Tombstone epitaph., 1922-02-12
THE FUTURE OF SILVER

THE FUTURE OF SILVER
Because of its monetary in subsidiary coinage
and in the Orient silver of all the metals has responded
in the eccentric only the process of world
initiation. but also to the defatiOn which is taking
place During the period silver the last of the
metals to rise in price thus rejecting deaped appreca
ton of the Importance of this metal necessrv
Not until the silver crisis in India the value of
silver war equirement fully realized when England
petitioned the United States to release the only available
reserve Of silver to satisfy the pressing and abnormal
quirements of India Arrangements made to ac
of silver benefit especially costs of production
in the Pttman Act and that nation has expressed its
gratitude for the loyal assistance of its ally i'll hour of
critical need.
Silver could not resist the general increase in prices
which accompanied the pOSt-alnStlce initiation and
1920 reached the high price of Sl per While this
fact have been regarded at the time by the producers
of silver benefit especially of production
were continually increasing it to be of the
greatest misortunes that has befaen the silver in
dustry 1t became impossible for nations to maintain
their hghgrade silver currency i'll circulation because of
the profit that could be made at this price in the
sion of into bullion. The demand for subsidiary
rency at that time becoming greater the volume
paper currency released for circulation became greater
As result nations enacted laws lowering the silver
bullion content of their coins to nearly half he previous
content while others adopted the substitution of base
metal coinage This wholesale debasement of silver
coinage act of initiation which has greatly impaired
the monetary of silver computation cannot be bas
ed upon the estimate of silver coinage ccuaons for the
reason that of the have been DESTROYED
have been converted into bullion before the law
became enacted and still another portion be boarded
However it has been estimated by competent author
tiles that the reduction of the oliver content of the silver
currency of Great Britain from So TO 800 will ultimate
ly release 100000 ounces of silver bullion. In
continental Europe would be practically impossible
estimate the amount of silver which may be released from
the coinage of those countries but from the fact that
49OOOO0) of coin and bullion derived from the
melting of coin sold in the London market during
1921 1t has been estimated that 100000
released in 1921 from the decentralization of English silver
coinage.
The demand for silver for coinage purposes has
sideraby fallen Off and will continue to be relatively less
account of this debasement until such time these
countries restore the high grade content of their sub
sdary coin crculatons 1t impossible to conceive that
leaves but alternative for increasing the monetary de-
this could talks place until such countries have returned
to sounder financial condition, process which may
take many years The ability of India and China to alb
sorb silver must be measured upon their ability to dispose
of their products in the worlds market The purchasing
power of Europe will exert adverse influence upon
these countries with tendency in the direction to create
adverse rather than favorable trade balances for them
There is, however, bright spot in the monetary
outlook of silver in that mint is TO be established at
Shanghai which will have the effect of stabzing Chinese
money and should the variations which now ex
list in the many silver coins and tokens in circulation in
China With this farreaching demonstration of silver
and the apparently essened demand for silver for coin
age purposes the outlook for silver most serious As
the industrial demand for silver will be great
to be decisive factor in its production the future
pect of the silver industry must depend upon creating
increased monetary demand The decentralization of sub
sdiary silver coinage being remote possibility, it
serves together with the great increase in the circulation
mand for the metal
rencies particularly of the countries of continental Eu
rope has been the excessive reduction in their gold
together with the great increase in tn circulation
of paper money The gold ratio to the circulating
media has greatly reduced 1t has been suggested
that silver might be used basis for note cir
citations and thus greatly expedite the restoration of
rencies these countries back to the gold standard par
II is cited that silver rbe in Russia is worth 10000 pa
per rubes by way Of illustrating the superior value OF
silver compared to the paper money circulation of that
country This would be true in lesser degree of the
rencies of many other Of the European countries where
ation has not been great scale This proposal does
docs not contemplate establishing silver coinage ratio