The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1898-02-18
Washington Letter.
Special Correspondence

Some of Mr.. Bryan's democratic friends
and associates who have had practical busi-
ness experience In Mexico do not agree
with the glowing pictures which he brought
back from that country, nor do they agree
with his theory that the free coinage of sill
yer Is responsible tor whatever of apparent
or real prosperity exists there. Elk Con-
gresham McShane. who formerly repre-
scented the Omaha, Nebraska, district in
Congress, but who now has large mining
interests in Mexico and spends much of his
time there, says that his friend Mr.. Bryan
Is entirely mistaken in the conclusion at
which he arrives. Considering the fact
that Mr.. McShane is democrat, fellow
Nebraskan with Mr.. Bryan, and has had
practical business experience In Mexico for
about as many years as Mr.. Bryan spent
days there in his recent trip, his conclusions
! concerning matters SO deliberately discussed
| by Mr.. Bryan on his return from the land
of the Ascent dollar are interesting. Mr..
McShane has been spending few days
here renewing his acquaintance with men,
bers of congress, and in conversation
regarding Mr.. Bryan's recent utterances
| regarding Mexican prosperity, he said:
| ut is of this.sort. The government is
largely back of it, and to the paternal
fostering of the Diaz administration it is
mainly due. The government subsidies
breweries, railroads, industrial plants, and
aids in every way to build up the material
resources of the country. Money | used
with liberal hand, and as a consequence
there is much activity and great apparent
prosperity. The fact that Mexico is on a
silver basis does not figure; it can't help
being on that kind of basis, but should
be sorry to see the United States resort to
any such policy.
"Ten years of experience in that country
has forever set me against the adoption Of
a monetary system which is not only in dis
repute among the leading nations Of the
world, but which is about to be discarded by
countries like Japan. Brazil and some of
the smaller Spanish American governments
that were formerly on a silver basis. The
masses in Mexico are in a worse condition
than trust will ever befall our lab0ring
population. This can explain by refer
ring to matters that have come under my
personal observation.
"When the Sherman purchasing act was
in force, some seven years ago, silver was
worth 81. 81. and a United States dollar was
worth in Mexico 100 cents in Mexican
money. The dollars of the two countries
were on a parity. At this time we employed
about 800 men In our mines. their pay
ranging from 81 to So so per day. 1t took
approximately $4,000 month to meet the
payroll. The money to cancel this ex-
pense was shipped from Omaha, and 1t
was exchanged for $40, 600 of Mexican coin.
We operated general merchandise stores
along with our mining concern, and, at the
time 1 speak of. sold to our Mexican en-
ployees bacon for 20 cents pound.
"What are the conditions to-day? We
still hire 800 men and give them exactly the
same scale of wages that obtained prior to
the slump In silver caused by the repeal of
the purchasing clause of the Sherman act.
Our payroll still aggregates $4,000 a
month. To meet this we have shipped us
like sum of United States money, and
here is where the point of difference comes
in. Instead of exchanging that amount at
our bank for Its nominal equivalent we get
for it not $4,000, but 1922, 900 of Mexican
money. We have here made clear gain
of $4,000. Our employees still render us
100 cents worth of work, for which they
used to get 100 cents, and do yet as far as
the name goes, but In reality they receive
less than half of what should be theirs, see
ing that the Mexican coin in which they
are paid has shrunk to less than half of its
former value.
but there is more still. When the
Mexican miner goes to buy bacon he finds
that In rendering payment he cannot buy 1t
with deprecated money for 20 cents a
pound; the price now is As cents. 1t
would still be so IL he could tender a dollar
as good as that given him for his labor at
the time of the repeal of the Sherman law
The $4,000 spoke of simply comes out
of the labor of the country, and when the
toiling class of any nation is forced to such
a condition 1t is stretching point to call
the people prosperous, II the fair and
right thing were done by these hard work
Ing miners their wages would be doubled.
The man that now gets SO day is justly
entitled to "a. but labor will bring only
W nat price is fixed in market, like any COM
m 'dity, and employers are not yet far
enough advanced in philanthropy TO volun-
tarily give more than the customary rate.
$50 the talk about the prosperity Of
Mexico in so far as 1t applies to the vast
body Of Its citizens--the common people
is myth. II there is prosperity at all 1t Is