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7 1 " •' ' ' A"" f " ' " A ,, , ;u® & ••' ;•#? M; • • • n ' v - . . ; &'.'v " • • ' • ' . ^•"•:>:?' - f n - • . • • Sflip ft • ft . , •vV"-: ":";':Wi ' i f^'v I pi v , MBm&h'- IN A SILVER COUNTRY Condition of the Laborer and Business in a Land Where Free. Coinage Exists. WHAT THE MEXICANS SAY, A Representative of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat Tells What He Saw. - -x . Since the free-silver • people began to point to Mexico as -an; ideal country where the free coinage of silver had made everyone happy, contented and pros­ perous, there lias been much written by men who had lived there and. others. The reports, vf'hich were . not0 flattering to the country, were denied by the sil­ ver advocates and branded as lies. The siiyerites stoutly maintained that, if la­ bor was as well employed here as . in Mexico the great question of What to do with the poor./would be solved,as there would be no poor. They claimed that in that country there was no Wall street; that, food, clothing and the necessities of life were cheaper; that tin? nation was. prospering as it never had before; and all oh account of the free coinage of silver. .... The St. Louis Globe Democrat, wish­ ing to be just in the matter, decided to send a representative there who would report what he saw. and learned, with­ out regard as to how the reports would affect the political situation. The man was one on whom the paper .could de­ pend to tell the truth. Extracts from some, of the letters which throw some light on the subject of free silver and its effects are printed below: Prices Depend on Foreign Exchange. Pirates on the high sen^ could hard­ ly be a more dangerous n. nace to com­ merce between nations than this fluctua­ tion ^f exchange between countries on different standards. Outside, of a few money-changers at coast ports, business men of the states hardly notice from week to week the variations in exchange betweeu their country and Europe. But in the business relations between tire TJnited States and Mexico the changing difference between the standards is a matter of hourly concern. "What's exchange today?" goes with every morning's salutation between mer­ chants in Monterey. "Silver's up" or "silver's down" is the commercial news of first importance. The shrewd representative of a San Antonio (Tex.) jobbing house on his way back Lo the states from his midsummer round of the cities of Mexico said: "Here's a variation of 9c between the gold standard of the states and the silver standard of Mexico within two weeks. How is a man going to sell goods or do any business between the countries when he has got to make allowances for such fluctuations. When I sell a bill of goods to a Mexican merchant on six months' time I've got to figure the prices high enough to save my house in the event that silver drops by one of those violent fluctuations before the day of settlement comes. The merchant has got to mark the retail prices on a margin sufficient to protect him against possible change. And so American goods must be sold in Mexico at two margins above legitimate profits in order to protect the American jobber and the Mexican storekeeper against these rapid up and down move­ ments of the standards. The condition is simply ruinous to trade. People will not buy when prices are raised on them. My house may make a tremendous profit or barely save itself in a sale of goods on six months' time. That isn't the way to do business. You might as well have a Chinese wall between two countries as these fluctuations. And this is what we will have on a vastly greater scale if the United States goes to a silver stand­ ard and Great Britain and the European nations continue the gold standard. I know what this thing of two standards means between Mexico and the States, and I don't want to see it in our trade with Great Britain and Europe." A Dollar's Worth of Labor. A dollar worth 50 cents commands the same labor in Mexico now that a dollar worth a dollar did ten or twenty years ago. Right there is the cornerstone on which prosperity in this silver country is building. That is what makes it now profitable to work mines with ores worth $7 and $8, Mexican money, a ton. That condition of labor brings the cost of min­ ing and carrying out the ore down to $1 a ton. That kind of labor built and operates the cables, which take the place of thousands of burro trains, at a frac­ tion of the cost for like construction and operation in the States. Cables have re­ duced the cost of conveying ore from the mine to the railroad, two miles down the mountain, to 20 cents and HO cents a ton. This labor enables railroads to haul ores at from 50 cents to $1 a ton. It figures in the cost of the transoortation of the coke from the gulf and the coal from the border. And, finally, it enables the smelters to make an unprecedentedly low rate of .