Middletown transcript., 1898-02-12

regarding Mr.. Bryan's recent utter
ances regarding Mexican prosperity,
he said
ut is of this sort. The govern
ment is largely back of it, and to the
paternal fostering Of the Diaz admin
istration it is mainly due. The govern
ment subsidies, breweries, railroads, in
dustrial plants, and aids in every way
to build up the material resources of
the country. Money is used with a
liberal hand, and as consequence
there is much activity and great ap-
parent prosperity. The fact that
Mexico is on silver basis does not
figure; it cant'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 monetary system which
is not only in disrepute 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 worse condition than | trust
will ever befall our laboring popula-
tion. This I can explain by referring
to matters that have come under my
personal observation.
:. When the Sherman purchasing act
was in force, some seven years ago
silver was worth $1.21, and 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 300
men in our mines. their pay ranging
from 81 to $3.50 per day. 1t took ap-
proximately $4,000 a month to meet
the payroll. The money to cancel this
expense was shipped from Omaha, and
it was exchanged for $40, 900 of Mexi-
can coin. We operated general mer-
chandise stores along with our mining
concern, and, at the time I speak of,
sold to our Mexican employees 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 pay
roll 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 $4,000
of Mexican money. We have here
made clear gain Of $4,000. Our en-
ployees 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,
seeing 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 it with deprecated money
for 20 cents pound; the price now is
As cents. 1t would still be so if he
could tender dollar as good as that
given him for his labor at the time of
the repeal Of the Sherman law. The
$12, 600 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 it is stretching point
to call the people prosperous. If the
fair and right thing were done by thes
hard working miners their wages would
be doubled. The man that now gets
50 day is justly entitled to $4, but
labor will bring only what price is fixed
in market, like any commodity, and
employers are not yet far enough ad-
vanced in philanthropy to voluntarily
give more than the customary rate.
$50 the talk about the prosperity of
Mexico in so far as it applies to the
vast body of its citizens-the common
peoples myth. II there is pros
perity at all it is not due to the silver
standard, but in spite Of it.''