried down
with IT the purchasing power OF the
Mexican dollar. Merchants there have
put up their prices TO correspond with
it's depreciation, while the rate Of
wages has not risen in the same degree.
This Is because OF the ignorance OF the
masses OF the Mexican people. The re-
suit is that Mexican laborers are work.
ing for much lower wages, in reality.
than they were a dozen years ago. Tho
laborer gets a Mexican dollar for his
days work, and who received MeNi-
can dollar for the same amount OF work
ten years ago, receives about 30 centa
less actual wages than he did then.
This ignorance on the part Of the peo-
pie of that country is the secret of tho
probablo profits of the syndicate men
toned. 1t can hire labor much cheaper
than in Europe or the United States.
There is nothing in the rate Of ex-
change" to make money for them. IL
: is simply question Of the cost of
labor.
Were the United States so foolish as
to adopt free coinage, the drop in the
|, purchasing power OF our dollar would
come at a bound, instead OF being
spread over "a years. Our money sys-
tenn would go TO the silver standard. A
dollar then would buy only about "A
per cent as much as IL will now. Every
laboring man would thus suffer an
actual reduction Of about 40 per cent
In his wages, and IL would take dozen
years TO bring wages up to their pres.
: ent level. That is what the MeXicaniza-
tlon OF our currency really means "a
e the laboring man.-Tolcdo Blade.