The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1897-08-28
SILVER GOING DOWN.
The Mine Owners of the West
Greatly Disturbed

SaAS DhsturDeu.
The decline in the price of silvs.
which is by no means at an end ~
have an effect on the production of rt
metal in the United States. Theontna.
in this country in 1895 was 46. 322 nao
ounces. In 1896, when the price w,s
little higher than in 1895. the ontnn.
rose to 100000 ounces, and. in ada
ton the smelters and refiners obtoira,
100000 ounces from foreign ores ons
bullion, chiefly from Mexico and Ri,
isb Columbia. So the total QUANTITY =,
silver marketed by the United Sto,ss
was so,250,000 ounces. That was ahou,
equal to the total product of the world
in 1856.
A decrease of 20 per cent. in the nrioa
of silver must have an immediate effeo,
on those mines which have been baral,.
paying expenses. There are many sncb
which have been putting silver on tbs
market and getting for it Just abon,
enough to cover the cost of production
There are other mines, in Arizona and
elsewhere, which were closed years ago
because silver was SO cheap it did not
pay to work them.
But, on the other hand. the openinc
of new railroad makes il profitable ~
reopen old mines or open new mines
The railroad reduces the cost of trans.
portation of fuel and other supplies and
of ores. Thus it reduces the cost of nm.
duction of silver at the mines which
come within its sphere of influences
Take away the existing railroad. in the
silver mining states and silver would
cease to be produced there.
To considerable extent in this coup.
try silver is merely a by-product gold
lead or copper being the important
product, and the silver merely an in
cident. There are Montana mines which
were worked once for silver, with COD.
per as the by-product. The reverse is
the case now. So long as the price OF
copper keeps up fall in that Of slyeris
immaterial. One smelter says:
II have figured out that with lead a.
s3.C0 and silver at 55is cents Il Is Jus; about
as profitable to the miner as when lead was
1925 and silver G5 cents
1t may be said, therefore, that there
is good deal of silver which is pro-
duced for nothing. The Australian
miners. whose output is about 2OO0OOOO
ounces year, state that if they get 25
cents an ounce for silver they can make
money. The richer mines in the United
States and the richer and more acces.
sible Mexican mines can probably do
the same thing,
So il is not certain that the slump in
silver, which is going 10 sell for less
than so cents an ounce before long, viii
reduce materially the American output,
though it will reduce the profits Of the
mine owners. At so cents an ounce the
56,000,000 ounces of American silver pro
duced last year would bring S2S'
800, 300 or S12,500.0o0 less than they
brought on the basis of last years
prices.
So the mine owners in the west an
| greatly disturbed. Some of them, theI
see. must go out of business, just as The
owners of some iron ore beds have done.
They expect that there will be a sur
vival of the fittest." One of them states:
1T am Of the opinion that silver will con-
tinue to so down until there Is marked
decrease in the production In some parts
OF the world. and II remains 10 be seen
which silver-proGucing countries WI! give
way first"
But while it is not altogether agree
able from one point of view TO see any
important American production ST.
yer is almost as important as copper
though much less so than pig iron
decline in price, yet it is great con.
fort that the value of the dollar mol
declining at the same time and playing
havoc with business. MeXicans are u
distress, not so much because silva
bullion has fallen in price. but oecars
their monetary standard is based on
silver and goes down with it. ~
Had Bryan won last November anu
this country been put on the'silya
monometallic basis, the drop-fn me
price of silver during the last ten Gays
would have disarranged everything.
Buyers and sellers would have beenH
their wits end. The purchasing power
CT wages would have suddenly shrunA
some more. Everybody would Fave
been in state of excitement awal.irs
the next London quotation OF silver our
lion ~ find out how much the AmeTlcaI
dollar was worth. But, as the stanaaru
is gold, tnIy few care whether s''ei
goes UP or down.-Chicago Illoune
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