The Washington herald., 1912-10-20

What shall be done with all the silver
There 10 q deluge Of It. Uncle Sam hal
more than $500. 0Oo. 900 worth Of II on hand
In coin and bars. and 1t occupies much
valuable room. Secretary MacVeaSf
suggested only the other day that all Of
It might be buried In q concrete box ne.
meath the subtreasury in New York, or
In some other convenient place. and
sealed up forever-to be represented. Of
course, by paper money in circulation.
One obvious advantage OF such . plan
would be that all this silver would NOT
have to be counted and weighed every
time Q new Treasurer Of the United
States IL appointed. On the other hand.
the enormous hoard would strongly In
vite an enemy In war. its capture offering
the richest prize that ever stimulated Q
nations avarice.
The matter Of counting (which has to
be repeated every few years, to the last
ten-cent pIece) Is more serious than
might be imagined. For 1t should be
realized that a million dollars In coined
silver weighs no less than twenty-nine
tons. Thus the quantity now held by the
government amounts to nearly l5.0o0 tons
enough to load about so ordinary
freight cars. In . single vault At the
Treasury, at Washington, are Noa. coo
In silver dollars.
Plenty Of people now living remember
when silver was q scarce metal IN tne
United States. In the later sos this
country produced considerably less than
100, 900 ounces Of II per annum. BY lSso
the output had risen to over 1.0Oo.ooV
ounces. Five years later II had doubled.
and from that time on IT increased AZ
an almost fabulous rate. thanks TO the
wonderful discoveries in Nevada ana
elsewhere in the Rockies. touching
maximum in 1892. with ss,5ooooo ounces
worth at that time $55.es2.5oo Tne pro.
duction for 1872 however. will be not
much less In quantity. tnonsn IN va,ar va,.r
It will fall far below the hign-water
mark. silver having dropped greatly In
price.
silver Common Metal.
Relatively speaking. silver has become
a common metal An ounce OF 1t to-day
Is worth only s. cents. which means
that the intrinsic value Of a silver dol
lar IS a little less than ~ cents In 1878
q silver dollar was worth. as metal "
cents: in 1886 1t was worth IS cents. IN
1899 It was worth 60 cents. in 1897 II was
worth q cents, reaching its lowest point.
II bar silver should get down to Is cents
an ounce Gas might happen at q future
day) tho dollar will have an intrinsic
value Of only 10 cents. It will become a
mere "token," like the nickei o-cehe
piece.
No wonder that the average household
in this country possesses more siiverware
to-day than could be found m the homes
Of the wealthy forty or fifty years ago.
The commonest articles Of everyday use
are at least plated with the metal. and
tho very faucets in rich folks bathtubs
are often Of the pure stun. Since 1880
the employment Of silver In the arts has
nearly quadrupled IN the United states.
and 1t has almost doubled since 1s9a
About SO, 600 worth Of silver will be
used this year In our arts and industries.
This. 1t should be realized. represents
nearly 100000 ounces. Four-ifths Of
the total will 60 to make 1ewelry and
watch cases. About 5000 worth VIII
be used by manufacturers Of dental sup
plies and by dentists-silver having re-
placed gold to some extent for the hlling
of teeth. Beaters OF silver Tear VIII
consume $500 worth and the balance
will be utilized for tableware. plating
and q variety Of other purposes SO great
that to try to enumerate them would be
hopeless.
In 1896, the year Of the discovery OF
America, the total silver output for the
entire world was only 1.511,050 ounces.
In 1901 II was a. .746.927 ounces. In 1851 1t
was 20 4Ol.5 $50 ounces. and in 1875 1t was
over s.. ooc. 900 ounces. About that time
began the great rise in production. which
In 1886 reached 100. 1000 ounces. In 1886