Show I 1 N 4 SILVER IN ALL ME 1 1 au all thi ito I 1 W lain n 49 IS BUILDING 1 P THAT REPUBLIC edward M acht hta tor of inspection finds that the th premium OB an gold is ij a fr br bare copyrighted 1896 by chicago press bureau chihuahua july jub 11 1896 second lettery letter chihuahua is a city of inhabitants living chiefly in one story adobe houses plastered in front and built in long rows the face of the houses are built on the line of the narrow ro w street which have narrow stone sidewalks this style of house has the advantage of being cool in summer warm in winter r and Is practically indestructible by fire not a spear of grans gimm or a tree surrounds them they are AM grown crown in the patios or inside open courts As in every wll wil regulated mexican city their plaza is the center of town and the center of attraction at present the plaza is being improved and when completed will be much more attractive than the average facing it on one side is the old cathedral which was erected at a great expenditure of labor and money during the years vears from 1717 to 1789 the facade is elaborately or ornamented namen ted I 1 climbed the eighty six winding stone steps in the tower where hang several bells which are rung by pulling a rope tied to their clappers chappers cl appers instead of revolving as aa with us one of the bells was pierced by a cannon ball when the french bombarded the city in 1866 making a rent in its side twelve inches in diameter the city of chihuahua was founded as mara in 1539 fully one and one half miles from where the city now is the location is supposed to have been changed because of the frequent floods to which it was subjected I 1 find this tact fact mentioned in none of my mv guide books but I 1 visited the ruins of the old city rev eaton in charge of the local methodist mission a very fine gentleman by the way arranged for me an interview with governor ahumada Ahn mada I 1 learned the governor has served four years and was reelected re elected for four years on sunday the ath dinst he is a gentleman of large statue and commanding presence and while he impressed me as a foreigner it was only when speaking I 1 could think of him as aa mexican I 1 asked for the financial condition of the state and his people now as compared with five and ten years ago he modestly replied to do that I 1 must necessarily speak of my own administration which is better said by others assuring him I 1 believed he would not exceed the truth he said our state is in a very prosperous condition five years ago it was in debt of which was bonded and passed due and floating indebtedness the bonded indebtedness debt edness both principal and interest has hag been paid and of the floating indebtedness and all accumulated interest so that now we owe only between 50 and all together in the meantime many permanent and costly improvements have been made or are in the course of construction for instance the school of arts or manual training school is now complete and is receiving its machinery and furniture there our boys will be taught all the useful trades at the expense of the state A school has been erected and is now in successful operation tor for our girls in which they are being taught domestic work telegraphy stenography typewriting bookkeeping etc agriculture and stock kilting our largest industries are agriculture and stock raising our farmers stockmen stoc kmen and merchants are prosperous 0 and contented new industries are being established and appear to be thriving there have hae been no failures worthy of notice for many years our commerce amounts to annually we welcome manufacturers in new lines and when hen of reasonable magnitude exempt them from taxes for five or ten years according to the importance of the industry the present demand tor for labor is in excess of the supply the city was to have put in a system of sewers last spring As we were about to begin operations the officials were waited upon by citizens who stated that there was such a scarcity of labor that if we went on with the sewers the buildings contemplated bould not be erected upon investigating the subject the statement was found to be true and it was decided to postpone the sewer seer building until fall the introduction of the new supply of water necessitates the construction of sewerage at the earliest practical day I 1 hope another year will see them in use USA talk with a banker it was my privilege to interview a number of prominent citizens one of whom was mr Henr equi creel ent of minero bank a manufacturer mine owner and the most influential financier of northern mexico I 1 learn his father was an american from philadelphia and his mother a mexican that he was educated in mexico a self made man and a muti millionaire the bank of which he Is president has recently absorbed one bank and Is about to absorb another I 1 said to mr creel that I 1 was desirous of ascertaining what were the conditions condition 8 of mexico commercially and financially mid especially in comparison with the conditions existing five ten and twenty years ago my object being to determine whether the low price of silver had been as detrimental to mexico as to toe united states he said I 1 weve believe the low price qa 0 silver the high price of products is of benefit to mexico because the value of silver hu 2125 not changed danged in it its relation to labor A id d being abeln at z 7 a high premium all fo foreign I 1 goods are so expensive we are now manufacturing here formerly we exported most of our silver to settle for those purchases we are now exporting cattle coffee hides and other products and by manufacturing to supply our wants and keeping our silver at home we have grown rich our silver mining is as profitable as ever because we have free co inage coinage which makes every dollar worth cents the miner takes a dollars dollar s worth of silver from his mine and with it he pays for the same help and buys the commodities as formerly question what would be the effect upon mexican industries it if the united states were to silver allver answer that would be a good thing for the united states but a bad thing for mexico the immediate effect of a law lav of that kind would be that the price of silver would rise and its purchasing power increase to that of gold as your country has more silver than gold for you vou are selling silver and buying gold you vou would at once become prosperous not so with us we are a consuming or a purchasing people although we mine silver largely As the purchasing power of silver remained the same at home and increased abroad we would naturally begin to buy bu abroad at a less price than we can produce for foi at home so you vou see our growth and de development elopement would i be checked and yours vours increased I 1 prosperous lr mexico As to the financial condition of mexico it was never neer better the revenues of the federal gove government are in excess of the expenses for the first time in her history formerly the government was indebted to the banks and especially the bank of mexico in