The daily gazette., 1875-08-10
THc Future of Steer.
Piiladelplta Ledger, August e.l
ros., ,o,.o@ @oo,-o,;o,t1,, he on,-;<

NNL%tt s(5stG LtN,ttss <4egHSt u
Coin cannot conveniently be carried
IN wallet, nor, can paper be safely
! mixed with coin in purse. A silver
currency of tokens is fraud so com
mon comprehension. 1t is put out as
money, worth all that Its face repre-
gents, when it Is well known that It Is
not. The truth is, the day Is past In
which silver can ever be used as par
currency. The Boston Da;ly Adsert;s-
cr recently lad IN excellent article on
the vexed question of what Is to be the
future Of silver. The answer has fer
some time been problem with students
! in politicel economy. The theories of
the paper money party may enable
them TO give prompt answer, that all
that is necessary is for governments to
coin silver and TO say that II IL money
| and the whole thing ii done; and silver
! viii he accepted ~ the equivalent of
Eold, Silver has fallen IN price, 50
they hold. because if has been demo
netiz2d, and the old valuo can be re-.
stored hy making it legal tender
again This will not satisfy those who
lJoE GcacAth the surface of things AZ
q matter of fact eIlver has been demo-
reti-tA ht cause il flucluates in price
az compared with gold. The demonei-
i7atior certainly cause9 4 further de-
[ line, because 1t increases The supply
wlcr tre dtnquG is suddenly limited;
bu thc prime cause OF the ductustion
l. the r,lali7 abundance Of oliver and
tae cSteo i've additions made In recent
wears u the worlus supply. The
saire causes arc TO opecnte still further.
Ire discoveries East and West in
this country during the last two years
threnteuetQ supply new quantities of
silver much Iaster than they can be
absorbed for currency purposes by the
void. Iudecd, before these discove-
ries we were pouring increasing a.
mounts into the markets of the world.
In the three years ending with June,
1866, Our exports Of domestic silver
c1iu and bullion were valued at $1S,-
2.5' 412; in the next three years atS4S,-
734 ,527; in the three fiscal years ending
with June, 1872, Sley were $50 ,545, ,61@;
In the three years, less four months,
since that date, ,S12, ,569,2!9. Moreover
just as VIC ere beginning TO make an
enormous addition to our average
production vast amount Of silver THAI
has been employed as currency in Ger
many Is released from that occupation
and Is neekingduty elsewhere. Already
the price Of silver has fallen greatly.
Ia the middle af 1874 bar silver was
north 59t pence per ounce, in the
middle OF 1874 it was 59t pence, in
January last 1t was 564 pence, and now
the price is still penny lower, namely,
55s pence.
Inc price Of gold bullion remains con-
-taut al f3 lis, ID, oI923 pence an ounce.
the relative value of silver as compared
witt gold has been failing for hundreds
Of ye0r7, but never before at so rapid
rate. Eor $50 years, beginning with the
eighteenth century, It was, however, al
most constant. ore ounce of gold being
worth slightly more than fifteen in sill
yer. At the present price the rate is /
to lG el, and unless new uses are, found
fer silver, or the demand for old uses in
c1ea largely, the disproportion must
gr3- e'in. Fortunately, the employ
ment 6 sil.cr in the arts Is capable Of
indefinite extension and tho low price
will encourage its use in the manufac-
,ure Of an indefinite variety Of articles
Of ornament and utility. TIE day Of
silver as legal tender currency in COM
N 7rcial countries however, seems to
have passed. 1t is tee elastic in value 10
serve g. q standard, and the possibilities
Of i, 7duction raised by recent discover
les are certain to make it still less avail
able for the old occu patton. This is By
no means saying that it will not be prof.
teblc TO mine liver still. for It is as i'm
possible totake out too much of this
metal as it is to mine too much iron or
coppa- Miner must submit to huctua-
tio1s which are fait by producers of gold
IN caly very limited degree, and those
district which produce but little silver
raised and refined at large expense, will
(. compelled to suspend operations