Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1906-11-24
AFTER THE SILVER TRUST.
SECRETARY SHAW WILL APPEAL
TO THE PRESIDENT.
Silver Combination Now Has United
States Treasury BY Throat ard
Refuses to Let Co.
speclal Correspondenee.

Special Correspondence.
Washington, ID. G.. Nov. 19.--Secre
tary Shaw intends to make an appeal
to President Roosevelt 10 have Attor.
ney General Moody take up the ques.
ton of legal action against the silver
trust, generally known as the Ameri.
can Smelling and Refining Company.
This great concern has the Treasury
Department by the throat and has no
intention of letting lose. IL laughs at
the efforts of Secretary Shaw to break
the connection and promises to raise
the price of silver as high as is war.
ranted by the situation in the silver
mines and silver business. 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 gen
orally regarded as holding a tight rein
over financial affairs But this time
he is up against combination that
pays no attention to his laundering.
The unprecedented demand in bust
ness circles for small s.tver has had
the effect of causing The government
to go into the market for the purchase
of silver bullion. Until the first of the
present fiscal year, which began July
/, the Treasury has minted it's silver
out of the accumulation of silver bull
lion that was bought way back in the
90's. From 1900 TO 1906, for instance,
the government coined $40, 600. 900 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 business 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 government 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 70 cents. Secretary Shaw
was mad all the way through and said
the government would not buy any
more silver. But that was a bluff on
his part, as he knew the supply of bull
lion on hand would not last over two
weeks, and 100000 ounces will be
required for this fiscal year. Then he
got in touch with the silver trust, the
headquarters of which are in New
FORK, and over the long distance tele-
phone, tried to make a contract with
hem for furnishing silver at present
prices. Diplomatically they said they
we're sorry they couldn'U do this, as
he quantity of silver was growing
the demand greater, and the
rice was rising all the time. The best
hey could do was to let the Treasury
lave small quantities as they could
spare them.
The trust had gently called the Sec
bluff and he realizes that the
in a short tine, must pay
he trust whatever price is asked for
silver bullion.
London is the center of the silver
market of the world. but silver bullion
here is controlled by five or six prom
nent brokers. These men have form
ID a little combination with the Amer
can trust and between them they
nave no trouble in debating the price
Of silver, and there seems little to pre-
vent 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
The Mexican government Is
afraid that the price of silver will go
so high that Mexican silver money will
be bought and melted for bullion. The
Mexican silver dollar, for instance,
brings only so 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 dollar at so cents and coin
them for bullion.