$4 a ton for treatment of ore. At every step, from the first blow of the pick in the mine to the landing of the base bullion into molds at the furnace, this fixity of wages on the basis of a dollar depreciated to one-half its value is the chief factor which insures the profit. • What matters it if silver goes down if it commands just as much labor as ever, and if the lead in the bullion can still be sold for gold? The smelters of Mexi­ co buy ore from the mine owners, and pay a Mexican dollar an ounce for the silver they get out of it. They paid this several years ago, when silver was worth more than it is now. They still pay it. Recently, under the importation of com­ petition, while silver was dropping so rapidly in the United States, some of the smelters of Mexico advanced the price they allowed the mine owners for silver. They are now paying under some contracts t $1.06 in Mexican money for every ounce of silver found in the ore. Today the brick-making plant a few miles out of Monterey, on the Mineral railroad, is shipping 1 <>0,000 paving brick to San Antonio, in Texas. It does this end pays the ad valorem duty of 25 per cent.> which the Wilson tariif levies on brick importations. The contract for this brick shipment was obtained at San Antonio because this company pnt in the lowest and best of twenty-eight bids. The Monterey company enjoys the possession of excellent clay, but that isn't what enables it to send brick to the United States at a profit. It outbid the twentynieven American brick-making companies because it sells brick for American money, worth 100 cents in gold, and hires good labor for Mexican money, worth 50 cents in gold. This company is paving three mile6 of Monte­ rey streets with brick, displacing the cobblestones of time immemorial. It put down a block of the brick paving as an object lesson, and the governor. Gen. Bernardo Reyes, with a keen perception for a good thing, ordered three miles of the same to begin with. The brick man­ ufactured on the basis of unchanging wages and laid by the same will cost in Mexican money a little less than the same paving commands in American money in the States. American cities pay about $2.50 a square yard for brick- paved streets. Monterey will get bier streets paved for a little less than "$2.50 a square yard, and that price will be in money worth one-half the American price. Other Occupations. , As in mining and in briekmaking, sp it is in all industries. Monterey is boom­ ing. Wages remain fixed at the old rates, and can, be paid in the depreciated sil- ver. That gives the margin of profit. The most striking of the object lessons, perhaps, are those which the railroads furnish. These roads in Mexico are well managed. The depots and sur­ roundings are marvelously clean and neat. The roadbeds will compare most favorably with those in the states. The train service is excellent. Mexican money does it. East from Laredo to Corpus Ghristi, on the. Gulf, wholly , on -American soil, the Mexican National has a division 160 miles 'long. Southward from Laredo, the first division of the same road, within Mexican territory, ex­ tends to Monterey. 108 miles, about the same distance. On one side of the Rio Grande the Mexican National pays wages in Mexican silver, r On the, other side the pay roll is met with American money. *•; • ' • / " ' '. • „ . Conductors between, Laredo andCorpus get $105 a month in gold. Conductors between Laredo and Monterey get ,,$130 a mouth_ in' Mexican silver, which is worth $67.60, for the same kind of serv­ ice. Engineers on the Texas side are paid $3.50 in gold for 100 miles. Engineers- on the Mexican side receive $5.50 in Mexican silver, worth $2.86, for 100 miles. Brakemen running to Corpus get $50 a month in gold; to Monterey, $60 a month in Mexican silver, worth $30.50. Firemen on the Texas division are paid at the rate of $1.80 in gold for 100 miles traveled; on the, Mexican division, $2.25, worth $1.17. A general officer of the Mexican Na­ tional, too modest to have his name in print, gave these wages from his books. Wh.On he had read them off to this point, an interested looker-on interrupted with: "I should think all of the fellows on the Monferey division would want to get on^ the Texas division." "Probably they would," said the officer; "but we have combined the runs so that on all mixed trains the crews go through from Corpus to Monterey. That gives them 160 miles on a gold basis in Texas and 168 miles on a silver basis in Mexi­ co. _ They have the gold and the silver di­ visions alternately. We do that to give them all the same chance." "When did the company adopt this plan of evening things?" ' . "About two years ago.*' "How about wages of section hands?" The official turned to the books again. "On the Texas division," he said, "fore­ men get $40 a month in American money. The laborers get 75 cents a day. On the Mexican side foremen get $40 a month in Mexican silver, and laborers 62% cents, both in Mexican silver." _At the prevailing rate of exchange this section foremen on the Mexican side $10 a month and section hands about 31 cents a day in American money. "But you must remember," said the railroad official, "these figures for fore­ men and labor hold good only as far be­ low the border as Saltillo. That is 240 miles south of the frontier. As you go toward the interior wages decrease. From Saltillo southward to San Luis lo.tJos" 268 miles, section foremen are paid $1.50 a day and laborers 50c a dav, all in Mexican silver. Still further south, below San Luis