The oasis., 1894-06-07
An Object Lesson.
Mining and s-ientia, rsss'

amount, yet the silver question has such extensive connection with com mercial affairs that England interests are alert to existing and probable con- ditions should English policy continue to dominate and compel the continued characterization of the white metal. The fact that the United States con tinues to take it's policy from England and that New York and Washington wait to see what London wants before obcying the high hehest does not alter the workings of natural law, which like gravity is constant force.
 If there is one thing more than ali other in which England considers it had a monopoly, it is tin. England suddenly discovers that it has serious competition, and that the present low price of silver is an important factor in a present pressing problem, In 'Si the production of tin in the Straits Settlements was 23,Sll tons: in '93 it was 3y,v44 tons: m S7 the average price paid to the Chinese miners there was slS6 per tom in '9O, s554 per ton: in 9a. s6al per ton. Up to two months ago-our latest adyiceS from there the Chinese miner was getting S64a per ton for his tin.
 These figure show that since 'S7 the production of tin in the Straits settle ments has increased about roper cent, and the still more startling fact from an English standpoint that, notwith- standing the usually low price for tin in .ondon,'th Chinese miner in the Straits Settlements is today getting nearly IS per cent more for his tin than he was four years ago, in the face of the fact that the English tin miner is now getting twenty eight per cent less for his tin.
 The explanation is in the relative value of silycr.~Thc rate ofsilyer fixes the rate of exchange; silver is way down as compared to former years; so is the rate of exchange, which is now as. Otd per dollar, and the tin mine owner in the Straits Settlement is in clover like upon the clover that it was predicted at the last presidential cleo tion we w0ald be in here. Every pound sterling sent him now nets him ten dollars; in 'Ss it only nctted him six dollars. The farther silver drops the lower the rate of exchanges; the lower the rate of exchange, the better for the tin men in tue Straits Settle mcnts: the better for the tin men in thc Straits Settlements the worse for the tin men of England. It seems ut ter ruin to tens of thousands of En- glish families. There are other things besides chickens that come home to roost, and English mining interests are very much disqgieted as they real ize the facts here briefly sketched, and which are portrayed it length in the London Mining Journal and other re- putable sources, and the worst of it is that, no matter how low adverse Brit ish and American legislation may force silver, the lower the better for England's competitor in mining tin. Were silver to drop to a shilling an ounce, the Straits Settlements could still sell tin in London at one-thh q the present price of tin and make a profit.
 These facts constitute an objectles- son. It may be that their realization will compel the foreign power towhich our country's present masters bow the knee in humble though blind adora- tion, to change it's tactics. If so of course, the United States will hasten