The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1896-08-07
The DeprecIation of Silver.


silver charge upon the ''crime of 1878"
the great depreciation in the value of
the white metal, and affirm that if it's
coinage isresumed, free to all the silver
in the world, depreciation will cease.
A few facts are worth volume of the
cries on this subject.
From the establishment of the mint
in 1898 till 1853 we had free coinage for
silver dollars and subsidiary coin, and
from 1853 till 1878 we had free coinage
for silver dollars, the government MAX
ing subsidiary coin on its own account.
During this whole period of 80 years,
from 1893 to 1877; with the minis open
to every one, the total coinage of silver
dollars was only s,031,23s while the
gold coinage amounted to $1,010,900,-
1924, or about one hundred and twenty
six times as much in value as the silver.
Yet near the end of that period silver
was at premium of three per cent
above gold, and had an actual value,
as bullion, of $1.33 an ounce. From
1878, when the coinage of the silver
dollar was resumed, till 1896, there
were coined 420, $50, 916 silver dollars,
while the gold coined was valued at
SsO1, 800, I'll, less than twice the coinage
value of the silver. Yet the latter
metal had deprecated in bullion value
to G5 cents an ounce. If with a coin
age of only $1,000, 900 in 80 years silver
was at premium, and if with coin
age of $500, 100000 in IS years, it had
fallen off in bullion value so per cent,
there must surely be some cause other
than the coinage for the fluctuation.
The cause is clearly shown by the
study of a few further figures. To go
back to 1853, when the disproportion
between the production of the two
metals was the greatest, the worlds
product of gold was 100000 ounces
and that of silver was 81, 300, 900 ounces,
or only 4.16 times as much as gold.
The same year the product of gold in
the United States was 3, 144, 900 ounces,
and that of silver only 10000 ounces.
In other words we produced almost
eigty times as maav ounces of gold as
we did of silver. From this time on
for twenty years there was n gradual
diminution in the amount of gold pro-
duced in the world, and n steady,
though not very rapid, increase in the
production Of silver, till in 1872 the
worlds production of the latter metal
had increased to 61,100,000 ounces,
while that of gold had fallen tO $780,
600 ounces, the proportion being 1868.
In the United States gold had fallen to
TAI 500 ounces, and the silver had in
creased to 90, 237, 900 ounces.
In 1898, when the Sherman law for
the purchase Of silver was repealed,
the worlds production of gold had
risen to. 1909, 900 Ounces, while that of
silver had increased to 166, 900
ounces, the proportion being 2l.s3 to 1.
In the United States we produced
1,739, 300 ounces of gold, and $1,000, 900
ounces of silver. In other words, in
stead of producing so times as many
ounces of gold as we did of silver, as
was the case in 1853, we produced 81
times as many ounces of silver as we
did of gold.
1t. requires no expert in political
economy TO understand that under
these circumstances, n change in the
relative value of the two metals was
inevitable. We must add to these
changes in production the fact that since
1853 all the commercial nations of
Europe have ceased to coin sill
YER rs standard money. If we open
our mints TO the free coinage of the
worlds product the tide would be ire
sistable. The hope that we could alone
maintain silver at par with gold on q
basis of 16 to 1 would he folly. Gold
would go out of circulation and VIC
should speedily be on the single silver
basis, with silver at its deprecated
value. We should be in poor condition
to trade with other nations Of tho
sarth.
L. FL