Potosi, the pay is ol;7° a <?ay for foremen and for laborer o<V_>c a day, Mexican silver." Have railroad wages undergone anv change with the decline of Mexican sil­ ver ? "No. These are the rates today, and they were the same in 1888, when silver dollars were worth a half more than thev are now." J Concerning Lead. "The silver mine owners of Monterev would be greatly gratified to see Mi- Bryan restore silver to $1.29 an ounce?" was suggested to Mr. Joaquin Maiz On the contrary," replied the owner of San Pedro qu^kly and with decided emphasis, 'the less silver is worth, the better for us." This seeming paradox Mr. Maiz pro­ ceeded to explain. In so doing he threw much light upon the operation of the sil­ ver basis in a silver country. • What he said of wages and living will be par­ ticularly interesting in the United States. "If we got $1.29 an ounce," he be­ gan, "it would be $1.29 in Mexican money. Mexican money would be the same as American money, and both the same as gold. Under present conditions suppose we got only 05 cents an ounce in American money for our silver. That American money is worth 100 per cent, more than Mexican money. In other words, the 65 cents an ounce in Amer­ ican money or gold for our silver is worth double that in Mexican money So you see we would get no more per ounce in Mexican money if silver was worth $1.29. Now the'main value of our Monterey ores does not come from the silver, but from the lead. If I have lead in my silver ore running 25 per cent, that will be 500 pounds of lead to the ton of ore. At 3 cents that lead is worth $15 in the United States. That is $15 in gold, which is $30 in Mexican money. "Silver, you must remember," Mr Maiz continued, "doesn't govern the price of lead. If silver should go up to $1.29 an ounce, or, which is the same thing, to par with gold, my lead would keep about even, regardless of the fluc­ tuation of silver. It would still be worth 3 cents in gold. My 500 pounds of lead per ton would be worth $15 in gold, but it wouldn't be worth any more in silver. It would be $15 in gold in Amer­ ican silver and in Mexican silver." Having shown that he would get very little if any more' in Mexican money for his silver if it commanded $1.29, or par with gold, and having demon­ strated that the advance of silver to $1.29 would knock him out of half of his return for the lead, measured by the Mexican money. Mr. Maiz proceeded to that phase of the silver question which is most interesting to Americans. "Now, there is,another thing," he said, "and it is this: When gold was about even with Mexican money,or when there was very little difference, we paid our labor at the mines 75 cents a dav. The amount was equivalent to about 70 cents a day in American money. Today we pay those same miners 75 cents a day in Mexican money, which is now equiv­ alent to about 37% cents a day in gold This 37% cents a day in gold yields the mine-owner the same amount of labor which was produced for him when the 75 cents in Mexican money was worth 70 cents in gold. The- Mexican miner does not consume for his nourishment and his clothing any but Mexican prod­ ucts. such as corn, beans, coffee, sugar, - otton goods, etc. Nearly all of these ar­ ticles are today sold at the same prices as when silver was at par with gokl in this country. Consequently the living expenses of the miners haven't increased at all. They can perfectly well work now at the same wages as thev received when silver was. the same as gold." The Silver Ranis, In wages on a silver basis, the mine owner of Monterey finds his margin. In wages on a silver basis, the smelters of Mexico figure out a great advantage over those of the United States. The Omaha smelter is one which offers a fair com­ parison with this "Guggenheim plant of Monterey. They are, probably, the larg- est silver smelters in the two countries. Each gives employment to about 400 nien. No one will traverse the great plant at Monterey and doubt that the Mexican workman in the industry ren­ ders equal labor, man for man, with the American employed in the Omaha smelt­ er. At Omaha there is little labor given at $1,50 a day. The wages in the various grades of the smelter range as high as $3 a day. It will not place the average too high to make it $2 per day. That is American money--gold. Here the com­ mon labor unloads the cars and heaps the ore by the thousands of tons in the yards. This same labor loads the ore into the little iron tramcars and wheels it under the sheds, where the more skilled work­ men do the mixing of the ores in great beds. This common labor shovels and lifts and pushes as hard as the $1.50 gold labor at Omaha and does-it for 62% cents a day Mexican, silver, or 31% cents'gold. This labor works ten hours a day for that price. Then there is the twelve hours labor, so divided to keep the smelter, running night and day.. Here something besides muscle en­ ters in. The iron barrows must be wheeled upon the scales, and one kirftl of ore follows another in, as beam after beam tips, until the barrow" is full of Just the right proportions of lead and iron and lime and various ores to take out all of the silver in the smelting. The Mexicans • who do this are paid 75 cents a day, worth 