large amounts two years ago the indebtedness of the federal government to the bankers was 12 OX today she has 6 to her ber credit fifteen years vears ago promissory notes of the government sold at a discount of 4 per cent per month today to day the mexican government can borrow more money than she wants at 4 per cent per annum 11 in answer to the question as to what did he attribute the improved credit of the government he said in the first place we continued to keep our mints open to free coinage which gave us the needed supply of money for the transaction of business then silver i its purchasing power at home but lost one half with you this acted as a powerful stimulant to exports because the gold received was worth double to us the amount of th the sale at the same time it has proved as great a protector against imports by b acting as an aji increased tariff then the general govern government men t has tor for years been on a peace tooting footing and the government consolidated and strengthened so BO that the money and industry formerly employed in internal war can now be employed in the fostering of commercial enterprises and establishing new industries A strong central government affording full protection to our people and capital has encouraged capital to come in and fully of foreign gold has sought investment here which large amount has been employed aloyed in the establishment of industries or in constructing ting the railroad system we have which is being increased by the building of feeders and which will be the railroads of the future I 1 asked him from what source did the government derive its revenue chiefly to which he replied free Colu alre building up industries formerly the tariff taxes represented fully 75 per cent of the income of the central government today we receive but 40 per cent of our revenue from that source on the other hand the internal revenues have increased greatly which further demonstrates the increased wealth and progress of nf the republic again the freight coming into mexico jex ico is decreasing on all the railroads while the local traffic is increasing which furnishes additional evidence of the rapid development of our resources and the benefit to us of the low price of silver out of mexico question then I 1 assume that mexico is not desirous that the united states state restore answer certainly not would be th the e worst thing that could happen mexico if you vou should open your mints to free coinage at 16 to 1 if however you vou resume coinage at say 24 to 1 giving a premium to gold of say 60 per cent we could go along very well but to open your mints at 16 to 1 would be disastrous to mexico but I 1 said mr creel it if the united states resumed the coinage of silver at the ratio c 16 to 1 would not that nearly double the value of the product of silver mines and prove of great value to mexico 9 he replied no most decidedly no silver going to par would not prove of much benefit to our silver mine owners as it would have no greater purchasing power with us than now in that case it would prove of benefit to our foreign stockholders but not to our people but it if it did benefit our miners we would prefer to protect our stock growers and farmers our largest producers our internal commerce is growing so fast we hope soon to consume all the silver we mine in it then it matters not to us what price others put upon it I 1 left mr creel feeling I 1 had learned much for my readers to study over if they wished to grasp thui this question which seems to have two sides to it A manufacturer talks talk the next morning when pawing passing down the street I 1 was attracted by the sign julius meyer clothing M manufacturer an u fac thinking this factory might prove of interest I 1 went in and presented I 1 my card saying I 1 was from the states and if agreeable I 1 would like to inspect his factory I 1 was very courteously received and shown through I 1 the ft factory 1 0 tory by him I 1 was greatly surprised i to find and it fitted uv no ju in the most ion modern a style from an otto bawlin I 1 I 1 engine to a patent t utting cutting table and bd a 9 cutter who ho knew me ag aa a manufacturer in the states upon return to the office I 1 told mr air myers my mission and asked aim to favor me with a short in ter view which he kindly granted he said 1 1 I established this business about 1 which time it has four yea ye years a rs ago since grown rapidly I 1 am now employing eighty hands bands I 1 have lived thirteen years in mexico and like it very well during that time there has baa been a steady improvement in business corresponding sp to the advance in the premium on gold if the premium on gold would advance business would become proportionately more profitable if the premium grew less CBS it would have the effect to check our prosperity the pre gium on gold Is not the sole cause 0 of f I 1 our prosperity but is a prominent factor I 1 I 1 our railroads have helped 03 mu much ch so has the increased stability I 1 of our government my business is also I 1 more pr prosperous because of our tariff which affords a liberal protection on 1 the material necessary for making a I 1 dozen pair of overalls the tariff is about I 1 while on the overalls it is 1200 mexican money or say 6 00 in gold I 1 1 the protection afforded by the high exchange I 1 I 1 change is also of great benefit and lb 13 1 3 equal to the cost of the article in the united states say sav 7 50 per dozen pair i question how would it affect your business if the united states should silver and ai d bring gold to par answer 1 I should then expect pretty lively competition from that country which might cause me to close my factory I 1 am convinced I 1 cannot manufacture as cheap as you v ou do in answer to several questions mr meyer said 1 I pay my women 75 cents per dav on the average age ten yes five years ago these women had no opi I 1 I 1 port unity tv to secure work other than in the field or doing some menial employment that is is what the united I 1 states did for mexico when it de silver and repealed the i sherman law it may have been hard I 1 I 1 on th states but it was of great bene fit to us it should be knoon that 75 I 1 cents per day means far more to these I 1 people of economic habits than to your people who live much more expensively I 1 sell all goods for cash co collections are good and failure are practically unknown my losses are so small from failures I 1 do not estimate that item in expenses or profits our I 1 merchants and manufacturers are maki I 1 ing money and are easy financially as i was proven when they subscribed with which to erect a brewery in the city that will shut out all foreign beer except possibly some fancy i brand ten years ago we had not a brewery in the republic now we have hav e i five in operation and one building a yes if the united states consults 0 our ur int interest lest they will go along as they are now on a gold basis I 1 shall continue these interviews in I 1 my next and show the effect these conditions have had on the labor market I 1 X i v C I 1 |