The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1920-01-02

less than their face-valuee of silver,
was because, says Mr.. George E. Rob-
erts, formerly director of the Mint.
they were meant to be merely token
coins, purely over-valued in order that
they might not be exported or melted;
but they are redeemable at the Treas
ury in full legal-tender money.
On November l, 1919, the Treasury
estimated that the total stock of sill
| Yer dollars in this country was $685.
49, 900, but Of these dollars only those
that have been held by the Treasury
against certificates are Of full weight;
the others have become abraded by
use, SO that they would have lost a
little of their original weight. How
ever, the expectation of silver coins
by private individuals is restricted by
the law Of April, 1918, to transactions
licensed by the Government, and we
are informed that last week the Gov
eminent stopped the export of silver
from San Francisco to the Orient, then
proceeding at the rate of a million
dollars day, except for the purpose
Of adjusting balances of exchange.
The extraordinary demand of China
for silver is explained largely by the
fact that the War checked the normal
movement of the metal to India from
1914 to 1918, and during that period
the needs of India were supplied by
shipments from China, which is now
replenishing her reduced stocks, for
which there is an enhanced demand on
account of the depreciation Of Euro
pean paper moneys, as well as rupee
notes. In 1916 the rising price in
duced the people of China to put
their boards on the market; they sold
to the European Governments; the
price fell, until the selling stopped;
the continued demand caused a rise;
London was isolated by the German
submarine campaign; it became cheap
er to ship the metal from New York
across the continent and over the Pa
cifc to India, than through London
and the Suez Canal. In this Oriental
trade, San Francisco was geograph-
ic advantage over both London and
New York, therefore prices here were.
and are now, at the best, Thereupon
London, in behalf of the Indian gov
ernment, approached Washington, and
the Pittman Act followed in 1917.
Silver was stabilized at 101 1-2 cents.
This permitted the United States 10
melt and ship $50, 100000 ounces to the
Far East. The balance Of trade in ia
vor of China is causing demand for
silver, and various other factors have
united in stimulating expectation Of
the metal to the Far East. Similarly
in Europe the depreciation of paper
money, the scarcity Of gold, the paying
of the soldiery have caused scarcity,
assisted there likewise by boarding
among peasants. Great Britain and
France have prohibited the expectation
or melting of silver coins. Meanwhile
production has continued to decline.
In 1911 the worlds output was 1885,
10000 fine ounces. In 1916 it was
only 156,626,000 ounces, this decrease
being attributed largely to disturb
ed conditions in Mexico, where pro-
duction fell from 100000 in 1918
to 22,000,000 ounces in 1916, rising to
81 100000 in 1917 Since then it has
been increasing, thanks largely to the
Real del Monte mines at Pashuca, and
is now at the rate of about 100000
ounces. In the United States pro-
duction has decreased only slightly, in
sympathy with the diminished output
of copper, for rs per cent of our sill
yer is by-product from copper, lead.
and gold mining. In 1918 the Ana
conda copper mines, for example.
yielded 10,976,905 ounces of silver.
During the year now closing there
has been notable stimulus to the
mining of silver, as was to be ex-
pected. All over the West the old
mines have been reopened in the eX-
pectation of winning a profit from ore
discarded in the years when silver
fetched less than half its present
price. In May, 1919, the wartime
embargo on expectation was lifted,
the market was freed, although still
under government control, and silver
had chance to find its logical level.
1t is there now. To the miner the
rise in silver is associated with the
regret that the gentlemen in Mexico
are so disorderly; he would IKE to
return to the mining districts south of
the Rio Grande, where he knows of
hundreds of idle mines or abandoned
mines that could be worked today
with highly satisfactory results. 70
the miner the 'watchful waiting of
the administration is most annoying;
he itches to be picking and gadding in
rich veins, even hilos, of argentite,
proustite, stephanite, and all the other
luscious ties that betoken the white
metal. The Mexican dollar is at a
big premium. The Mexican Govern
ment is buying SO per cent Of the mine
output for itsfown use. The Mexican
people can buy from Europe on enor-
mously advantageous terms, placing
their appreciated silver against the
pitifully deprecated moneys of the
old World. To be mining silver ore
in Mexico would be heavenly, if on
" the istas would cease from troub-
ling and the revoltosos would but be
at rest.