37% cents American money. .Then come the feeders and the furnace men, who know just when, to dump in the barrow -loads at the top and just when to tap at the bottom to draw off the bullion." This is labor that receives $1 a day in Mexican silver, or 50 cents a day in gold. The slag pullers get 75 cents a day in silver. The fore­ men of the yards, who moves about over­ seeing and* directing, are paid from $3 to $5 a day. They are few in number. Still fewer are the furnace foremen of that ripe experience which is responsible for the results. These get $200 a month, the equivalent of $100 in gold. The pay at the Omaha smelter aver­ ages $2 a day, or $800 for the -100 la­ borers, the equivalent of $1600 in Mexi­ can money. The pay at the Monterey smelter averages $1 a day in Mexican money, or $400 for the,400 emploves. Here is a difference of $1200 Mexican money or $600 gold in the daily pay rolls. The Mexican silver smelters are said to be making $10 in Mexican money where the American smelters are profit­ ing $1 in American money. Whether free silver in the United States would raise the Mexican money to the Ameri­ can money or lower the American to the Mexican it would require the American smelters to pay only twice as much for labor where now they pay four times as nuudi as the Mexican smeltei's do.--The wages paid at the. smelters here com­ mand the best of Mexican labor. The lowest rate, 62%c, is nearly double that paid for ordinary common labor. It brings to the works brown men with muscles like steel, who trot along with oOO pounds of ore in a barrow. These Mexicans shed all clothing but sandals, strawhat and cotton drawers as they push and pull the ore down the incline of the long roasting ovens. They have only one bad habit. They will come to work before breakfast. You can teach Mexican labor to smelt ores to perfection but you can not teach the Mexican wom­ an to get up and prepare breakfast, sim­ ple as it is, before the whistle blows for the change of shifts from night to day. And so, an hour or two after the brown men have begun work, the little brown women come stringing in with the beans and the corn cakes and the bit of meat. Laborers' Wages, At Cerralvo, in the state of Nueva Leon, is located the Benavides smelters. From this smelter there has been shipped since the 1st of January, by ox carts, 1,800,000 pounds of bullion. This Cerralvo district was a great mining cen­ ter 300 years ago. It had a government mint, and turned out quantities of coin during two centuries under Spanish do­ minion. When the revolutionary period set in mining ceased. Titles * lapsed. With the establishment of stable gov­ ernment and the coming of railroads mining in Mexico took on new activitv. The Cerralvo district was one of the last to feel the spirit of revival. The rail­ roads passed by and left this ancient town in the interior. Three years ago American enterprise found this long neglected district. A smelter was built. The highly successful operation of this plant for the past three years, ninety miles from a railroad, affords one of the best possible illustrations of the cheapen­ ing of silver production in Mexico The manager of the smelter is Mr. H. C. Har­ rison, who has had a good deal of ex­ perience in mining and smelting. He furnishes the actual cost of operation from his books and makes a comparison with the cost of a like smelter in the States. These are his figures: Smelter operation in Mexico. Per day In Superintendent Two foremen, at $4 Two ore weighers, at $1.... Assayer. Two engineers, at $1 Two fnrnaceinen, at .$1. .. Two feeders, at 7i5e Four slag men, at 62%c.... Two ore men, at 62V6C. Two charcoal men, at 02V£e. Two patio men, at 62V2C. ... Ten outside men, at 50e. ... Two'bullion men. at B2Ufc.. Two cords of wood, at $2.25. Oil for engine and lights.... Mexican monev $ir>.on S.OO 2.00 4.00 2.00 2.00 1.50 2.50 1.25 1.25 1.25 5.00 1.25 4.50 1.50 Total in Mexican money $53 00 Smelter operation in United States. Per day in .United States money . .$10.00 8.00 5.00 5.00 6.00 6.00 6.00 5.00 5.00 4.00 10.00 4.00 (i.OO 1.50 Superintendent Two foremen, at $4 Two ore weighers, at $2.50.... Assayer.. Two engineers, at $.T Two fnrnaceinen. at $3 Two feeders, at $3 Two slag men. at $2.50. '{»wo charge wheelers, at $2.50. Two charcoal men. at $2........ Five yard men. at $2 Two bullion men, at 2 Two cords of wood, at $3. Oil for engines and light .- Total in United States money '$81 .50 Exchange, 00 73.35 Total in Mexican money... $154.8" The cost of running the same smelter would be in Mexican money $154.85 for labor-on the American side of the Rio Grande. It is $53 in Mexico ninety miles from a railroad. J "The present cost of smelting in Mexi­ co." said Mr. Harrison; "is only about one-third of what it is in the United States. This shows that a very low grade of silver ore which would be smelt­ ed at a loss in the United States can be treated here at a profit. Our furnace smelts twenty tons of ore a day at a cost of $2.54 a ton for labor. The orice and reliability of labor is an im­ portant factor in smelting. Here in Mexico we have cheap and steady Work­ ers. The average income of an adult in the state of Nuevo Leon is 10 cents a day. There