Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1889-08-08

The report of the Director of the Nj ints
upon the production of gold and silver
in the United states for 1888 furnishes
the basis for some interesting compar:-
sons. TIE gold production Is placed at
$33, l75 900, an increase of $4,000 over
the previous year, and the silver produc
ton at $50, 1876 600 an increase of $685.,
600, the total increase in the value of the
precious metals for the year being So
0l3OO0, and the total coinage value of
the two metals $92 10000. The com
laercial value Of the silver at the average
London price tor the year, however was
but SAB O366l4 a shrinkage of over Sl6,-
0O9,000 from the coinage value.
The first comparison to sugG est Itself Is
in the rate of increase in the production
of gold and silver during the decade. In
1880 the gold prodnot reached $4,000,
600, or nearly $3,OOO,OO0 more than last
year, hut the average production for the
nine years, beginning with and including
1880, was only $42,997 222, or $lT,776
less than in 1888. it will be seen, there
fore, that the production of gold is very
uniform. and the slight increase shown
by the report for the year appears to be
chiefly due to an extension of the Alaska
gold interests, the total output from that
Territory last year having reached $780,
600.
A comparison of the silver output of
lsst year with the average production for
the nine years embraced in the above
figures shows at a glance that this
interest has been making immense
strides. The silver output for 1880 was
S89 POO 900 and the average for the nine
= n -
wear, therefore was nearly $200O0,0Oo
greater than for 1880, and $1,000 334
greater than the average annual output
for the nine preceding years. These
figures take n in connection with the
downward tendency of the price OF sill
yer, explain the anxiety of the silver
prCducers to have the government pug
chase 81 700 600 per month for coinage
instead of 100000 as at present.
The part which tne gold and silver pro-
duot of the United States plays in the
worlds production of the precious
metals is decidedly important. The gold
production OF the world for 1887 is placed
at 500 $4,000. OF this We produced
$50 100000, or good third. The worlds
Outpu, of silver for the same gear wls
/ $125,346 80, of which we produced S53
! 357 600, or more than two-bfths. We are
not only the hrst country in the world 10
the production of the precious metals,
| but produce nearly as much as all o.her
countries combined.
The American people may well feIieitate
1 themselves GA leading the world not only
in the production of wheat, corn, cot
ton, meat, products and petroleum,
! but in the precious metals Is we'll. Bat
1 they have no reason to be proud of a
! financial policy dictated by a few silver
producers, which, II ooutinned, will drain
| the country Of its most valuables preci )us
metal-gold-fo for no earthly reason except
! 70 save the silver men the trouble OF ind
/ ing market for their own products.
/ The present Drain OF gold to Europe
may not be the beg inning of this newt
/ able process, but it looks ominous. Bat
I IL DOT now, sooner or latter, and soon a.
{ the latest, the farc,cal attempt 10 make
seventy cents worth Of silver pas. for
/ one hundred cents must prove a failure
/ The supreme folly of the attempt il.
4 possible by the fact that wi'h our mag
uidcsnt production of gold aud silver we
/ of al nations of the earJn can best af
! ford 20 be honest. Add in sll this We
are only cheating ourselves, not some
/ body else.