Tombstone epitaph., 1916-04-23
IMPORTANT QUESTION
TO ARl. SILVER MINERS


the recent issue of The Financial Age.
published at New York. raises . vital
question ON the silver situation III the
United States. and owing to the lars E
amount Of silver mining in Arizona
raises an interesting ocint so ni5s
owners and operators. The s-siei.
follows
within the past year SILVER bullion
has advanced in price about eleven
cents an ounce. that is. from about
80 to 81 cents. yet the demand shows
no sign of abatement. and trade ex-
perts would not be surprised if. under
continued heavy buying. the price
should gradually advance to one dollar
an ounce. and thus restore the old
ratio with gold of I6 tol
who i; buying this silver. and with
what end in view. is question which
has aroused all sorts of conjecturrs
/ So for as can be be discerned. the
amount OF silver going into the arts is
not above normal. nor is it clear that a
great deal oil the white metal is being
consumed az the IN anuiactuIe OF mum.
tions of war. notwithstanding Lloyd
/ Georges felicitous allusion to the effi-
cheney OF the last silver BUILT" Q! the
/ Allies. Furthermore. there is yet
no hing to show that this Government
/ IS buying an unusual amount of silver
and advancing the price. Indeed.
there can be no other expIana ion for
I the present remarkable course OF the
silver marked than that European
governments are laying up enormous
supplies against the possibilities Of
silver resumiug its former place in the
monetary systems OF the world
1T is almost inconceiyabl- that sill
yer should ever supplement gold a. a
universal medium OF exchange and
measure Of value. but stranger thing
than this have happened in hnsuc al
and monetary history Indeed 'nere
vo1la Or uothinc e.ir.oT tinaTy
O any attempt u LIS part Of one or
more of the belii gerent nations to re
when the day arrives for settling the
cost Of the war. Within two years a
deb; of thirty bilious has been incur
red bv the warning powers, and yet no
one can foresee the end Of the process
The total war debt may reach fifty
billions, and il may have already reach
! ed its maximum. but one thing is Ger
Tain, the war will leave Europe hope
!essly bankrupt.
Now in view Of the tremendous in
fiation and the consequent depTecia
ton that has taken place in european
currency standards since the war began
it must be clear by this time that al
the mines in the world for years e
come cannot produce enough gold to
cover more than a usual fraction 81
medium OF redemption. to reinforce
the gold reserve, will have to be re-
sorted 10, therefore. add what could be
more readily avai!atie Tor This purpose
5 that the FIVE billions or more, dollars
: worth OF silver. that can now be pur.
Chased on the basis OF about sixty cents
an ounce OF course. the remonetizs
ton Of the white metal would create q
new value for all the silver on earth
, and it would probably not be long be
. fore the metal would be reestabIishrC
at the famous old ratio of l6 to l. bu
> the increased value would undoubied
ly give an enormously increased pur
chasing power to the silver countrie,
, Of Asia. Africa and South America
: from which the trade Of the bi-mets lliC
! countries Of Europe would naturally b,
the first TO benefit.
OF course. there may be nothing
more significant in th. present uptuTl
in the silver market than the attemp
of bull pool to advance the price u
heir own profit. but the situation is an
interesting one. nevertheless. and il
possibilities are Of a character suffi
1 cieutly startling TO set the publi'
mind thinking along new channels.