is scarcely a day I do not. have to turn applicants away. The entire population is offering service in a fearfully overstocked labor market. The cost of mining in the Cerralvo district, as compared with the western part of the United States, is about one-sixth what it is in Colorado and one-eighth what it is in Arizona." Ore Mine and It» Output. If you ask who is the richest man in Durango, the reply will be: "Maximiliano Danlm." The case of Maximiliano Damm is one of the answers to the question how cheap­ ly can silver be produced at a profit in Mexico. Mr. Damm is a merchant. A few years ago he owed $400,000 to Euro­ pean creditors. The story of Maximilian^ Damm's rapid rise to the distinction the Croesus of Durango is the story o the Proinontorio mine. That is a proper­ ty of which the mining market never heard. It is known to Durango people because, they see the ox carts and mule wagons'come creaking in with 600 tons of ore monthly. The mine is 100 miles north of the city, and the ore must be hauled that distance in carts and wagons. The ore is quartz, and all that is thus transported is of a grade which yields 150 ounces to the ton. The monthly ship­ ment from the Promontorio is 90,000 ounces of silver. In a year this amounts to 1,000,000 ounces. It is worth in Mexican money $1,290,000, and in Amer­ ican, money $650,000. But this shipment of ore at- the rate "of 60o tons is not all of Mr. cDamm's product. From his own works at the mine he makes every day a bar of- silver weighing 1000 ounces, A bar of silver worth $1290 in Mexican money and* half of that in American mon­ ey is not very formidable in . appearance. It is only 1.6 inches LoOg by 4 inches in breadth and thickness. Every day one of these bars is turned out at the mine, brought down to Durango and added " to the stack of treasure,; in Maximiliano Damm's warehouse. The mint officials of the United States will have an opportuni­ ty to handle a collection of these bars if free coinage becomes the law. The present product of the Promontorio is 1,380,000 ounces a year, worth $1,749,- 4.00 in. Mexican money, and to be worth that in American money if 16 to 1 pre­ vails. This is line man's mine. That is, perhaps, the. reason so little has been heard of it. ' < : . - About ten years ago, when silver be­ gan to go down, the Promontorio began to uncover its, richness. With his rep­ utation established as the richest man in Durango, Mr. Damm does not admit that he has done any mining. He has simply been developing what there is in the Promontorio, blocking out the masses of ore to be removed when he gets down to the real business of mining. But while doing development work Mr. Damm is taking out incidentally ore which yields him 1,360,000 ounces of silver yearly. A fissure vein which gives him this ore carrying 150 ounces of silver to_ the ton is from 18 inches to 5 feet wide. WTliile developing his propertv, Mr. Daja^Hras taken out a third-class of ortrwhich has not been shipped to the smelter or treated at the mine. He now has a dump containing 50,000 tons of such ore which, ho says, will average 60 ounces to the ton. That means 3,000,- 000 ounces more, to be worth $3,820,- 000 when the United States declares for unlimited silver. > Maximiliano Damm can furnish all of the silver the mints of the United States will be able to coin into dollars during five weeks--of-- operas •tion atTtheir present full capacity. Open Mints Cheapen Silver. "Why is it that in a silver country, with unlimited coinage, bullion does not go to the Mexican mints to be coined into dollars, but is shipped out to be sold in another country. where it has a fluctuating value and where so much of it as would make a dollar in your mints is worth now only half a dollar?" This was submitted, during the rest in the saddle of Las Mitras, to the owner of the mines below, from which the Mex­ icans were trotting forth in never-ending file with their sacks of ore. The mine owner chucked a pebble over the preci­ pice, and shook his head, as if the ques­ tion was too much for him. "Well, why do you send your own bullion to the United States to be sold at bullion value under the gold standard instead of having it minted into dollars which are worth 100 cents on the silver basis?" The mine owner got out his pencil and figured. He took the exchange, the cost of transportation, the 377 grains of fine silver in the Mexican dollar, the 371 grains in the American dollar, the ounce value, and made elaborate calculations. At length his face brightened. "Silver," he said, "yields today 4 cents an ounce more when sold in the states as bullion, after paying freight charges and brokerage commissions, than it would if taken to the Mexican mints and coined into dollars." ' [If ¥ILL THEY VOTE ? Many Thousands of Young Men Have Beached the Threshold of Their Career. THE FARMER ANT) THE SILVERITE. He was settin' on a shoe box at th' corner uv th' street, Chawin' plug terbacker an* waitln' fer a treat. While he squirted his terbacker juice at an inerfenSive fly, He saw an honest farmer come a-walkln* slowly by, So he histed up his britches, an' he took an­ other chew, An' boldly waded Inter him, an' this Is what he blew: "Can you tell me, my friend, why