Waterbury evening Democrat., 1906-11-19
TIE SILVER TRUST
Efet te Hivs csnsrlI Moody Get Ahsr Tho Men il Tue
 Combine.
THE TRUSTS MUST ALL GO.

|
 retary Shaw intends to make an ap-
 peal to President Roosevelt to have
 Attorney-Genera Moody take up the question of legal action against the
 silver trust. generally known as the
 American Smelling and Refining Co. This great concern has the treasury department by the throat and has
 no intention of letting loose. It
 laughs at the efforts of the secretary to break the connection, and prom ises to raise the price of silver as high as is warranted by the situation
 in the silver mines and silver busi-
 ness. Secretary Shaw has not been
 accustomed to such business. He has
 had the habit of making Wall street
 quake in its boots whenever he
 choose to make use of government
 money and he was generally regard ed as holding tight rein over finan-
 cial affairs. But this time he is up
 against a combination that pays no attention to his laundering.
 The unprecedented demand in
 business circles for small silver has
 had the effect of causing the govern
 ment to go into the market for the purchase of silver bullion. Until the first of the present fiscal year, which began July 1, the treasury has mint ed its silver out of the accumulation of silver bullion that was bought way back in the sos. From 1900 to 1906, for instance, the government coined $43,000,000 of small silver, all of it out of silver that was bought years ago during the great agitation of the silver question. But this stock of silver became exhausted and the busi- ness world cried for more small money. Silver had to be bought and announcement was made that the treasury would receive offers of the bullion. These offers came in slowly; in fact, the silver trust was practically the only concern making offers. Early in August the govern ment made small purchases of silver from the trust at 65.17 cents an ounce. Gradually the price has been raised until the last offer was 72| cents. Secretary Shaw was mad all the way through and said the gov ernment would not buy any more silver. But that was bluff on his part. as he knew the supply of bull lion on hand would not last over two weeks, and 8.000.0OO ounces will be required for this fiscal year. Then he got in touch with the silver trust. the headquarters of which are in New York, and over the long distance telephone tried to make a contract with them for furnishing silver at present prices. Dipomatically they said they were sorry they couldn't do this. as the quantity of silver was growing scarcer, the demand greater, and the price was rising all the time. The best they could do was to let the treasury have small quantities as they could spare them.
 The trust has gently called the sec retary's bluff and he realizes that the government. in a short time. must pay the trust whatever price it | asks for silver bullion.
 London Is the center of the silver market of the world, but silver bull | ion there is controlled by five or six prominent brokers. These men have l formed little combination with the | American trust and between them they have 70 trouble in dictating the price of silver. and there seems little to prevent their doing so.
 Owing to the rise in the price of | silver Mexico is preparing to enact a law placing an export tax of 10 per cent on all silver going out of that country. The Mexican government is afraid that the price of silver will go so high that Mexican silver money will be bought and melted for bull lion. The Mexican silver dollar, for instance. brings only 50 cents in gold but the rise in silver has made the bullion in the Mexican dollar worth close to 60 cents. which makes a temptation to buy the dollars at 50 cents and coin them for bullion.