The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1918-02-14

these precious metals bear anywhere
near the same relation to each other
as they have borne since the discov-
cry of America.
Silver Mining Limited.
The variation between the amount OF
silver produced when its price Is high
and low is not great. Why? Because
the greater portion of silver is ex-
tracted from ore that contains both
gold and silver. When more than one
half of the value of the ore Is from
the gold it is called gold mine with
silver as a product, and vice versa.
Those ores will be mined even If silver
should fall to 10 cents an ounce, be-
cause they would be worked for the
gold content; and If silver were S1.29
an ounce those mines would not pro-
duce very much more. 1t must be re-
membered that under bimetallism the
purchasing power of gold and silver is
correiatiye. AS the value of silver In
creases the value of gold declines, and
therefore, the net value of the ore re-
mains about the same, and, hence, ex-
eessive production would not likely oc-
cur
Few Silver Mines.
1t is the low grade mines which yield
the greater part of both gold and sill
yer, because they are more numerous
and it takes a longer period of time to
exhaust them. 1t is true there are some
mines that produce silver without any
gold, but they are few compared with
the number that contain both gold and
silver. They are generally very rich
and easily exhausted. Their production
bears no greater relation to the total
silver produced than the free gold con-
tanned in placer mines bears to the
total production of gold hence, there
Is no danger that in a long period of
time there will be large variation be-
tween the quantity of silver and gold
produced at a given ratio, and their
total increase will not likely be great
err than the increase of credits and
commerce.
Since Discovery Of America.
Eliminating the amount that goes
into the arts and entire production OF
both gold and silver never has exceed
ed 3 per cent of the world stock of
these metals, and it is not likely that
such proportion ever will be exceeded.
Since the discovery of America there
have been produced in the world $780,
,642 ounces of gold, and 11,669,557,-
274 ounces of silver; divide one by the
have been Is times as many ounces of
silver porduced as of gold. From the
time that the nations of the world be-
gan to take away the principal demand
for silver by demonetizing it, silver be-
gan to decline in value as compared |
with gold The only way its value can
be restored is for leading nations of
the world to give it the same mintage |
rights as are now given to gold
Different Ratios.
The variation in values of the pre-
cious metals previous to the demonet-
ization Of silver was caused by nations
different ratios of mint
age The Latin union, consisting of
France, Belgium, Switzerland and
Italy, afterward joined by Greece,
Spain, Serbia and Rumania, had their
minis open to coinage at the ratio of
1G Il to /. which made silver worth |
$133 per ounce; while in the United
States minis We're open to coinage of
silver and gold at the ratio of 16 to |
which made silver here worth $1.29
per ounce. OF course under those con-
iitions it was impossible to maintain
III exact parity in the values of the
metal The fact that in 200 years
silver never advanced to a higher va
ue than $1.S3 per ounce, nor fell be-
ow 1929 per ounce, even though dur
ng that time there were periods when |
The ratio of production was as high |
ls As to and as low as 6 to /, demon
strates that there are other greater |
causes than annual production that |
affect the relative value of the metals |