the chinch bug is eatin' up your grain? Have yer ciphered on the problem why we git so little rain? Can yer tell me, plodding farmer, Why the army worm's around? Why th' tarnal yeller sunlight is burnin' up th' grbund? Can yer tell me why th' weavil, th' rust an' Hessian-fly Are eatin' up yer substance? Do yer know th' reason why? Why th' price uv^ggs an' butter, oats an' corn, an' wheat an' rye. Are a-fallin' in the market as th' years are passin'by? "The reason why these dismal clouds cast their shadders 'crost th' sun? Why yer debts are gettin' higger, as th' seasons go and kum? Th' reason fer this trouble is plain enough •ter see, 'Tis that orful, fearful, nasty thing; th' 'crime uv '73.' Tew be sure, yer didn't know it fer thirty veers er so, But it worked this orful havue, it dealt this deadly blow. Th' Gold Bugs down in Wall street under cover uv th' law, Hav' gobbled up yer earnings in their thirsty, hungry maw. 'Sixteen to one' will cure you--'tis th' allo­ pathic plan." The farmer stopped and listened, tho' It almost made him laf. At the stupid, senseless logic uv this whit- tlin' talkin' calf, An' his dander 'gan arisin' at this ever- lastin' bore, An' he kracked h>s heels together an' he shuk his tists an' swore: "You must ;think us farmers hav' nuthin' else to do But stan' aroun' an' argify with such tarnal fools as you. You'll legislate the weavil, chinch bug an' Hessian fly, You'll resolute the raindrop er kuow th' reason why. You'll upset th' laws uv natur, you'll change th' seasons 'round. You'll stop th' golden sunlight from shinin' one th' ground, Th' law that fixes prices, you'll change it jest fer fun. With coinln' uv th' silver 'sixteen tew one.' Half a dollar's worth uv metal will be worth fest twiet as much, When melted by th' government an' giv'n its magic touch. You'll bust up all th' railroads, shops, an' savings banks. With th' drivlln' silly nonsense uv you crazy sliver cranks. ' "It seems ter me that I remember when things were all askew. Some time about November in th' vear uv '02. That the same gang uv fellers promised another treat. That yer I told th' grubbin* farmer that you'd gin him 'dollar' wheat. That he'd surely then be happy, an' his fortun would be made, Ef he'd jest upset th' tariff, vote fer Cleve­ land an freetrade. Now, we don't pertend tu know much, fer we never had much show,,. But there Is quite a grist o' things that even farmers know. They know when they've been lied to, an' taken fer a dunce. An' they're goin' tew be d--d keerful that they don't git fooled but once." --St. Paul Pioneer Press. ° TWO POLITICAL PATHS OPEN. Sound Money Stands for National Honor--Debased Coinage Stands for Dishonor. There are a good many thousands of young men who will this year, cast .their first vote for President. They stand on the threshold of their career and are looking forward to achieve success in life in some chosen vocation. With but few exceptions they all expect to be business nien and by ; their own efforts win a .competence if not a fortune. This ambition to obtain wealth, is'laudable and should be cherished by every honest and. industrious youth. To these young men the money ques­ tion, which is now the political question Of the moment, is of surpassing impor­ tance, not only for the right casting of their votes but for the right understand­ ing of business principles, for if they do not understand the meaning of money, what it should be, what it is for, and what it can do, there is but little hope that they will be able to accumulate much of it. or, accumulating it, know well how to use it. The common phrase in business is "making money," but money is only a means for obtaining other things. When a young man has -saved his first hundred dollars he doesn't put it away or hide it, but invests it in other property or loans it at interest until he can find an oppor­ tunity for other investments. As he in­ creases his money he sets it at work for him, and in this way grows rich. Money is not the ultimate object of business, but it is the means whereby men obtain what they want. It is of the first importance, therefore, and each man's common sense .confirms it, that the money we earn, that the money we borrow and lend and that we use for the purpose of exchange should be uniform and stable in value, that it should mean the same .thing next year that it does today, and the world of busi­ ness has agreed that gold and silver makes the nearest approach to that kind of money--gold for large transac­ tions, silver for small. That these metals can be equally used history shows to be impossible, so the wisest nations have provided that gold should have the principal place and silver be treated as subsidiary. The political question, then, for the young man who now votes for the first time to decide is, whether it is wiser to follow the teachings of history and the example of the most successful business nations of the world or to start out on a plan that has already been tried and found disastrous. Shall we as a people take pattern after England or after Mexico? Shall we learn from China or from Germany? How does a young map act for himself when looking around among his elders and superiors in business life? Does