The Western news. [volume] (Libby, Mont.) 1933-current, 1934-10-25
Buy. Much Silver

government profit on silver al
least equal to that made on gold Ia the
confident prediction OF certain insiders
who, 1t just happens, have not been
wrong on any currency questions since
| the Roosevelt administration came into
| power.
Already the government has bought
a tremendous amount of silver, some
acquired at the rough price OF 82h
cents an ounce paid for newly mined,
and considerably more acquired In the
open market, together with that OBJ
tanned at 90 cents by the nationalist
| ton process.
The average price paid by the gov
eminent, though not officially COM
puted or admitted, Is well under 60
cents an ounce.
Actually the government has bought
q great deal more silver than the price
indicates. The entire world has been
fooled on this silver policy OF the
United States, just as 1t was fooled on
the governments Intentions about
marking up the price of gold.
Wall street, for example, cackled over
the absurdity Of the governments pay
Ing such a high price for gold In Lon
don and Paris, figuring the gold would
have to be sold later on at a lower
price. Even the shrewd f1nanciers and
SPECTATORS did not take cognizance OF
one important element In the equation
that the government was buying the
gold with paper dollars, which 1t had
the power to devaluate.
That phase Is all over the dam No
body talks now about the purchases
OF gold having been foolish. The dollar
has been marked down to 80 cents, and
no one supposes that 1t will ever be
marked up again, any more than that
the French franc will ever again be
marked up to 20 cents gold, from four
cents, or the Italian lire from five cents
gold to 20 cents. The profit on gold,
SO to speak, is In the bag.
Still Skeptical
The spectators of Europe, Asia and
wan Street are just as skeptical now
about silver as they were about gold.
Some of the smarter ones are begin
ming to wonder, especially the Chinese,
as told In the recent dispatch about
the visit to Washington of Lee Ming
and his prompt cable to his govern
ment, which apparently resulted In the
Chinese and Indian governments buy
Ing silver.
1t would take tremendous boost In
the price of silver to put the govern
ment profit on the white metal up TO
that made on gold, for the gold profit
was in excess OF s2,000,0O0,OO0 But
when few figures are considered 1t
becomes simpler.
The government now has about 49, |
OOO,OOO000 gold. 1t has promised to
make silver one-quarter Of all the
metal reserves behind currency. II
one assumes that So 600 OO0,O 900 OF this
gold will be used to purchase silver.
this figure being taken solely because
1t makes the computation easy, as
here Is no official announcement. there
would then be $4,000, 100000 gold and
$4,000, 100000 silver. II the silver were
acquired at price not averaging over
90 cents, and the average so far Ia
well below that figure, and the price
Of silver should be pushed up to $1.2O,
then the profit would be $1,000, 0O0, 900.
How ridiculous !" the skeptics ex-
claim. But consider moment. The
official" value of silver Ia $1.29 an
ounce. This was the value before the
devaluatlon Of gold. Assuming, al
most experts here agree, that the dol
ar Is TO be devalued sooner or later
% the full extent of the authorization
n the present law. or to so cents gold.
he "officlal" value Of silver would be
'2.58 TN ounce!
And you will find plenty OF people
Who are not dumb about currency mat
ers, and who know what Is going on
inside the administration, who will tell
'ou positively that there Is no pros
'ect Of a let-up on the push for silver
Until 1t passes the two-dollar mark.
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