The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1893-07-20
III LEFT ALONE 1T WILL CARE FOR
ITSELF,

In a very interesting article. discussing
the proposition that continued fall IL
the nrice OF silver means increased hap
piness and contentment TO the people
at large. instead OF misfortune to them
the New York Journal OF Commerce
says:
few years ago all the American cop
| per was produced near Lake Superior,
and Il sold al a pretty high price. though
the mines were extremely rich. Enor-
nous profits were made by the producers.
who were sufficiently limited I'm numbers
TO regulate their competition. The mines
were. perhaps. a little too rich IN copper.
for the pure metal was often found In
| masses too large 10 handle without ex-
pensive cutting. At this time copper
was not much used where sheet-iron.
with or without tin coating. cast iron,
| earthenware or wood could be used In
| its place. Brass house ornaments were
| not often seen, and copper kitchen uten-
|. sis were TO be found only in the houses
! Of the wealthy.
| Then copper mines were discovered In
| Montana, Arizona and other Territories
| and the price OF the metal slid down
! the scale. Bronze hardware began to be
| common. copper kettles became com
| paratIvely cheap. all sorts OF house deco
| ratlons in brass began TO I'll store win
dows. Glass lamps gave way TO brass
| and copper lamps Iron gas fixtures put
on brass and copper coverings, and deco
rative art broke out with hammered
goods. and amateurs proceeded to FIJI up
their houses with homemade plaques.
BY reason OF cheaper copper fire-places
became ornamental. and a higher grade
OF kitchen ware came into use. and peo-
90 nc
selves with tea-kettles and cofree-pots
that were NJ to come 10 the table The
consumption of copper increased I'M
mensely, and a great many people were
better off than they were before. because
they had better things. The fact that
tea-kettles that had sold for $3.50, i'm
ported. were made In this country ana
sold for seventy-ive cents, meant a
great deal to hOusekeepers The mines
provided employment for many men at
$500 TO $3.50 a day. and yet production
was so cheap that the great copper cor
ner OF a few years ago was broken by
the sale of Montana copper in London
at a cent a pound less than Spanish
copper. mined by men who got but sew
enty cents a day. The extraordinary de-
velopment OF electrical invention would
have been impossible, but for the reduc-
ton in the cost Of copper wire. II would
take long 10 follow out all the ramifca-
tions Of the good done by the reduced
price Of copper.
century ago pewter appeared on
the tables Of the rich. a silver teapot
or wine tankard made It's owner con-
spicuous. Forks were Of steel, and real
silver spoons were a housekeeper's treas
ures. In the search for something more
durable and more lustrous than pewter
the composition known as German silver
came into use. To-day pewter has so
long been out OF use that the old por-
ringer and beer mug are snapped up
by collectors of bric-a-brac and German
silver is heavily plated with real silver.
The silver-plated ware which banished
pewter and German silver is now yield
ing 10 solid silver. the consumption OF
which I'm the arts is growing year by
year. The reduction Of the cost OF pro-
ducine silver is due to the employment
Of steam drills and hosting apparatus
and Cornish pumping engines, and an
increase OF incomes. have together
brought men and women and silver into
on intimate acquaintance undreamed OF
when the Constitution of the United
States was framed
1.-The demand for manufactured arti-
cles OF silver increases every day" said
the representative OF a firm Of silver
smiths the other day. I'VE are con-
stantly learning 10 what new and valua-
bic uses II may be put" He added that
the use Of solid silver spoons and forks
Is daily becoming more common. Most
Of the bridal gifts Of this sort nowadays
are sterling whereas for several years
heavily plated goods were In demand.
What lesson for the American miners
OF silver is contained here. They force
the Government 20 buy an immense
quantity Of their silver each month for
the purpose Of money. The country does
not want silver for money, so that the
purchased metal is simply stacked up in
the vaults Of the Treasury as pig metal.
But this constant. steady and perfectly
reliable market for silver stimulates its
production and thereby steadily forces
down It's price. By this enforced purchase
Of silver for money the silver miner is
therefore, destroying himself. But, If he
would let the matter alone for silver
to work its way gradually along as cop
per has done, the increasing uses for It
growing out OF the continuing refine
ment Of mems tastes would probably
keep his metal up to a higher price than
what he has brought 1t down 10 by the
unnatural stimulus to production that he
has caused.
In the following extract from one OF
Mathew Marshalls recent letters to the
New York Sun. that writer very cleverly
and with entire soundness. turns the
conspiracy" argument upon the silver
men. He says:
THE fall in the price OF silver which
was produced by the announcement that
the free coinage Of the metal had been
suspended In India, and the further fall
which our American silver miners so
passionately declare will follow the repeal
OF the Sherman act, have demonstrated
that the struggle on behalf of silver is
no longer a struggle for its admission
10 coinage In conjunction with gold. but
one for the exclusion Of gold from Use
as money altogether. For with the in
crease Of the production Of silver in the
vcrld from 100000 ounces in 1873 T.
1520OOOc0 ounces in 1872. and with
a consumption Of the metal in man
ufactures Of only at the utmost 25000,O0O
ounces a year. II is impossible 10 coin 1t
at the ratio of sixteen TO one and retain
gold In circulation. In spite Of all the
assertions about the high cost of mining
silver, the fact remains undisputed that
I'm the face OF steadily declining price.
the quantity produced has steadily in
creased since 1877. In that year the
worlds product was 62.6iScOO ounces and
the average price was ;l20 per ounce