he choose the example and advice of suc­ cessful men--of the Armours and Fields and Gages of commercial and financial life--or does he start out regardless of their methods and attempt some short cut to success? How many young men have stood at the parting of the ways looking wistfully into the future? How few have taken the narrow and forbid­ ding path of hard work, thrift and self- sacrifice, but that leads to the mountain tops, and how many the flowery road that is so enticing in its ease and pleas­ ure, but which ends only in morasses and despair? As it is with individuals so it is with nations, and no people can defy the principles of honesty and integrity in their national life any more than in personal life. Sound and honest money, which means money as good as gold in this campaign, stands for national honor. A debased coinage stands for national dishonor. Which banner will our young men fol­ low?--Chicago Times-Herald. THE MODERN ALADDIN. How Bryan Ignores the Experience of This and Other Nat ions with Free Coinage. Mr. Bryan states that he believes the free coinage of silver, by our govern­ ment alone, at the ratio of 1(5 to 1, would raise the price of silver to ,$1.29 per ounce; and he never tires of alleg­ ing that our government is strong, and rich, and powerful enough to accomplish this result without waiting or asking for the co-operation of any other country. In making this prediction Mr. Bryan ignores the experience of this and other nations of the world in regard to the coinage of silver during the past 100 years;-but waiving that, let us see what his proposition involves. I presume it will be conceded by Mr. Bryan and his adherents that the price of silver bullion in this country cannot be affected without at the same time affecting it everywhere, and that the rise in the price will apply to all silver, whether in bars or wares as well as in coin, throughout, the world. The figures I shall give, except those showing the production of silver since 1892, are all taken from a report sub­ mitted by Mr. Voorhees, a free silver advocate, on behalf of the finance com­ mittee of the Senate, March ,5, 1894. which report is entitled "Coinage Laws of the United States from 1792 to 1894, with an Appendix Relating to Coins and Currency; Fourth Edition, Revised and Corrected to August 1, 1894. Prepared Under the Direction of the Committee." According to that report, page 275. the production of silver in the world from 1493 to 1S92 amounted to 7,522,- 507,710 ounces, and there has been pro­ duced since 1892 about 000,000.000 ounces in round numbers. Add this to the other sum and we have a total Of 8,122.507,710 ounces. I have no data showing the production of silver prior to 1493, and hence I cannot give the fig­ ures; but I think it may be safely as­ sumed that it amounted to as much as the whole amount of silver that has been lost or destroyed. In order to be sure that we are on the right' side, however, let us deduct 122.507.710 ounces, and state the present supply of silver in its various forms in the world at 8,000,- 000,000 ounces. This is worth 00 cents per ounce, or ?5,280,000,000 in the ag­ gregate. To this, according to MR, Bryan's opinion, the legislative fiat of our government alone would add 63 cents per ounce, or $5,040,000,000. And strange to say, the larger part of this added wealth would be outside of our own country; In gold Btandard coun­ tries the commercial vaJue of the silver coins in circulation would be brought nearly to the gold standard, ihis fiat of ours would substantially double the value of $112,000,000 in sil­ ver coins in Great Britain; ,$500,000,000 IJl. Prance; $215,000,000 in Germany; $54,000,000 in Belgium; $16,000,000 in Italy; $15,000,000 in Switzerland; $3,- 000,000 in Greece; $155,000,000 in Spain; $10,000,000 in Portugal; $85,000,- 000 in Austro-Huugary; $56,000,000 in the Netherlands; $4,900,000 in Sweden; $5,400,000 in Denmark; $44,000,000 in Turkey; $7,000,000 in Australia; $15,- 000,000 in Egypt and $110,000,000 in the Straits, besides $625,000,000 in this country, and raise all this money near­ ly to par with gold; and yet we are told that all these countries not only refuse to join Mr. Bryan and his supporters, but even do not sympathize with them in this stupendous enterprise which would add so . much to their wealth, and in a large ' degree relieve them from the burden now resting upon them of keeping their gold and silver coins at par with each other in their circulation. But how would it work in thec. silver- standard countries? This government fiat of ours would at one fell swoop sub­ stantially double the value of $41,000,000 in silver coins in Russia; $5©,000,000 in Mexico* $8,000,000 in the Cehtral Ameri­ can states; $30,000,000 in the South American States; $950,000,000 in India, and $725,000,000 in China, and would at the same time double all the private and public debts of those countries, which have been contracted on the silver basis. But Mr. Bryan's proposition is more far- reaching than that; He asserts that he believes that this legislative fiat on our part would not only brjjng the silver now in existence to par with gold at the ratio of 10 to 1, but would keep it and the