Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1898-08-19

this cheap currency foreign capital 10
given an unusual advantage of which IL
has not failed to fully possess itself.
The street railway system of the City
Of Mexico Is owned in London, and its
business offices are conducted in Eng
land s metropolis The electric light sys-
tenn Of the city is the property Of Ger
man capitalists. The Mexico and Vera
Cruz railway is owned in London, the
Monterey and Mexican Gulf railway IL
the property of Belgian stockholders,
the Mexican Central, the most impor-
tant railway Of the republic, Is princi.
pally owned In Boston; the Mexico,
Cuernavaca and Pacific railway Is own
ed in Denver, and Of the other railroads
Of the republic, not all Of which in
Mexico equal the mileage Of the single
state of Kansas, the controlling stock
is held in England, Germany or the
United States. What an opportunity to
make use Of that sonorous sentence,
Free and unlimited coinage Of silver
at the ratio Of 16 to without the aid
or consent of any other nation ON earth -
where the free and unlimited coinage
Of silver permits the reaping Of profits
by the capitalists Of every other nation
with the return Of less than half for
the possession Of Mexico's natural re-
sources and the service Of Mexican la
Dor, which the currency standard Of the
leading nations of the world would
compel. The rich resources Of the min
eral mountains and tropical valleys Of
Mexico, which should be made to con-
tribute so far as possible to the well be-
ing and we'll doing Of the natives and
citizens of the republic, who are expect
ed to maintain its government and de-
fend It's flag, are through the always
connected possibilities Of Mexican sill
yer and cheap labor" placed at the dis
posal of the alien and the foreigner for
return so inadequate as to insure the
perpetuation of the poverty and misery
which are the only free possessions Of
the common people Of Mexico.
Mexican Dollars as Merchandise.
In some respc is the gold standard
is in as practical operation in Mexico
today as in any country in the world
All investment inducements state prom
Used profits in gold, the earnings Of all
important industries are discussed in
terms of gold value, merchants seek to
make their prices alluring by quoting
the lower price on gold basis, and ho-
tel keepers accompany information as to
their rates by reference to the fact that
it is a certain amount in Mexican sill
yer, which they tell you is only SO much
III American money or gold. The pur
chase and sale of Mexican dollars are car
ried on in little shops, as is the sale OF
railroad transportation in the ticket
scalpers' quarters of the larger cities Of
our own country, and like the ticket
scalper the dealers in Mexican dollars
make large profits III handling the so
called money, because OF its variable
and uncertain value The value of the
Mexican dollar is given day by day in
the daily newspapers Of the republic, as
the value OF iron and coal and variations
in the quotations of the former are as
frequent and as comparatively wide as
in the case Of the latter, but the man
who tolls in the mines or at the smelter
hears nothing and knows nothing of the
existence Of any money in Mexico save
the cheap silver, even though the cor
poration for which he tolls receives it's
returns in gold and adjusts its business
to that basis. The laborers in the fields,
the artisans in the shops the deft fin
gered weavers at the looms and in the
homes, and he who from daylight to
dark upon the streets and highways of
the republic bears burdens upon his
back that horse would soon tire with
all these, laborers, farmers and me-
chanics, are the free silver servants Of
the subsidized corporations and import
ers who receive their returns in gold.
There is no cheap silver in Mexico for
the workingmen or their families. They
give the constant labor Of their lives for
few coins, now so shrunken in value
as to barely prevent starvation, in or
der that Mexico may be proclaimed as
the unique possessor Of prosperity
through its twin blessings of free silver
and cheap labor.
Subsidized Corporations.
I have referred above to subsidized
corporations, and in order that it may
not be assumed that am merely deal
ing in phrases to create prejudice it
should be explained that Mexico has
paid and is paying liberal subsidies to
the railroads, manufacturing plants,
breweries and almost every other desira-
BILE or undesirable industry, as individ-
uals may view them. Even the boast of
cheap labor, rich and updeveloped re-
sources and the assumed blessings of
free coinage of silver were not sufficient
to prevent the annual payment from
the Mexican treasury i'll some recent
years of as much as onefourth of its
entire customs receipts to but four rail
roads alone, and the fact that many
other railroad charters have been issued
with accompanying generous subsidies
In addition to the government gifts Law
ishly bestowed for various other pur-
poses leaves it not a matter Of surprise
that in addition to issuing bonds to the
amount of nearly $50, 900, 600 for the
payment Of railroad subsidies, as was