The Delta independent., 1898-02-04

| sume more cotton than Mexico produces,
but the acreage is increasing. II, as
some expect, they find it possible to pro-
| duce upon Me xican soil all the cotton
needed by their mills, the Mexicans will
become dangerous competitors OF the
! gold standard countries. At present
they are handicapped by having to i'm
import SO large a proportion Of their
raw material. In reply to the argu-
ment that is sometimes made. namely,
that we can protect our manufacturers
by still higher duties, contend that We
can only do so by increasing the disad-
vantage under which the American
farmers now labor. The lot Of our farm
er is hard enough when the price OF
what he buys falls in the same proper
ton as the price of his own product,
because even then his taxes, debts and
other fixed charges do not fall. II, how
ever, We maintain the price OF manu-
factured goods by high tariff, the bur-
dens Of the farmer will be so increased
as to make his ultimate bankruptcy GER
tain.
might mention in this connection
that l found many Of our protected man
ufacturers selling their wares in Mexico
in competition with their European ri
vais. At one store found lamps and
lamp chimneys made in Missouri. ham
mers and shovels made in Philadelphia,
cutlery made in Massachusetts. also
Yale locks; Disstou saws and hinges
made in the United States. California
wines and canned fruits. and Chicago
canned meats find a market in Mexico.
At Guanajuato is .theater recently
completed. the structural iron of which
came from the United States. At sew
eral places l saw electrical appa ratus OF
American construction. In many places
an additional discount is given by Amer
ican manufacturers upon exported
goods.
Elcventh-That wages are not only
higher on an average than ever before,
but still rising. Progress Of retrogres-
sion can be determined only by compar-
ing the present with the past. The con-
dition OF the laboring classes in Mexico
q
they are in better condition than they
were 1873, when the Mexican dollar was
worth more than our gold dollar, and
believe that their condition is much
better today than it would have been
il Mexico had adopted the gold standard
when the United States did. 1t is not
fair to compzrc tho wsges in-ose eouu-.
try with the wages in another country
without first making allowances for dif-
ferences in efficiency. differences in cli
matte conditions, differences in hab-
its. etc.
Even within the boundaries OF our
country there are differences too great
to be ignored. During President Harri-
sons administration Secretary Rusk is
sued a document entitled. Wages of
Farm Labor in the United States" Re
port No. 4, year ls92). Page 10 Of which
report contains table showing that in
1892 the average wages paid for farm
labor without board was sl2.5o per
month in South Carolina. 1880 in
North Carolina, sl35 30 in Georgia and
1915 in Alabama: while in California
1850, and in the state OF Washington
$3.50. the average for all the states that
year being s1s.6o. For farm labor. with
board. the wages varied from $40 to
s25, and average sl2-54.
The report says that white farm labor
in the United States received s2s2 per
annum; that the same labor received
about sl5o in Great Britain and go in
Germany. l refer to this report because
it was issued by Republican authority
and shows that under the operation Of
the same financial system and the same
tariff system farm labor received three
times as much in one part Of the United
States as it did in another part. When
it is remembered that the wages paid in
each state were ascertained by averages.
il will be seen that the differences be-
tween the best paid labor and the poor
est paid labor is still greater. The re-
port also shows that in the United
States Caucasian farm labor received
more than three times as much as the
same labor receives in Germany. al
| though both countries have gold stand
ard and a protective tariff. Between
| lSl6 and 1854 England had a gold stand
/ ard and the United States had double
| standard, with silver as the money in
| common use yet laboring men were bet
/ har ha, ,,,E