Evening star., 1933-12-24
SILVER POLICY AIDS
METAL INDUSTRY
Monetary Use Of Product to
Remove Surplus From
Mines.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

Every cloud has a silver lining.
Wrapped in the atmosphere of depres-
sion, the metals industry has groped
for relief from its menacing surplus
along with every. other commodity.
But silver, unlike wheat, for in
stance~has use for monetary purposes
entirely apart from its intrinsic value
for tableware and ornament. So long
as the nations of the world could not
agree for the last few years on whether
| they would use silver in their currency
systems, there has been chaos in
| mining.
The remedy-a decision to take care
| OF the surplus silver by selling it to
governments for use as money-is in
line with the control-of-surplus policy
and rationing Of supplies which had
dominated world economies throughout
the depression.
So first of all the increased price to
be paid for silver hereafter and the
greater demand created now benefits
the whole metals industry. For silver
Is produced in many mines along with
copper, lead, zinc and gold. respectively
One overhead pays for them ALL Hence
any increase In revenue from any Of
these metals helps the mine owner.
Often the by-product metal is too ex-
pensive to mine. but if much of the
carrying charges is covered by the profit
in one metal. 1t leads to intensive effort
in mining Of the others.
West Should Be Happy.
AL the Western mining States, there
fore. should be happy. They should
give vote Of thanks TO Senator Key
Pittman of Nevada, who led the fight
at the London Economic Conference
and this week persuaded President
Roosevelt to issue his silver-buying
proclamation.
But, 1t Is pertinent to inquire what
about the other aspects of silver pur-
chase? Does it mean imitation? will
1t help trade and where? viii it lead
| to bi-meta1lisrn?
| Because in American history silver
has driven gold into boarding or ex-
port at times when the latter was worth
more than the silver offered BY our
Government in exchange for it, we are
apt to be nervous whenever silver comes
| into the monetary picture
lhere is, however, no justification
for apprehension on the basis of what
mas been done thus far. The purchase
the coinage of about 100000 silver
dollars Is an Insignificant addition to
our money supply. We have, by con-
trast. nearly 100000 in gold of
pre-Roosevelt value and nearly 6,0OO,-
| 600, 900 In Roosevelt dollars.
-, Outside the United States, however,
tne enects are more important. Thus
40 per cent of the worlds population
is en- q silver basis. By stabilizing
silver. results secured are vital to the
merchants and business people and
consumers in those countries as if we
had stabilized the price of gold in the
united states, Great Britain, France
and the other gold-using countries.
Stabnization Is step forward, a
milestone in financial progress. The
| increase in the value Of silver attained
by suddenly giving silver an additional
use will be reflected in the increased
purchasing power of silver countries.
| Our trade with the Orient should i'm
prove.
New Ways to Use Silver.
As far as bimetalliSm is concerned,
we may find new ways in the future
10 use silver in the settlement of bal
ances with certain parts of the world or
IN payment of war debts and other
an era Of experimentation. The fact
that silver caused US trouble before will
not make President Roosevelt hesitate
to apply silver purchases to a different
set OF circumstances today. But there's
one thing which will never be differ
ent-the danger of issuing any great
amount of silver certificates or other
, paper money backed by a silver which
| fluctuates in price because of discord
among silver using countries-that is,
the failure Of governments to work to-
gether in preventing or controlling ex-
cess production.
A silver imitation. of course, is Just
as possible as a greenback imitation.
Paper money, whether based on some
metallic reserve, will always be the cir
culating medium, rather than coined
dollars. Greenbacks based on no metal
at all, or silver certificates based on a
fiat or imaginary value for silver, would
increase the quantity Of money to be
sure. but either method of imitation
would work havoc in breaking down
confidence in the quality of all money.
Broadly speaking the President knows
the dangers of "baloney" money and
will control his silver policy, just as the
United States did during the war. But
meanwhile MIR. Roosevelt has skillfully
brought to his side a group of Western
Senators who might have proved strong
allies Of the Thomas imitation group
Inside the United States the effects,
except for the mining industry, will be
relatively negligible. Outside America
we have unoStentatiously given the
world convincing evidence on the eve
of Christmas that we are not such
self-centered people, after all, that self
containment is an interesting doctrine
of opportunism, but that international
cooperation and good will on earth are
still the watchwords of an advancing
civilization.
(Copyright. 1880