The Cook County herald., 1902-05-31
VALUEOFOURMETALS
lncorrectness Of the Popular Idea
Concerning Gold and Silver.
OMcial Est1mates Show the Relative.
IL Small Part Played by Two
Precious Metals in Increas-
ing National Wealth.


other national products, people are
prone to consider their production as
perhaps the most important of the
mineral outputs of our country. In
certain sense this is true. But COM
parison of some of our mineral indus
tries as set forth by the United States
geological survey in the "Mineral Re-
sources of the United States, 1eo0,
shows how small part, relatively. the
two precious metals play in adding to
our national wealth, says the St.
Louis Globe-Democrat.
Round numbers alone being used for
convenience sake, it is found that the
gold product was worth $79,000,00o,
and that the commercial value of the
silver product was about $36, 900, 900,
though the coming value was $74.000,-
900. AS metals, then, the gold and sill
YER were worth $115, 5,000,0 900; as money
they were worth $153, ,000, 900. Now the
copper produced in 1900 was valued at
s9s, ,00O, 900, though the price decreased
a cent and half pound. as compared
with 1899; the lead was valued at over
$23 200, 900, though the condition of the
industry was not good; zinc was pro-
duced to the value of over $40, 900 900,
though it declined 20 per cent. in value
as compared with 1899. The copper,
lead and zinc products were worth
more as metals, by $16,00o,00o, than
our gold and silver, as metals, in 1900,
than the combined values of the
production of abrasive materials,
such as grindstones, garnets, and so
on; of chemical materials, such az
gypsum, phosphate rock, and others;
of pigments, such as metallic paint,
white lead, and so on; and of the mis-
cellaneous metallic products, the
whole aggregate amounted to about
$50, 100000, shows that they were
worth less, as metals or metallic
products. than the gold by about $27,-
100000, and more than the silver, as .
metal, by $1e,ooo,ooo
Further, the comparison of gold and
silver with the structural materials
produced-that is, with $4,000. 900 of
building stone, $96,0o0.000 worth of
clay products. and $13,000,0 900 of ce-
ments; $157 100000 in all-shows that
the structural materials exceeded the
gold and silver in value by $42. 2.00o, 900,
If the commercial value of silver is
taken at it's coming value of $74,000,-
0OO
Applied now to the great metallic
basis of our civilization. iron and its
products, the comparison becomes
still more striking. Iron ore was
produced to within less than S, ,OOO, 900
of the value of the gold; and pig iron;
was produced to value Of nearly
$107, 100000 in excess of the coming
value of both gold and silver combined.
But the comparison of the gold and sill
yer output with the output of the min
eral fuels, coal, petroleum and natural
gas, is the most striking of all; for the
combined gold and silver value is ex-
ceeded by the high sum of $3.50, ,00o, 900,
or $406,O0O,000 as against $153, ,0O0, 600.
These comparisons are the more in
teresting in view of the statement of
the director of the mint, that "two-
thirds of the output of silver in the
United States is obtained as a by
product from mines which would be
operated no matter what the price of
silver might be-" and that in the Grip
pie Creek district the reserves (of
gold) in sight are enormous"
Another popular prepossession that
receives scant courtesy at the hands
OF the reports is in regard to tin. Be-
sides the terse statement under the
tabular summary, "Tin-Quantity-
None." tin is only mentioned twice in
the volume; once under the iron and
steel statistics, when the production
of tin plates and terne plates to the
amount of 32,ee5 long tons is noted;
and again a brief description is given
OF the "Occurrence of Stream Tin in
the York Region, Alaska" the York
region lying west of Cape Nome. We
produced no tin in this country in
1900.
The Jewish Torah.