La Junta tribune. (La Junta, Bent County, Colo.) 1881-1939, 1898-09-10

possibly bear. from $500 per month by
the largest stores to from 10 to 90 cents
per day by the old woman who brings
basket Of vegetables from her little gar
den to sell on the street. Doctors and
for the privilege Of practicing their
profession in addition TO all other forms
Of taxation they must meet; architects,
tl5 per month; ministers Of every
creed. $40 per month; retail grocers.
81. 400 per year in this city and district: !:
lumber yards, $1,000 per year; cloth
ing stores 5000 per year; hotels.
g.. 400. and SO on through list which
includes every form of business and ev-
cry line Of occupation and industry.
All these exactions. be il remember
cd. are in addition to the usual taxes on
real estate, live stock and such like pos
sessions For instance, in addition to
the stamp requirements and other taxes
bakers are compelled to pay q tax Of $2i
per year for each oven they make use OF
or possess and butchers are taxed So. 90
per head for all cattle slaughtered and
81 per head for hogs and sheep. These
facts indicate how 1t is made possible
for the government of Mexico to bestow
such subsidies AS nre announced in The
Mexican Herald, mot to exceed S6.
600. 900" to the Mexican Southern rail
way. limited. and To reimburse the ma
tional treasury for the enormous losses
and grave concern" heretofore alluded
to through depreciation and fluctuatinn
in the value Of its free coinage cur
rency, but they afford no explanation as
to the merits Mr.. Bryan could have found
in the system here which leads him 20
urge its adoption in the United States.
1t cannot he questioned or denied that
the same loss in revenue. the same fiuc-
tuation in value, the same unusual re-
quirements relative to meeting largely
increased national expenses, and the
same loss to laborers and farmers a. are
now being experienced i'll Mexico would
accompany the free coinage Of silver IN
the United States should the misfortune
of its adoption ever be inflicted upon
our country.
Wages and Their Purchasing Power.
The wages paid for common labor
range from as low US 20 cents per day
for full grown men to 81. so aud 20
cents, the latter rate being paid only in
cases o. temporary need at points dis.
tant from the haunts Of the laborrs,
for the novels they inhabit for few
hours during the nighttime cinnot lie
called homes The wages Of native tai
lors printers, painters. clerks and such
like better occupations rarely exceed 81
per day. the highest in any Of the fore
going occupations Of which I have
learned being 81. 80 per day. and these
wuges are all paid in dollars worth al
the present time 44is cents
At the grocery stores in this city, al
most under the shadow Of the national
mint, Mexican dollars, the only rnouey
Of the laborer aud farmer and toiler for
wages in any capacity, must be ex.
changed for the necessaries Of life ut
such prices as the following: Sugar, 10
to IL cents per pound for the cheap,
dark, native production and 25 cent
per pound for American or German sug-
ar; potatoes. cents per pound; butter,
so to so cents per pound, the latter
price for American butter and the for
mer for the native unsaited quality;
salt. IA cents per pound; beans, 6 to 20
cents per pound; lard. "a cents; green
coffee, a. cents: tea. from $3.50 70
o.. go per pound: kerosene oil. 55 to 80
cents per gallon; vinegar. 81. per
gallon; baking powder. el.75 per
pound, and 30 on through the list
These prices conclusively prove that the
free coinage Mexican dollar il but ~
cent representative even in the home OF
Its adoption and under the flag whose
stamp it bears The so called wall Of
protection" created by free coinage in
Mexico, 10 favorably alluded to by Mr..
Bryan and other advocates Of its crea-
tion In the United States. is not only
devoid Of the best features Of the Amer
ican protective tariff system, which Mr.
Bryan and most Of his fellow partisans
have always opposed. but it exacts most
from articles not produced here and vio-
lates every important principle Of q
healthful, home favoring tariff system,
Recently in the congress Of the United
States Mr.. Bailey Of Texas in the course
Of speech in behalf OF the free coinage
Of silver made this declaration:
We arc ready to meet you on this issue-ths
insue that the money which II good enough for
the idlers who spend It, that the money whicE
u good enough for the poor " good enough for
the rich. that the money the lnborer receives
for his toll and the merchant Tor his wares -
good enough for ths bondholder. and. by tbs
Eternni. he shall bo compelled to take iii
The present financial policy Of the
United States secures and maintains
precisely the conditions Mr.. Bailey do
mands. but such conditions would not
exist one hour after the election Of
free coinage congress and free coinage
pr csident The money the laborer re-
ceives for his toll and the farmer for his
produce il as good In our country today
o. tho money Of the bondholder and the
rich, but IL 10 not 20 in Mexico. The
free coinage Of silver here has created
oqe money for the laborer and the .arm-
"a and another for tie bondholder, the
capitn lisf and the very rich and through