New-York tribune., 1919-12-09
/ arce Silver Fund
Adds to Prestige
OF Dollar Abroad
Market Value Of Metal
Nav Be Stabilized by De.
c;sion to Make 5000
600 Available for Export

The announcement of the Treasury
hat large quantities OF silver dollars
=, no available for shipment to the
n..,, 10 correct exchange disparities
ill f,.rther heighten the prestige Of
~. aoI,ar through the world by prov
IAN that the United States con-
..;,,,tes the one important free market
~. both gold and silver, international
hsnsers said yesterday,
approximately 10000 ,ooV silver dot
,.rs against which silver certificates
a. ;ssued and cancelled. can be ex-
Nsrtsd under the new policy formulat
py' hv Treasury officials IN connection
9TH members Of the Federal Reserve
U..rd The International Banking Cor
.Srstion. the Pa~k-Iuion Foreign Bank
~ Corporation and the Asia Banking
casrnoration. the three American insti~
lions with branches in the Far East,
iii attend 10 the actual shipment of
he coins.
s-ou China which has large balance
=; trsde in It's favor. The Chinese tael
Us been quoted as high as STA.
s,sjnst parity OF Sl.45 and low Of
a cents a few years ago. The silver
sIsced in China would be used to pur-
,.sse dollar exchange 1t would mark
ne settlement OF international bal
ssces With silver and might temporari-
II lessen the demand on the part of
,,a Orient Tor gold from the United
S,stes. OF which 1000 900 was shipped
IN November.
China Short of Silver
At present there is something like a
silver famine in China. And the peo-
Ne are insistent on hard money. Chi
rsse banks fairly stripped themselves
Il silver reserves by selling large
Quantities Of the metal to India at the
soaring prices during the war years.
BESIDES. India got $500 100000 in silver
nom the United States under the Pitt
man act which authorized the sending
o: ss5o,O0O000. India stopped imports.
because she has large amounts of
rupee notes outstanding which she
must eventually cover with silver. aud
TO continue importing silver longer
would further raise the price of the
metal.
In China the scarcity Of silver has
Ibeen expressed IN depreciation of the
bsnknotes Of the Bank OF China. and
this condition has increased the prefer
ence of people n the interior for hard
money. Shanghai has been besieged
With such requests, ii is said. Then,
100. in Nanchura. rubles formerly con-
stitutsd the principal currency, and its
dsmoralization has caused the people
Of that province to ask for gold and
silver.
The chief effect of the statement Of
the new government policy. some inter
national bankers contended, may be to
heck. al least temp porarily, the rise in
the warke- value Of silver. However,
his opinion was not reflected in the
market quotations. Bar silver brought
NS2- Il in New York yesterday, up a
cent
At least one OF the American banks
with branches in the Orient has been
doing for some weeks privately what
Will n the future be done under gov
ernment auspices. This institution
practically drained the Sub Treasury at
San Francisco of free silver by ship
Ping the metal to China.
Boarding Increased Incomes
China IS described by bankers as
uelg in an immensely prosperous con-
dlthn, having had immense crops and
exports. But. the observers say, while
China's income has increased, the
Standard Of living of her people has
not changed substantially. and the sur
Plus wealth Is boarded instead OF being
pent Tor consumption of goods or in
rested.
Some of the silver shipped will be
locked up by Chinese bullion traders
and held for export perhaps at more
favorable price for the metal. and some
d the silver dollars, ''chopped" with
The mark Of the Chinese broker, will
90 into circulation. The latter coins
AFlA probably go mainly to the back
1ountry and VIII for the most part. il
a believed, remain there. just as pre-
'fAaOus meta that goes to India does, lost
p'' outside civilization.