The herald., 1896-09-27

/ then monopolized the supply Of the
| precious metals, the rest of the world
was obliged to acquiesce in her valua-
ton. Durnig the following century,
Portugal obtained such immense guam
titles of gold from the East Indies, Japan
and Brazil. that the value of her i'm
ports Of this metal exceeded f3.000,000
q year, while those Of Spain had dwin-
| died to f500,000 in gold and had only
| increased to E2, 500, 900 in silver. Por-
tugal now governed the ratio, and in 1888
| raised the value of gold to sixteen times
! that Of silver. Except during the
brief period Of forty years, this
ratio has ever since been maintain
| ed in Spanish and British America and
| the United States. A century later, the
| spoils of the Orient were exhausted, the
Brazilian placers began to decline and
Portugal lost her Importance. Spain
then again got control of the ratio. and
as her colonial produce was chiefly sill
| yer, she raised its value In ITS from
one sixteenth of one-flfteenth and
half Of gold for the Peninsula, per-
mitting 1t to remain at one-siXteenth
| in the colonies. France, whose previou:
ratio Chat Of 1880 was fourteen and a
half, adopted the Spanish ratio of f1f-
teen and q half In 1885 and has adhered
| to 1t ever since. These three historical
| ratios and the bearing of each upon the
others have Influenced all legislation
on the subject; and, where there was
no legislation, have governed the bull
lion market for more than two centur-
ies''
From the foregoing historical ac-
count it appears that any nation produc-
ing the greatest amount Of bullion has
always been able to fix and maintain
the ratio between the metals. When
i t.
America and obtained a considerable
quantity of this metal, she arbitrarily
by stroke Of the pen, raised the value
Of gold from 10% to Is 1-3, and the rest
Of the world was obliged to acquiesce
in her valuation. Why? Because she
controlled the supply. A century later
the little kingdom of Portugal was able
to come to the front and dictate to the
world what the ratio between gold
and silver should be, simply because
at that time she was the greatest gold
producer In the world. A hundred years
later Portugal lost her Importance and
Spain again got control of the ratio: but
chiefly silver, she raised its value. and
the rest Of the world was obliged to
acquiesce In her valuation.
What are the facts today in refer
ence to the production of silver? The
| report of the director Of the mint shows
for 1S93-that being the last year for
which we have full and complete re-
turns for the worlds production-was
| s20S, ,Qop, 900, of which $77,000,000 was pro-
duce0 in the United States, $57 10000
| in Mexico; the production for United
| States and Mexico combined, $135, ,000,-
! 900; all the balance Of the world pro-
| duced $4,000. 900. But of this S73,0000 900
| $25, 1000, 900 was produced in the Central
| American and South American states,
making a total production for America
Of $160, 900, GOO. and all the balance of the
| world produced $48, ,000,0 600 The amount
produced In Europe was $19,000,000 The
amount produced in England, the coun-
try that now assumes the right Of fixing
! the ratio between gold and silver bull
lion, was 1927, ,000 Instead of being able
to fix the value of silver bullion, she
ought not to be consulted at all. She
should have no voice in the matter.
trifiing to have any material effect on
the value of silver bullion. Europe de-
mands a certain amount of silver to
keep UP her supply of token money and
for use in the arts, even though she
might not use 1t as money Of ultimate
and final redemption. The amount of
her coinage for the last three years
has averaged something more than
s32, 900, 900 annually. Instead Of having
silver to sell, Europe must enter the
market and buy silver bullion, not only
for coinage purposes but for use in the
arts. The total amount Of silver pro-
duced in the world outside Of America
is not sufficient to supply the demands
Of Europe for coinage purposes and for
use in the arts. 1t is not sufficient to
supply the demands of India for COIN
age purposes alone. 1t would hardly
be sufficient t6keep the silver gods Of
China in decent repair, to say nothing
Of the necessity for new one now and
then.
Mexico and in fact, all of the South
American and Central American states
are equally interested with US in main
tanning the value of silver bullion, and
will gladly Cooperate with us in any
effort we may make to restore silver to
ITS ancient place as money metal 1t
would be an act Of imbecility for Amer
lea, producing, as It does, more than
three-fourths Of all the silver produced
in the world, to allow Europe to fix the
price Of our silver bullion. We are great
producers of silver; we have silver to
sell; 1t is to our interest to maintain the
price Of silver bullion. Europe is a heavy
consumer Of silver. She must enter the
market and buy silver every year. not
only for coinage purposes, but also for
use In the arts. 1t Is to her interest to
have silver cheap. We cannot combine
with Europe. Let us combine with those
with whom we have interests in COM
mon.
America commands the supply of sill
yer bullion. The annual consumption
| or silver for coinage purposes, as shown
by the report of the director of the mint
for the last three years, is s143, ,O00, ,O00
The amount consumed in the arts Is
$27 600 600. making total consumption
Of $170.00o.00O. only s4S.00O,0O0 Of which
Is produced outside of America. After
consuming all the silver produced out
side OF America. the world must buy
| from US $122, 900. 900 worth Of silver bullion
annually for coinage purposes. and must
pay the price fixed by us, If we have man
hood enough left to fix price In fact,
the world has been paying at the rate
| Of about $1.29 an ounce for silver bullion
since 1873, while we have been receiving
only about one-third of that amount.
and the spectators Of Europe have been
| pocketing the difference. Is II not about
time to dispense with the European
! middleman and sell direct to the con-
| sumer at actual value?
A. J. UTLEY.