future production there, although doubling the price „ would hereafter probably double the production. In view of these facts is there any im­ propriety in inquiring how it is that we, 70,000.000 strong, can affect the money of 1,350,000,000 people by a simple stat­ ute, while the 1,350,000.000 cannot by legislation affect us? And are the people of Great Britain and continental Europe and many millions of Americans to be dubbed_ "money-grabbers" and "pluto­ crats" if they hesitate to believe that Mr. Bryan has found and carries Aladdin's Wonderful Lamp, and can produce these stupendous results? And are the millions of people in this country who have made contracts and investments upon the pres­ ent monetary standard, which is gold, and which has been the standard at least since 187!), and I think since 48:M, to be - charged with being unreasonable when they ask Mr. Bryan to state explicitly what lie believes would occur not only to their interestsj but to the business of the whole country, if his prediction as to the rise in the price of silver should not be fulfilled and the standard of ex­ change should suddenly be changed from a gold to a silver basis with no, or at best a slight advance in the commercial value of silver bullion? J. L. T. :S I S:; fH Has the American farmer Forgotten That under President .Harrison's ad­ ministration tire prohibition against our meat products by Great Britain, Ger­ many. Denmark, • Austria, France, Italy and Spain were removed? Has he forgotten the high prices he received during the times reciprocity and protection were in force? ,. Has he forgotten that our trade in all agricultural products was extended dur­ ing this time? Has he forgotten that our exports of bacon, hams and lard was increased $19,000,000 in one year by this same policy ? Has he forgotten that we exported $12,000,000 more of • American beef products in a single year? Has he forgotten that we exported $16,000,000 more of live cattle annu­ ally? Has he forgotten that we exported $150,000,000 of cereals, namely, wheht, $115,000,000, flour $28,000,000 and corn $7,000,000? Has he forgotten that we increased the foreign sales of all our agricul­ tural products $275,000,000 annually over what it had been previously? Has he forgotten that four years ago Mr. Bryan and his free trade friends promised him that if the McKinley bill was repealed better prices would be ob­ tained for all of his products? Has he forgotten that all these prom­ ises failed of fruition, and that instead of receiving better prices all agricultural products have depreciated in value? Has he forgotten the good times that all classes, the farmer, the wage worker and the business man enjoyed under protection and reciprocity ? Does he propose to accept the,promises of this same Bryan crowd, who make no references to their pledge of four years ago that the repeal of the McKinley bill would bring relief to all classes in tliis country, and who shamelessly ig­ nore all reference to those promises, and now seek his votes under pledge that a debased and depreciated money will remedy the hard times? The American farmer should not for­ get that protection and reciprocity brought him prosperity. The Working Man's Vote is His Own. Bryan and his shouters make much of the charge that efforts are being made to control the labor vote. The labor vote cannot be controlled. It is free. A secret vote must of necessity be free* It was to make it free that legislators made it secret. There would be ample ground for criticizing the writing of let­ ters to working people by their employ­ ers on the subject of election, if such, action by the employers involved com­ pulsion; for this is a free country, and the right of. every citizen to freely ex­ press his own views by his own" vote should and must be sacredly maintained. Under existing circumstances letters of advice written by employers to their em­ ployes are no more to be regarded, as attempts at compulsion than is the cir­ culation of any other class of campaign literature to be considered as an attempt at compulsion. . They are a legitimate part of the "campaign of education," to be judged by the arguments they con­ tain, and acted upon as the recipients may decide to be best for their own in­ terests.--Milwaukee Evening Wisconsin. FARMER BROWN'S DILKUMA. We had ja public meetiu' in the schoolhouse here last week And a feller from the city was invited down to speak. He'd studied up the subject of finance in every light And claimed that he was competent to show us what was right. He says this whole blamed country is a-goin' straight to.smash Unless we get free coinage and increase our stock of cash. He's tiggered out a daisy scheme and claims 'twirl work immense- He wants to make* our dollars cost us only fifty cents. He'd take "four bits' of sliver and would run it through the mint And stamp it plain "one dollar" with the government's imprint: The mines would dump their silver and the nation, slick' as grease. Would, grind out brand-new dollars at just fifty cents apiece. That sounds all right; but since that night somehow I've wondered When I buy dollars for fifty cents who'll take 'era for a hundred? --F. S. P.,'In Chicago Times-Herald. SIX. V ' v