The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1920-03-18
THINK SHORTAGE
 OF SILVER WILL
 LAST SOME TIM:

London, March 1S.-The prevailing for several years, after which produc- tion may catch up with consumption and prices be reduced, in the opinion | of Professors H. c. H. Carpenter and | c. G. Cullis of the Royal School of | Mines. This view is set forth in a report to the Secretary of State for | India and included in the appendices | to the report of the Committee on In- dian Exchange and Currency. With respect to production the following matter is presented.
 'In the year 1860 the worlds pro- duction of silver is reported to have been about 30,00O,00o ounces. With some fluctuations it steadily increased from that date until 1912, when the output was 233,0O0,000 ounces, or nearly eight times more than half a century earlier. A continuance of the upward trend was then to be ex- pected. Its cessation and subsequent conversion into a precipitous down ward trend are aSsignabIe not to any sudden failure of the worlds re- sources but to a sudden interruption in the winning of them.
 Approximately three-quarters of the worlds silver was being mined in North America and Mexico. A de- crease at this time in the Canadian production, due to the progressive ex- haustion of the Cobalt field, was more than compensated by an increase in the production of the United States. The key to the shortage of the world supplies is to be found in MeI- co, where owing to protracted revo- lution, the production fell from an average of close upon 74,0O0,000 fine ounces for the years 1910-13 to an average of little more than 30,15O,- 900 fine ounces for the years 1914-17, a reduction of some 3,500,000 ounces out of a total reduction of 50,50O, 900 ounces in the world output. In the same period the Canadian production declined by 100000 ounces, the Aus tralian by the same figure and that of Europe by 3,000,000, while the United States production rose by 9,000,O00 and that of Asia by 100000. These
 latter increases, though in some
 measure referable to war stimulation,
 were due in part at least to normal
 ore development and may be regard
 ed as compensating for the ore de
 pletion in Canada
 The outstanding conclusions to
 which the authors are led by their
 studies, and further developed by
 
 1. - Important silver fields have
 been discovered intermittently since
 early times; several have been made
 known during the present century
 The discovery of others in the future
 especially since great advances have
 been made of late years in the science
 and art of prospecting, may be con
 fdentIy anticipated
 2.-Probably silver production, vii
 Fo,- 1oTrT al 11,1-
 in the near future, when increased
 precious metal mining has reached
 the stage of production and when the
 temporary check to base metal min
 ing has been removed, a steady in crease in the output of silver will SC in.
 3.-So long as the Mexican outpu j remains as it's present reduced Ieve the worlds production of silver is no likely to rise beyond the maximum attained in 1912 On the other hand if normal conditions should be re s stored in Mexico, a production con ! siderably in advance of that maxi 3 mum will eventually, and probabl. shortly be realized.
 4-The protracted fall in the pric silver, which set ir in 1871 an cached a low record in 1909 an -9f5 was due to excess production 9 GeveraI important silver fields havin been developed, and the large seal recovery of silver from base meta ] ores having come into operation dur s i-~r that period.
 : T-Reduced production, increase ] - nsumption and accumulated arreal consequent upon the war will proI ably keep the supplies of silver sho, and the price of silver high for man q years; but eventually history is like to repeat itself and, with an expande 2 output from precious metal mine and plentiful supplies from ba: