The herald., 1895-06-09

oDllSeu 10 acqu. eSce III ner ValuatlOn
During the following century Portugal
obtained such immense quantities of gold
from the East Indies. Japan and Brazil
that the value of their imports OF this
metal exceeded Sh3, 600. 900 year whilst
those of Spain had dwindled to s., 500, 900
in gold, and had only increased to ST..
800. 900 in silver. Except during a brief
period of forty years this ratio has ever
since peen maintained in Spanish and
British Amerca and the United States.
century later the spoils of the Orient
were exhausted the Brazilian placers be-.
gan to decline, and Portugal lost her i'm
portance. Span thus again got control
of the ratio and. as her colonial produce
was chiefly silver, she raised its value in
1873 from one-siXteeniih to one-1iiteenth
and half, tnat of goltL Tor the Peninsula
permitting it to remai II ut one-slXteenth
in the colonies. France e, whose previous
ratio (that of l726l wa AZ, adopted the
Spanish ratio OF 15l5 in 1875 and has adj
hered to it ever since. These three histo-
rical ratios and the bea Tng of each upon
the the others. have in auenced all legis-
laton on the subject. and where there
was no Legislation, have governed the bull
ion arkets for more than two centu
ries. Alex. Del Mar.
The annual addltiors to the store OF
money from 15l5 to 16C6 has been esti-
mated at SO, 500. 900. and the additions
to the supply OF both, gold and silver
from 1900 to 1900 continued to be very
considerable. At the beginning of the
present century the an nual production of
gold has been estimated as being from
Sl2, 500, 600 to $40 900, 600. During the
period lS49-1S9 the value of gold and sill
yer rose to about two and half times
their former lev el. notwithstanding fresh
discoveries in Asiatic Russia, and the
annual weld in 1Si9 was estimated at
$40, 900, 900. In 1s4S the California mines
were opened. while in 1851 the Australian
discoveries took place. Tne most con-
servative estimates puts the addition to
the supply of COLO, and silver between the
wears 1S51-7l at 81, 800. 00G 600 or an
in existence. and of which the additional
supply was almost entirely of gold. thus
tending to produce distinction between
the two metals. This increase of gold
reudered a general currency reform pos
sible, and created a demand ior gold
monometallic standard. The change in
the value OF money during these years
was 20 per cent, and enabled i general
increase of wages to be carried out.
Hardly had the gold discoveries OF
1S4S-lS5l ceased TO produce decided effect
when new silver mines of unusual fertil-
ity came into working. During the period
immediately succeeding the gold discover
les the production OF silver remained at
an annual amount of from $40, 900, 900 to
SO uU0 900. This amount suddenly,
about 1870 increased to $75, 900, 900, and
remained at that amount Tor the next five
years. More than half of this supply
came from new mines opened i'll Nevada.
The director OF the mint says the pro-
duct OF gold for 1898 amounted to $780,
522, 600, the largest recorded for any year
in history, being $500, o00 greater than in
1858, when the placer mines OF California
and Australia were giving their largest
yield Last year the total value of gold
produced in the world was estimated at
S175, 600. 900, or about 50, 900. 900 more than
the entire annual output of gold and sill
yer between the years 1S6l-IS65. This
would make the output of gold nearly
twenty millions more than in 1898, and
fully that amount greater than in any
previous year in the worlds history.
The alluvial deposits, which are easily
exhausted. are no longer the chief source
of the worlds supply of gold, for the
greater part of the increased supply
has come from well-deyeloped lode
mines.
These give a comparatively steady
YIELD and the future output may be cal
cuated with reasonable accuracy.
Two technical features in the produc-
ton OF the precious metals remain to be
mentioned. One is that fresh stimulus
las been given to gold mining by the de-
cline in the value of silver, the other is
one which may som etimes produce re-
markable results. 1t arises from the
fact that gold in generally found near the
surface, while silver is obtained by deep
mining. 1t follows therefore that the pro-
duction OF the former metal depends
more on accidental circumstances, while
the production of silver is affected chief
ly by the state of mechanical skill.