Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1898-01-27

League OF IQlldQ6l pnla was lelu last
night in the Academy OF Music at
which the principal speaker was Sec
rotary OF the Treasury Gage. lie was
warmly received and held the atten-
ton OF the large audience throughout
He spoke on the subject Finance and
his remarks We're frequently punctu-
ated with applause. Secretary Gage
said in part:
lit is not upon wages that the injuri-
GUS effect of 4 gold appreciation falls, 1t
is upon those who own the land, the
forest, and the mine, if upon any,
that the injurious effect is visited This
is all so plain that one can not COM
prehend how the wage Garner can be
mislead by that irridescent orator who,
by multitudes of words, couched in
ambiguous and sophistical phrases,
seeks to obscure Judgment. 1t is the
complaint now of labor that rent and
interest are able to take to themselves
a disproportionate share. DO we, m
deed, not know that the tendency of
wages is to become conVentIonally
fixed and that a rise in the rate,
though it follows the law of supply and
demand is not so quickly responsive to
that law as are wares and merchan-
disc, the product of labor?
ct would thus appear that an effort
to reduce the power Of official salar-
les and fixed incomes by payin" tho"
in a cheaper money would have an eff
feet in the same direction upon wages
Besides this, it must be remembered
that fixed incomes is relative term;
it includes the few upon whose large
income the decreased power would not
be noticed as an inconvenience even,
but it includes also the humble invest
ments of the multiplied thousands, and
would blight with its mildew the re-
suit of toll and economics represented
by the savings of more than five mil
lions Of people, now held in the say
ings banks of our land. No, it will
not do-this silver scythe cuts too
deep. 1t reaches the widows mite and
the wage Sdl il'i = pNS
THE revival OF industry now wit
messed and the easy condition as to
interest which now transfers capital,
are the best witnesses to the dangers
from which we have been delivered.
Nevertheless, that feryid orator who
is recognized as the leading exponent
of free silver doctrines is no salts
fed. In a recent speech he said
Read the daily papers, and you will
find the items of news arranged under
two heads-the formation of trusts and
the reduction of wages AS to the
trusts, he cites no examples, but
hastens to emphasize one industry
New England, in which, by reason
of special conditions we'll known to
him, a reduction in the wage scale was
under debate. Let him point, IL h"
can, to one single instance OF an adj
vance in wages between the date of
the Chicago convention in 1896 and the
November election of that year, when
that ruinous platform was condemned
by the verdict of the people he
knows that within a few weeks after
the November election, 1896, fifteen
thousand men, idle for a long time,
wero nut to work in the window glass
industry Since then, as the revival
has progressed, instances OF advances
in wage rates and of increases in num-
hers employed, have multiplied. In
the iron and steel industries, directly
dependent upon the consumption OF
iron as material, I have 1t upon
authority that there Is an increase OF
at least 267 900 men employed over
the preceding year In addition to this
large increase in the working forces
employed in iron and steel and de-
nendent branches. advances in wages
ranging from ten to twenty per cent.
have been made. and in some cases,
much greater, as the result OF wages
paid on tonnage basis.
Il have an accurate list OF more
than two hundred and fifty mills, fac
tories and enterprises. that have dur
ing the last six months resumed work,
many of them having been idle since
1896, when depression became more
acute as the result of the agitation
for the free and unlimited coinage OF
silver at the ratio of 16 TO ! without
the aid or consent of any other nation.
Most OF them have advanced wages
over the old scale. All OF them arc
now running full time, most Of them
double time, and in many, fires are
now never drawn nor the wheels
stopped, three shifts being required
to meet the heavy demands This all
Indicates a great increase in working
forces. Notwithstanding ali this. Mr.
BRYAN said. II our enemies boast
that they have buried bimetaliism. We
point 10 these wage reductions as the
weeoing willows which have sprung
m about It's temporary tomb. Beau
tifuIly expressed. but quite beside the
mont. In the first place, the record
i agsinst them. Wages have been
adAanced. There are no weeping vii
1ouIe around the tomb OF bimetalism