Evening star., 1934-07-31
SILVER BILLS FAIL
TOA|DUTAH MINES
Industries Reported at Low
Ebb, With Vast Federal
Loans Made.
spsclal Disnateh % Ths star.

Special Dispatch to Tire star
SALT LAKE CITY. Utah. July 81
6EARA).--The political and eco
pomic situation In Utah Is summed
UP In the fact that the State. with a
population Of only 507.s47. has re-
ceived s34 900 900 In Federal sppro-
priations during the past year
Senator william II. King who is q
candidate for reelection and has been
travelling over the State continuously
since Congress adjourned, is authority
for the statement that 40 per cent Of
the population now Ia living on Gov
srnment relief in one form or an
other
The Federal allotment for direct
unemployment doles in the State for
August has Just been fixed at 81 033. =
500, which is at the rate OF more
than sl2 900 900 a year from this one
Treasury faucet alone. When there
is added to this the checks continu-
ally flowing in from the p. w. A. the
A. A. A. and the II. o. L. c.. and
the special drought relief allowances
to cattle and sheep raisers. it Is quite
evident why Utah. for the time at
least, is sticking ardently to the new
deal.
The largest single industry in Utah
is mining. The production OF copper,
lead. zinc, silver and gold normally
employed 30 per cent Of the popula-
ton. The remainder depended on
farming, with sugar beets. fruit. sheep
and cattle as their principal products.
Industries al Low Ebb.
All OF these industries now are at
an extremely low ebb. Much has been
said about the silver legislation re-
Gently passed by Congress stimulating
the production Of that metal. but one
Is surprised to find that the actual
mine owners, here and in Colorado,
do not expect any such result. Some
Of them even say 1t may prove detri-
mental TO their industry.
The point that is emphasized is
that silver mining no longer is an in
dependent industry. Silver and also
most of the gold in this section of the
country are bi-products Of the lead,
zinc and copper mines. Just now the
prices Of these base metals are SO low
as to make their production unproflt-
able in all but the most efficient
mines. Hence there is very little out
put of silver or gold.
Should the silver price rise to a
point-say, Sl.29 an ounce-where the
mines could produce 1t at a profit, re-
gardless of the prices of copper. lead
only effect would be to glut the mar
ket with these other metals and still
further depress their prices.
Big Political Issue.
Silver is more of a political issue
in this section of the country than in
the East. but mostly from the stand
point of currency imitation. Depend
ent almost entirely on the production
Of basic commodities, the people here
aboutS believe that anything that
tends toward cheaper money will stim-
ulate prices of the things they have
to sell. They know that an advance
of only cents pound in the price
Of lead and zinc, for example, would
mean the opening of most of the
mines now closed and the return OF
the State to large measure of pros
perity.
Utah was sold on Bryan's doctrine
Of free coinage of silver at a ratio of
Is to l back in 1896 and has been
shouting for it in every depression
since that time.
In addition to the fact that most
OF its mines are closed, Utah is Suf-
fering seriously from drought. In
marked contrast with Eastern sections
OF the United States, last Winter here
was one of the warmest on record.
There was almost no snow In the sur
rounding mountains and consequently
little water for the irrigation diches.
Sugar beet and fruit crops are far
below normal and cattle and sheep
are being slaughtered because of the
shortage of feed and water. So long
as the Government Treasury holds
out. however, the people generally