Mexico weekly ledger., 1898-11-17

which are the staple food of the New
England workingman.
In most of the factory towns of the
south-in fact, in all outside the larger
| cities-choice beef, mutton and pork
| can be bought the year round at from 8
TO 10 cents a pound, chickens at from 10
to 30 cents apiece and eggs at from s TO
10 cents a dozen. Contrast these prices
with your beef and mutton at from 10
to 25 cents a pound, chickens at from
30 to 40 cents apiece and eggs at from
Is to 40 cents a dozen.
Except for a few months in the year
vegetables do not grow in New Eng
land, and they are Injuries then. In the
south the gardens bloom from Christ
mas to Christmas and are necessary ad-
juncts to every home, high or low. In
them grows everything that can appease
hunger or tickle the palate. Lower
standard of living in the south, Mr..
Chairmanl I would not exchange the
dinner to which raany Of my oonstitu-
ents are sitting today while I address
this house for any dinner that the skill
and ingenuity Of the chief Of Washing
ton chefs could devise. I would not in
cite my friends ON this side of the house
to riot, but I must say that a dinner of
hog jowl and sweet Georgia oollards, or
bacon and tender spring turnip tops, or
fried chicken and brown gravy, with
the inseparable accompaniment of sugar
yams, smoking corn pones, hot biscuit
and cold buttermilk, is better than all
the pork and beans or corned beef and
picked cabbage, pumpkin pies, stale
bread and cider that can be spread on
every table in New England. All, Mr..
Chairman, gentlemen from New Eng.
land should extend their acquaintance
among southern people and southern
gardens.
Resources Utilized.
Mr.. Chairman, the natural advantages
of the south cannot be overcome by ar
tifcial means. We have at last taken
the advice for SO long hurled at us by
our New England friends. We are util-
izing our We are diversifying
our industries, and I notify you that
the inevitable is at hand. The south
will in the near future manufacture as
well as grow the cotton crop Of the
world. The inexorable logic of natural
law points ~unerringly to this conclu-
sion. The sooner New England recog.
nizes this fact and turns her magnificent
genius in other directions the better for
her. f
This question Of a national labor law
is not being agisated by the laboring
people. It comes from the cotton manu-
facturers in New England, who wish
either to lengthen their own hours or to
shorten those of the south. The average
New Highlander is essentially q mis-
sionary, but in the shadow Of every one
of these cotton mill missionaries Turks
the mercenary. They propose to reform
us as an act of benevolence, If they an.
If they cannot. they propose as the al
tentative to lower their own standard,
excusing it as an act Of necessity.
1t is worthy Of note" rs the Lewis
ton journal says, "that the labor people
are not urging this legislation" I can
tell you why. They know that equality
in wages means gross inequality in the
standard of living. They know that that
which suffices fer a comfortable liveli.
hood in the south would be entirely in
adequate in the north. What are You
going to do with these natural oondi-
tions, gentlemen? Will you put a tax
on our sunshine and climate? As well
attempt to regulate days and nights in
the Klondike by those Of the equatorial
regions.
This talk of a low standard of living
in the south, Mr.. Speaker, is amusing
to those who know southern conditions
and southern people.
Free Coinage of silver.
Farming has been, during this era Of
falling prices, O. profltless industry to
those whose labor creates the great
crops of the feecy staple we sometimes
call "king." To illustrate: A man, his
wife and two children, if seasons are
propitious and land reasonably fertile,
can in ono year produce eight bales Of
cotton, $50 bushels Of corn, besides po-
tatoes and strip sufficient for a year.
In Georgia two bales of the cotton 60
to pay for fertilizer and one to prepare
the crop for market, leaving five bales Of
cotton and 100 bushels of corn. One.
half Of all this goes to the landlord for
rent Of land, stock and tools, leaving to
the laborer az bales of cotton and rs
bushels Of corn.
He realizes from his cotton at SIS per bale $62 SC
From his corn at 40 cents per bushel. -. 80 Of
Putting strip and potatoes al ......... 20 %
We have the magnificent total Of ........s STA SC
as the money result of a years labor Of
q family of four, out Of which must
come a school tax Of 81 and the entire
support of the family. As has been
truly said, Here is the forgotten man."
No tears are shed over his condition, nc
labor laws are ever proposed to amelio-
rate his hard surroundings. His day
runs from III to sun.
A cotton factory is built in his neigh
borhood. He is offered 81 a day for his
services. Do you blame him for accept.
ing it? Can yoa blame the mill man for
offering it?
The income from the farm for this
family was 371f cents per day. The
husband and father now receives 81 per
day for his labor alone. The wife may
stay at home and keep the little house.
The children may attend the village
school. Do you wonder that when
strikes are suggested he looks first on
this and then on that, and refuses to
join? In order to raise wages in the
southern factory you must elevate con-
ditions on the southern farm. You can
not do this without higher prices for
farm products. This demands more of
the money in which prices are measur-
ed. An increase Of prices all along the
line, which would follow the free coin
age of silver, would mean general pros
perity. and general prosperity is the
hope Of the Massachusetts, manufacturer
as 1t is of the Georgia farmer.
M4AG
Can For Fees.
- A.