The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1897-06-26
GOLD AND SILVER OUTPUT.
silver state Shoaters Are sot 30
yocfferoua-

yocfferous-
The silver production in the Cnited
States IN 1925 was 5s.soo.oo0 ounces
les; year il was 57.7oo.0cO ounces, or
. gain Of three per cent That was no'
doing so badly for duh times Al
I though the free coinage OF silver is not
permitted. the production o. silver in
crezses. because there is money in tie
Z business
The gold Talue Of the $4,000
ounces mined IL this country last year
was about So. o50.g00. On the basis OF
the price Of 1872. when silver was l29
9enis an ounce. the years product
would have been worth S.i,0o0,oco
And ret, in spite of the decline in price.
the Miners made money. II their bust
ness were improbable they would
abandon IL
For. while the, average price OF sill
-er during the year was only between
81 and 90 cents, il cost the miners only
s:lyer or the market now as ii did
quarter Of Z century ago. Machinery
is cheaper and better. Wages are lower.
for the living expenses OF miners have
been reduced 50 much. The cost of
transportation is out a trite compared
with what il was. The steam car has
taken the place OF the wagon.
So the owners Of mines where the
ore contains fair amount OF silver have
nothing 10 complain of. Tie owners Of
the lean mines, which cannot be worked
az profit now. but which could be
IL silver were worth 1923 cents an ounce,
are the men who do the most grum-
bling But they have companions in
misery. The owners of poor coal mines
and poor deposits OF iron ore. which
cannot be worked at a profit because
of the competition OF richer mines
would like 10 see sharp advance in
the price Of coal and iron ore. But they
do not clamor for the free coinage OF
coal and iron.
Whether the silver yield OF 1897 Will
be equal TO that OF 1875 is an open ques-
ton. Since the beginning OF the year
the price OF silver has been falling. and
il is down now TO co cents an ounce.
That is the lowest price il has ever
touched except during the momentary
sharp fall after the closing OF the India
minis. II silver continues TO fall the
production may be checked, unless that
decline in price is offset by reduced
cost of production.
That process is going on slowly but
continuously. The methods OF treat
ing the ores are being cheapened and
improved on, and railroad charges,
which play so much more important a
part in silver mining than in gold min
ing, are dropping gradually. So II
would not be at all strange if more sill
yer were TO be mined this year than
last, in spite of the lower prices. The
output of last year was nearly equal
TO that of 1891. though the price then
was over 9s cents an ounce.
While the silver product increased
three per cent. the gold product in
creased u per cent. The value of the
gold mined in the United States last
year was S53,0o0,0O0. while in 1895 it
was SiG,7j 600. In $500 it was s33 ,000,-
900.
The gain would have been still great
or but for the strikes which closed some
Of the Colorado mines. Utah produced
100000 more gold than in 1895, and
Arizona 100000 mere. and yet both OF
them are shrieking for free silver.
But they are not shrieking quite as
loudly as they were, and when the
price OF silver falls still more. as it will.
The absurdity of contending that any
artificial device can make it worth 129
cents an ounce will be too palpable. The
men who want cheap currency to
cheat creditors with will keep up their
clamor, but the silver miners will have
to admit that silver is down for good,
as the result of cheapened production.
Chicago Tribune.