Year: 1878

''HOw Does that Benefit the Working


men :"


1t is reported that while Senator
CoDkling was delivering his speech
before the Saratoga convention, when
he was showing how many more mil
lians in coin the present contracted
currency is worth than was the ex-
panded currency of the war, "a person
arose near the back end of the hall
and asked how that benefited the
workingman?" Many others. who
are real workingmen, because wages
are now nominally low, are probably
asking the same question.


The increased purchasing power Of
the currency to practically the equal
Of gold benefits the workingman, be-
cause the wages Of labor are now
really higher in value than they were
then. The average wages Of work.
ingmen will buy more property and
commodities to-day than it did then.
Wages are the slowest to rise when
prices are rising, and the most tardy
in falling when prices decline.


The average price OF labor to-day
is higher-will buy more-than it was
on the Both Of June, 1864, the time of
the greatest discrepancy between the
currency and coin. and higher than 1t
was on the both OF June, 1865, the
time the volume OF currency was the
greatest After all, men do not work
for money. That is only symbol
and measure of something else. Men
work for what money will buy-for
property and commodities-an the
rate of wages that will buy most OF
these is really the highest. and there
fore benefits the workingman the
most. The price OF labor bears q
higher relation 10 everything else
than it did at the time of greatest diff
ference between currency and coin.
Railroad managers pay higher wages
in proportion to their tariffs; inves-
tors in real property pay higher wages
to builders in proportion to their rent,
and farmers pay higher wages in pro-
portion to the general price OF their
produce.


Again, prices were then fictitious
and unreal. Beyond the day, there
was no safety or security for labor's
reward. What men save from labor
is capital, and men work to save and
gain and not merely for the days life.
But prices being at that time unreal
no ordinary investment OF labor's
savings was safe; and hundreds OF
millions of the sayings have been
lost because OF the fictitious charac
ter OF prices. But prices are now on
a solid basis, and what a workingman
saves he can secure, and Ii will be to
him capital.


But there is another and important
benefit accruiug TO the workingmen
out OF the increased purchasing
power of the currency. The war
created an immense consumption OF
and demand for the products OF labor
in every branch OF industry, but when
the war ceased the demand for the
productions ceased, and II the prices
of everything had remained where
they were, IL the discrepancy between
the purchasing power of currency
and coin had continued, there would
have been not sufficient market for
the workingman's productions. But
our standard of values having come
substantially to that OF other nations,
with our superior skill In both manual
and automatic labor, We are able to
successfully compete with the people
of other nations, and our productions
find market in nearly every part OF
the universe, and are taking place
alongside of those of the most ex-
perienced and skilled labor Of the
world. We do not yet "send Goals to
New Castle" but we do send cutlery
to Sheffield. Currency having come
to normal basis and prices to nor
NAL standard. great and steady
market is opened. and Americans can
work and live and save with a full
assurance that every dollar OF labor's
savings will be a real gain.-Ne,U
Republic.