New-York tribune., 1890-01-28
rHE YIELD or SILTER.

Mr. Valentines statement Of silver produc-
zion for the calendar year 1859 is made basis
Of objection 10 Secretary WinIomS plan BY
The Financial Chronicle" Mr. Valentine
estimates the production at cGisOS.G37
against 53159.7l7 ia 1sSs, and while he
does not expressly state that these figures mean
commercial value that is tho natural Inference
from language used. Bat the Mint report,
which "Thc Financial Chronicle admits IS
now the more trustworthy, made tnc production
| in 1855 only So. 3.02O 600 iu commercial value,
and that paper therefore assume, that the next
| report will find an iucrc1oa 10 N5i.1"0. GOO for
| 1889. This is a curious mode oi arriving a.
| gucsscS instead of facts Some years ago the
| same journal pointed out that Mr. Valentines
| segregation Of gold and silver was AZ best but
| approximate. and suggested that S3,000.000
or =. 100000 rcckoncd by him rs silver might
have been gold. But even with such corrcc-
ton his statements for late years can in no
way be rcconclcd with Mint reports except on
| the suppOstiOn that values reported 10 him arc
mainly on the mintagc basis.
The Mint statement Of production for four
years ending with 1S>N was S1G5.1GO. 600
commercial. on S21jIIj. 600 coming value.
Mr.. Valentines statement for the same years
was S2O0. 0.G9O.OS1. Now the coinage of silver
| during those years was SI29. 2G5.57l, Of course
| in coinage value The net export, Of silver,
! nearly all in bullion. and therefore in CONNER
| cal value, were S52.S44.991. and at the aver
age for those years S.S39,0 ,000 in coinage
value This accounts for Sl9S.1Oi. 600 Of tho
| production and the consumption OF new silver
in the arts would require about t25.000,O00
more Of domestic bullion, making the aggrc-
gate little over the Mint estimate OF value
produced. But if Mr.. Valentines statements
are 10 be taken as commercial values. there
would remain TO bo accounted for not less than
| $40. 100000 Of silver, neither coined. export
ed nor consumed in the arts, which will not bo
| accepted rs reasonable.
Assuming that the Mint statements are sub
stanially correct and that Mr.. Valentine cX-
aggcrateS the yield Of silver through partial
confusion Of commercial and coinage value in
rcuolts. or through defective segregation, the
reasoning based ON an increase reported by him
| for last wear becomes decidedly weak But if
it be supposed that the production was S54,
| 75O. 900 commercial value. the actual net eX-
ports of silver last year were $50 600 900, and
the cOnsnmptiOn i'm arts $4,000 900 The OBJ
cctor argues that silver would not be exported
nor used in arts if the Treasury should issue
notes for il at the average price in the worlds
markets by mere distance from sources Of
supply. European markets are higher than our
own by the cost of transportation. and there is
not "A shadow of reason for suppOsing that they
will not continue to be- Moreover. the demand
for silver in other countries is not fictitious nor
diminishing. From Fan Francisco last year
SIS 400, 900 went to Japan and China, besides
$50. 900, 600 from London Is there any rca-
son to suppose that the East would demand
less, or that less would be used in the arts, or