Wages Versus Sixteen To One

No. 4 of "Present Problema," published at 1 üsut each at 57 Park place, New York city, is unqnestionably the best panipblet on the wage qnestion for general distribution duriug the present campaign. It is unanswerable. No iutelligent workingruan can read it and continue to believe that free coinage will raise his wages. He will be sure that if free coinage gives ns cheap money, as the farmers expect, it will certainly reduce his actual wages. A veage earner may vote for Bryan after reading this pamphlet, but it will be for other reasons than any expected benefit to wages. Mr. warner studies tne eneot oí cheap money experiment in Japan, China, India, Chile, British Honduras, Mexico and in this country, and in every case he flnds uninistakable evidence that cheap silver and paper money s have lowered wages. Wherever money has been depreciating in valué prices have been rising, while wages have changed not at all or have risen lesa rapidly than pricea. As a result the wage earner is constantly losing ground, though he may not know why he has to work harder to keep himself and family. Consequently the manufacturers and other employera of labor in silver standard countriea are beneflted by a depreciating cnrrency. They find in silver money the slickest possible scheme of reducing wViges without the consent or knowledee oí their emDlovees. In Mexico, where the vrorkingmen are such chumps that they do not know when the value of their dollars is declining, the big einployers can keep the country on the silver standard, but even in such backward conntries as Chile and British Honduras the wage earners could not be imposed upon forever by silver and other cheap money. No class of citizens rejoiced more than the wage earners when these countries, a short time ago, stopped "monkeying" with eilver and adopted the standard of the oivilized world - gold. Mr. Warner quotes numerous adinissions from silverite authorities as to the effect of cheap money on wages. He concludes that "if our wage earuers believe they are gettirig too high wages, and that this country is suffering íd consequence, all they have to do is to take lower wages. If they prefer a roundabout way, they can favor free ooinage of siJver, and they will get their wages cut down half without any furthor trouble on their part. There has never yet been made a law to put iuto any laboring man's pocket a siugle dollar that he did not earn. He, of all nieii, therefore, has the best right to insist that thero shall be no law passet! that vrill raise the price of what he has to buy, and thus -take f rom hiru ariy portiou of what he has earned. "