The true northerner., 1898-08-10
COPPER IS THEIR III uNEY
The Mexican Laborers Use It
In Their Dealings.
THEIR PITIFULLY SMALL WAGES.

Provisions Bought In Quantities to BE Sold
at n Cent u Package - Nearly All Pur-
chsses Computed and Completed In Cen
tavos Worth Less Than Half Cent.
This series OF letters is the result OF per-
sonal visit 20 Mexico made by the writer
early In 1898 as q special representative OF the
Michigan Republican Newspaper Association
co investigate the monetary system OF that
.sountry.l
".
'Silver is the money Of the common
people, is an arbitrary statement many
times made in connection with the ad-
vocacy of the free coinage Of silver in the
United States Cooper is the money
of the common people i'll Mexico, " is a
statement which can be more truly
made relative to this country, where all
the possibilities of free silver have un-
questioned control For as it is most
convenient in the United States to con-
duct mercantile and business operations
involving only small amounts III silver
currency, so is it necessary in Mexico,
by reason Of the pitifully small wages
paid and the poverty of the masses, TO
transact large part of all trade with
the so called common people III copper
sSsntavos, worth less than one-half cent
", american money measurement.
At all the markets patroniZed by the
laboring people little portions Of the
few articles of provisions they can af-
ford to buy are made up in quantities to
i h,,x, in.
this way one two or three portions of
lard, beans, peppers, potatoes, toma-
toes, or as the pittances they possess
will permit Shelled corn is bought
and sold by the quart, out OF which the
tortillas are made through being boiled
and crushed and baked when mixed
with water, and which with beans form
their almost exclusive article of food.
In the trade transactions of the laboring
masses Of Mexico it is seldom that
purchase is made that it is not comput-
ed and completed in their copper centa-
vos, the same meager measurement be-
ing applied TO their earnings as TO their
spendings If therefore it is desired by
the advocates of free coinage in the
United States TO herald the results of
their selected currency system, as
shown by experience rather than by
theory, they should be as further pro-
gressive as such conditions fully justify
and seek added favor for their cause by
proclaiming copper as the money of the
common people, as it is in Mexico, the
ideal home of the free coinage of silver.
In their efforts TO create opposition
to the present monetary standard Of our
country they include denunciation of
banks and corporations and trusts and
syndicates and monopolies, as if it were
true that some principle inherent or
pertaining TO the free coinage of silver
would prevent and provide against the
evils they thus so fiercely portray. If
there is any truth whatever in their as
sertions and assumptions, it should be
made apparent in Mexico, where the
system they seek has always prevailed
and such virtues as it may possess have
been given uninterrupted opportunity
for experience in action and in effect.
Careful investigation as to the facts i'll
that direction, however reveals state
OF affairs in Mexico most decidedly the
opposite of that which it has been boast
fully assumed would accompany the
free coinage of silver.
Banking In Mexico.
The banking business of Mexico is
principally conducted and controlled by
two large government favored institu-
tions, the Bank Of London and Mexico
and the National Bank of Mexico. The
Mexican government issues neither gov
ernment notes nor coin certificates, the
function of issuing legal tender paper
being delegated to the banks above
named, the paper circulation Of which
is guaranteed by the government. There
are state banks of issue as well, but they
are not SO favored, and their notes are
accepted only at discount, except per-
haps in the immediate locality i'll which
they are issued. These few favored
banks are permitted TO issue notes TO
three times the amount of their paid up
capital, the only added requirement be-
ing that their deposits shall be equal TO
one-third of their notes issued. They
are also permitted TO loan money TO
the government at 6 per cent interest.
The Bank of London and Mexico is
principally owned by English and Ger
man capitalists, and its capital stock is
reported to be $40, 900, 900. The capital
stock of the National Bank of Mexico is
given at $40, 900, 600. By reason of the
privileges they possess these banks are
enabled to show dividends upon even
the enormous capital they proclaim of
from 18 to 90 per cent. 1t is therefore
not necessary to further suggest that
there is nothing inherent in the free
coinage of silver TO prevent enormous
profits for banks and bankers. On the
contrary, the reduction of the currency
of the country to a commodity the value
of which persistently varies gives to
banks and bankers in Mexico the oppor-
tunity which the strong always pos
sesses over the weak where values are
uncertain and loss or gain through such
conditions thereby made possible. The
free silver shrinkage in the value of its
renresentative centayO in the hands of