Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1897-09-16
ENEMIES Of PROGRESS.

political teachings, as held by the fire
traders, is that low wages are more to b
desired than high. One-half of the fire.
traders know this to be the essence O
free trade, but will not admit it for fea
of losing q valuable following, while tn
other half does not know it, aud denie
that free trade lie founded upon starvR
ton out of ignorance. This is a tolera
bly, plain way of stating the case, bu
truth is often disagreeabe when plainly
stated
One of the leading opponents of free
trade in the country, recently gave utter
ance to the following bit of wisdom:
at is an axiom Of experience that the
surest way to increase consumption is tc
diminish prices. That is remedy thai
never fails. If the producer were re.
qulred to pay high wages, he would surely
be entitled to correspondingly raise his
prices; but if the prices were raised, the
increase in wages would add nothing to
the purchasing ability of the wage
Garner"
If that line of reasoning was followed
out to its ultimate conclusion the free
trader could. with as much logic, declare
that to deprive men of wages entirely
would increase consumption. The manu-
facturers of the country would find a
larger market for the products of their
mills, if no wages were paid at all.
The sum and substance of the doctrine
of free trade Is cheapness. The truest
words ever spoken were those used by
ex-President Harrison in speech in the
cam paign five years ago, when he said,
"a cheap coat covers cheap man." To
those who have money to buy with, the
cry of cheapness has many attractions,
but to the man who is compelled by force
of circumstances to earn his daily bread
by labor, no matter whether the labor be
digging coal or preaching a sermon, the
mere mention of cheapness has sinister
meaning. He knows that cheapness
means salary or wages that will barely
keep body and soul together, no matter
how cheaply groceries may be selling, and
that the JOY of life becomes a burden
because of the many petty economies
that must be practioed in order to keep
out of debt and lead an honest life
Low wages mean degradation and
slavery, and for the free trader to extol
the benefits of al industrial condition in
which poorly paid people is the great
factor necessary for commercial success,
is the same thing as advocating a return
to slavery. The necessary expenditures
of man or family cannot be forced be-
low a certain figure and allow for the
care of the body and mind in a proper
manner. When a plane of living must be
adopted which does not do that, misery,
crime and death are the inevitable results.
No man, be he ever 80 learned or wealthy,
has the right to consign his fellowmen,
because they have not been SO fortunate
as he by birth or surroundings, to life in
which there is neither comfort nor happi-
ness. And low wages, no matter what the
expense Of living may be, means justsuc
an existence.
TO advocate lowering wages, however
well intended, is to advocate retrogres
sion and social degeneracy. If there were
any truth In the low wage doctrine, we
ought to find the highest degree of bust
ness nresrc1+vy and social welfare where
wages are the lowest, but the reverse is
obvious. There is no more
accurate therm ometer of civilization than |
the generally established wage standard.
1t will indicate alike the industrial con-
dition, the social status and the political
Development of any country. Wherever
the wages are Is cents day or less, the
masses live in poverty and social degree
dalton and the government is despotic;
where the general wage range is 25 to so
cents day, the masses will be very poor
still, and an absolute monarchy will pre-
vail; with wages at from so to rs cents a
day, some steam machinery will be used
IN production and the government will |
be representative, although monarchial;
where wages are 81 and upwards day,
arge capital and factory methods will be
mployed, social conditions will be of
llgh class, and strong Democratic insti-
utions will prevail. In short, all that
IAN be characterized by the term ciyiIi-
,ation, rises and falls with the increase
IF diminuticn of the wage standard.
Consciously or unconsciously the advo-
ates of low wages, or free trade, are the
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