Rensselaer Union, Volume 8, Number 44, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 July 1876 — Nominal and Real Wages. [ARTICLE]

Nominal and Real Wages.

By nominal wages is meant the sum nt money which tlie laborer receives from his ,c " or ' < a a week, a okitM as the case may be, or which Ire reAves for wo|k when done by tha pieceS The value of this money to him upon tire comforts, necessaries, or immries that he can buy with it. He works for money and is paid in money; yet he expects speedily to spend the money TOT "bls f -vn support, or tnoPof his family, or tha. of both- Jlja money-wages are turned into tjiejifeus. of'fi«Jng, and these means, consisting in tlie food ha the clothes iw puiclmeti? tte lodging for which bc an< l OIC fuel thut Warm* him—tiie things which he edhsumes or his real wages. The money received for his work is .aimnjy.theinqjium by which hekecureS' these 1 cbmfbrt*. ’ ‘ If he earns more money than he Gifts ipends, what he saves and perhaps put to interest is still a medium of securing future comforts. His saving haarofarenceJta future wants, just as his current expenditure refers topresent wants, In both cases money yisiuiply a means to an end. Whether, thyn, the laborer receives high or low wages in the real stmae,cannot be determined by merely computing the amount of money paid to him for tlie work of a day, a wqek, or a monffi. The purchasing power of tlie money in his hands is to him a very material question. If we suppose his nominal wages to be doubled, and that the prices of the commodities that he must buy for his own consumption and that of his family are also doubled, then the nominal increase of his wages would be of no advantage to him. What he gains by this increase he loses by a corresponding increase of prices. His labor has no increased purchasing power. So, if his nominal wages were reduced onehalf, and prices were to sink in the same proportion, he would lose nothing by the change. What he lost by the decrease of wages he would gain by tlie doorcase of prices, or the increase iu tha’ purchasing power of money. We see abonce that, in respect to the wages question, the character of the money in circulation among the [people is matter of tlie most vital importance to the laboring class. If the money, owing to its character and the great facility of incyeasing’the supply, has an exceedingly fluctuating value, as expressed in prices, wjijch is always jeasq with irredeemabte interest is more seriously RSsCttd than that of those who are the labor and have nothing else tojßffl’. The general fact, as shown by tee history of all such money is that the prices or commodities rise more rapidly and fluctuate more violently than wages or the nominal price of labor. ■■■■nriMlidtefe in wages tojljow the thfo so ( ‘ s ” 9 ' cilfetesnafply libbr is anvays plleed at a disiflvantage. The laborer cannot wait to take advantage of Uiese . oSciJlations in prfCes He must Rell his jlabor at once; had then he must at once spend tire largest part, if not all, of his for his sup--.-Ws earnings must, be jmoed into the means of living. Honest money; stable money; money that by r a natural law graduates the supply to tlie demand; money that is pot only flw product pte but whose exchange value is baser! on and measured by that labor ; money that feints toward an equilibrium' between prices and wages—this is the kind of money that best serves the interests of the laboring class. When they receive it they have a guaranty that their nominal wages and real wages will maintain a due proportion to eaeli other. The experience of the yioj^L,has- long since settled the question tliatjinaney, in order to possess these characteristics, must consist of the precious These metals furnish the value;, and, if a paper circulationjie. added thereto, as tlie means of econouiizingjts power and prompting tlie copveniepce of the people, it tausf at the'/iption of tte hold-' er, be convertible into a value ftrorency, or it will become itself the source great evils. • , There is no class in the conftnunity more interested than the laboring hlass in getting rid of the system of Irredeemable paper money. Most of them probably do not understand the relations between this money and the wages question. Yet, if they did understand the facts as they really exist, and as they affect their interests, not one of them would be found among the inflationists or vote rtffh any j)arty not thoroughly committed to the policy of specie payment? Paper money is a curse to every man who ’Works for wages and needs to consume his Wages in carrent expenses.— New Yorlc'independ■ita. *■'-’• , ► I <4 MW ~' -I ■■ MS A gentleman of this city related to us a day or twp'fece following circumstance. He‘stated that week "while walking in hi* a p o ] e on which he had placed a box for the accommodation of tte Mack maraas during their annual visits, Ke observed teat they were flying around in rather a strange and confused manner, frequently, fluttering down almost to the ground, then rising again and circling about the box. Stopping a flew moments to watch them he ob served, sitting among some raspberry vines, a house-cat intently eying the birds hud making that peculiar mQ(iop frith its tail which it always does wfieiLV»tching for its prey. The martins becatee more and more noisy with their chattenlgs and more rapid ip their gyrations around the spot where puss had seated toarself, frequently al&ost flying Within ner reach. Finally one alighted on the ground a foot or two fiffm her, and with a sudden spring she seized it and made off to eat it at her leisure. The gentleman is satisfied that the bird was charmed, and that -his cat had a martin for his breakfasteverd.morning.—Eufaula (Cal.) Nm». The Panama Star and that the circulation of counterfeit American half eagles ha* been more eilehSWe than was generally supposed. These rourious coins are said to be of such perfedt workmanship as to deceive the most acute observer. On May 25 the Governor of Panama, with a body of police, went on board a steamer in the harbbr find succeeded in capturing three offte* most exTom total value a oft farm product*, inchteteg antajririlßns to sat XMiOTBof K aggregate are credited are: Illinois, *210,0M.000; New York, S1®;000,000; Ohio, *198,000,000, and Pennsylvania, *183,000,- - Thirty millions of rabbits are con' sumed annually in The fur ia largely used In the-manufacture of silk hats. What’s the difference between all night revelersand those who retire early ? The ones sin-till-early, the othxrs scintillate-