The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-08-25
THE GOVERNMENTS SILVER.


The Washington correspondent of the
New York Evening Post writes his pa
per, under date of Aug. 90. in part, as
follows:
The recent decline in the price of sill
yer makes the government s. holdings
of that metal a peculiarly bad invest
ment- The number of ounces purchased
since 1873 (under the operation of the
Bland-Allison act, and later the Sher-
man act) was 459, 946,7 01. The cost of
this total was s464.210,26S, or a trifie
above an average of 81 an ounce. The
market value of this quantity of silver
today-taking Aug. lis quotations.
$252, 225, 572. The market value of the
same quantity, July l, 1896, between
the two national conventions of that
year, was $31S,641, S75. 1t will thus APP
pear that the government has lost $780,,
100000 in the depreciation of its silver
on hand in the last II months, which
is a very considerable per centage Of
the total expenses of maintaining the
government for that time.
But there is another way of reckon
ing, in which the showing would be
still worse. This volume of silver,
which cost the government s464, 600 O00,
and is row worth 1852 000, 600, is only
able to hold even the figures last
named because the government does
not sell it.. What il would bring if tie
United States should decide to dispose
of its stock may well be left to conjec-
ture Such a course on the part Of
the government would make a break in
the Silver market which would probably
lower the value of this pile of bullion
by 500, 900 goo.
This would certainly be a very bad
showing if the differences drawn were
true, but they are not. The fact is
that the government has not lost sin
gle cent by its purchases of silver. On
the contrary, 1t has made many mil
lions out of it. 1t has purchased, in
round numbers, since 1873, 460,000,000
ounces at price of a little more than
81 an ounce, While it has paid for this
silver in Sherman notes and ssilver
certificates, issued against it, at S1.29
an ounce, a clear gain in seignorage of
IS cents an ounce. Where is the loss?
If the government were to coin every
ounce of silver it possesses it would
put it on the market at $1.2S an ounce,
and it would be accepted at that price
by everybody, and nobody would lose
a single cent through accepting it at
that price.
This correspondent is right when he
says that what the governments stock
of silver would bring if the United
States should decide to dispose of it
may well be left to conjecture. But
the United States Will not, cannot I'M
der the laws, decide to sell their stock
of silver. If the government were in
the brokerage business it we'll might
worry over the depreciation in the price
of silver, but it is not, and hence has
no occasion to worry.
The governments silver is worth to it
$1.29 an ounce, and it is worth that
whether it has much or little. We're
it to adopt a policy of free coinage of
silver at the ratio of 16 to 1, all silver
would be worth $1.29 an ounce because
all silver then would have the same
rights at the minis that gold now has,
and this would make it practically gov
eminent silver.
The government has lost nothing on
its purchases of silver, and never can
so long as it purchases it at a price
below its coming value; and this is
precisely what it has done.