The Goldfield news and weekly tribune. [volume] (Goldfield, Nev.) 1911-1947, 1917-09-22
SILyER'S REHABILITATION

Silver has passed the dollar mark. The latest quotation
is the highest since 1898, when the Indian minis were closed
to free coinage, but it is by no means the highest since the
civil war, as has been asserted by careless commentators.
During that war the price was fairly steady at about S134, and
it was not until 1885 that it fell below the dollar, rising subse-
quently as high as ST 81 in 1890, when the Sherman act author '
lied the purchase of 100000 ounces per month so long as
the price did not exceed 81 1929 per ounce. The repeal of that
act and the closing of the Indian minis started a debacle that
eliminated on July 20, 1915, when the price reached 1887
cents.
During the 90 years preceding 1916 the price averaged So
cents and in 1916 it was 65!78. Between the low figure of two
years ago and the present quotation there is an advance OF con-
siderably more than 100 per cent. Even the recent high quota
ton does not reflect the whole advance, for a premium of as
much as four and one-half per cent has been paid, at Toronto,
ON purchase of the metal. In San Francisco, a premium of
four cents per ounce has been paid on purchases for export to
China.
This condition of the market is due to causes that are rec
ognized. Not only has the production decreased, but a growing
demand has been created by the war. Twenty years ago the
worlds production of silver was 1885, 100000 ounces, of which
the United States contributed 5S,5OO,OOO ounces and Mexico
III 100000. In 1916 the worlds total was 7 2,4OO!OOO ounces,
of which the United States contributed ~72,SOO,OOO and Mexico
100000. Thus at the end of the twentyyear period the
production was actually less than at the beginning, this being
due chiefly to the disorderly condition of Mexico, where pro-
duction declined from the maximum of 100000 ounces in
1914 to 100000 ounces last year. In 1914 the worlds pro-
ducfon was at its highest, namely, 254,214OOO ounces.
During the twenty-year period the United States has
shown a steady increase in production, the ratio Of her yield
to the world total increasing from 81 to ~ per cent. Since
1908 Canada has become an important source of supply
whereas sin 1896 Canada produced only 100000 ounces, in
1916 she produced 25,5OOOOO ounces. The outstanding fact.
however, is the collapse of silver mining in Mexico, which now
produces only 10 per cent of her previous maximum.
Turning from supply to demand, it is noteworthy that the
United States exported $53,172OOOw worth of silver in the fiscal
year 1916, of which $4~1 100000 went to England, mostly for
re-shipment to China and India. In eleven months of the cur
rent fiscal year the United States has exported S75.OOOOOO
worth. The need of silver coinage among the European bellig-
erents and the expansion of trade in the far east were the
principal factors in improving the market for silver: more re-
Gently the declaration of war by China has intensified the nor
NAL drift of the metal to that country. In face of these grow
'hg demands there is a decrease of production; therefore the
high price is fully explained.
India continues to be a sink for silvec: that country ah-
serbs fully half Of the worlds output. The cinema trade is
consuming an increasing proportion of silver. Altogether the
outlook is sufficient to prompt renewed search for deposits :. f
the metal. Idle mines and old dumps should invite invite X
animation in the light of these improved conditions, for al
though labor and cyanide are high, the market for the aassoci-
ated base metals is also favorable. Mining and Scientific
Press.