Southwest-sentinel. [volume] (Silver City, N.M.) 1883-189?, 1893-09-12
TIE COST OF PRODUCING COLD
AND SILVER

ave- VA RNH
There has been a great deal said
Of late, about the cost Of produc-
ing gold and silver. Some Of the
uniformed editors Of eastern pa
pers have gone so far bs to say
that the cost Of the production Of
an ounce Of silver is less than 30
cents. In some mines the cost of
production of an ounce of silver
may be lower than 30 cents, but
this is not proof that the cost of
an ounce Of silver is less than 80
cents. The average cost Of pro-
duction must be taken into consid-
Grafton.
1t is possible that these enemies
Of silver will not be rash enough
to call into question what is said
on this subject in the volume on
mineral industries of the eleventh
census which has recently been
published. The report was made
by a most pronounced monometal-
list and on page 119 the following
may be found in reference to the
cost of the production of the pre-
cious metals:
''The actual cost of the produc-
ton of the precious metals varies
so greatly at different mines and
works that it would be impossible
to arrive at any absolutely accu-
rate average. That one of the
great gold or silver mines, when
in bonanza, earns enormous prof
its merely means that the cost of
production is but a small part Of
the market, value Of the metal pro-
duced. But the mirage of the
widely known, if not long, list of
millions accumulated by fortunate
owners of gold and silver bonan-
zas induces the investment of
millions in the opening and work
ing Of prospective bonanzas that
never materialize, and encourages
and supports the lonely prospect
or in his wearisome waiting for
the fortune that never comes.
The spirit of the gambler controls,
in great measure, investments in
precious metal mines, and 80 far
as this class of investment goes,
there can be no doubt that it is,
on the whole, Improbable, or, in
other words, that the gold and sill
yer obtained by it cost much more
than they are worth in the mar
ket.
When the enormous amounts
of money actually invested in un-
profitable mines and mills are con-
sidered, some of which are strictly
legitimate and honest, while some
have been sailed or sold on false
representations, it is easy to rec
ognize the heavy offset to- the
great profits of the few large pro-
ducers and to believe that the av-
erage cost of all the gold produced
is more than S20.67 per ounce
troy, and that Of silver is more
than, say, 81 per troy ounce.
In gold and silver mining, as in
buying lottery tickets or in play
ing on the gaming table, it is the
chance of winning a prize that in.
duces people to put their money
into what is, on the average, an
Improbable investment. More
over, the money invested in min
ing comes back to some of the in.
vestors or to the promoters anC
inducers of investment in many
other forms, such as through the
furnishing, at large profit, of sup
plies to the miners, or in the adj
vance in the value of property il
the vicinity, or in building up
town, or in some other way tina
cannot be directly credited to
mine. Thus it is that while gold o.
silver mining, on the whole, ma,
have been Improbable to thos'
who have, without proper and rea
sonable precautions, invested cap
; ital in them, there can be no ques
ton whatever that this great in
dustry has been enormously adyan
ageous to the country at large"
Statistics which have been gath
cred later and which are perfect,
reliable, put the cost of the pro
, duction of silver in this countr
considerably higher thar the fig
ures in the census report.
The great wheat growing state