Mohave County miner and our mineral wealth. [volume], January 24, 1920, Page PAGE SEVEN, Image 7

About Mohave County miner and our mineral wealth. [volume] (Kingman, Ariz.) 1918-1922

Image provided by: Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records; Phoenix, AZ

                
SATURDAY, JANUARY 24, 1920.
THE MOHAVE COUNTY MINER AND OUR MINERAL WEALTH,
PAGE SEVEN
. iiitittiitiiitti
Silver The World Sen
sation in 1919-1920
iittt,
Silver, the metal, proved the world
sensation in the year 1919, reaching
the highest prices in the recorded his
tory of the universe. For the first
time in history, silver coin of the lead
ing nations of Europe sold at a higher
price than gold coin. This does not
of course mean that silver is more
valuable than gold, merely a silver
dollar or shilling is worth more than
a gold dollar or shilling.
The record high price of 79 1-8
pence per ounce British standard
(925-1000ths fine) was reached in
London market in November. This
would have represented $1.73 1-2 for
American silver, were the British
worth the normal exchange 'value of
486 5-8 cents in American money.
Throughout the latter part of 1919 the
London price fluctuated between 75
pence and 78sl-2 pence per fine ounce
British standard, generally around 77
pence. This compares with prices
around 26 pence for many years be
fore 1915.
United States Prices
In the United States the actual high
price reached was $1.37 3-4 per ounce
American standard, 1000-1000ths fine,
at New York, $1.40 1-2 at San Fran
cisco. The so-called "par" of silver in
the o,ld days of "16-to-l", prior to
1873, was $1.2929 per fine ounce.
One thousand ounces silver enter into
1,293 standard silver dollars, and -at
recent prices for silver around $1.32
to $1.33, the fresh standard silver dol
lar (none coined since 1905), worth
100 cents as coin, is worth near 103,
cents as silver, However, 1,000
ounces pure silver enter into 1,382
dollars in dimes, silver quarters and
half-dollars, and our "subsidiary" sil
ver coinage in this country is not -in
serious danger of the melting pot un
til silver passes $1.38 per fine ounce.
A bill has been introduced in Con
Gress to reorganize our silver coinage
whereby 1,000 ounces pure silver
would enter into, $1,777, subsidiary
coins instead of $1,382 as flow.- Chair
man Piatt, of 'the House Comittee on
Banking and Currency, is the father
of this measure.
.Pre-War vs. War Prices
The average price for many1 years
before the war was around'55cents an
ounce for silver in New York. The
record low was 46 cents in February
1915. WJien silver sold at 46 cents
our silver dollar was worth only
35 cents, versus about 102 cents
now 'with silver at $1.33.
The london price of silver is the so
called vorld bid price. The New York
price reflects and depends upon ex
change value of British money at the
time. The bulk of American and
world silver goes to India and China
via San Francisco and Vancouver.
The western coast price is generally
1M 'to 4 cents higher than the New
York price. This premium on silver
in the west reflects expressage and
insurance tariffs. The west coast
premium particularly benefits western
silver miners whose product is re
fined in the west' The premium
through most of 1919 was over 2 cents
or 3 cents an ounce in San Francisco
and Vancouver over the New York
price.
Silver Better Than 16-to-l
The high British or world price of
79 pence represented a value for
silver way above the historic "16-to-l"
ratio, to be exact, it represented 11.9
ounces silver worth one ounce of gold
at $20.67 per fine ounce for gold. The
yearly average , price of silver around
26 pence for over ten years before
1915, meant an average of about 37-to-1
between one ounce of silver and
one ounce of gold.
The once despised silver coinage' of
the silver nations such as India, China,
Mexico, etc., now commands the big
gest premiums. The money of the
leading gold nations of Europe and
other parts of the world sold at a dis
count. Silver coinage throughout the
world is worth more at bullion value
than the par value of gold coin.
For instance, 5,900 British shilling
coins contain just 1,000 Troy ounces
pure silver, but are worth 6,929 shill
ings at the market price of 77 pence
for British silver bullion. Over 1,000
shillings is the premium on the mar
ket value of 1,000 ounces of pure sil
ver over the coin value in British coin
age. The 5,900 shilling coins were
worth 346 in the silver bullion mar
ket, and only 295 at par or gold
value of 295 in gold sovereigns or in
gold bullion; whereas the depreciation
in exchange of British banknotes and
"sterling exchange" made the 295
worth about 23 per cent still less with
the exchange value of the down to
375 cents versus 4865-8 par. The ex-
&feange value of the British at 375
cents la uuwu i.o per cent ueww guiu
parity. The price of silver bullion at
77 pence is near 12 per cent premium
above par value of equivalent British
gold coin or gold bullion.
Silver Coin Above Pr
The premium "Ton 'Silver coinage in
France, Belgium and Italy is still
higher ,and very much higher in Ger
many, the Teuton and central empires
and new republics, and in Russia.
Wheceas the exchange value of the
money of the so-called "gold" nations
of Europe sold way below par, ex
change value of the silver nations of
the world sold ' at huge premiums
.cve par. ,W& . ......
in. M.UaSiEaoA.'' worth .about 49
mil
cents at par ,and actually selling at
47 cents for many years, sold at
around $1.05 most of the year. The
Shanghai dollar, worth around 72
cents at par, and actually selling
around $1.65 at the end of 1919. The
India rupee, worth 32 cents at par be
fore the war, and about 18 cents ac
tual value, commanded 43 to 46 1-4
cents throughout 1919. In short, the
mbney of the" great silver nations was
selling at 150 to 250 per cent of par
or pre-war value, generally over 200
per cent, whereas the money of the
gold nations was selling at 8 or 9
cents on the dollar as in Germany and
Russia,, and 77 cents on the dollar in
British money, which was most "well
off" of the big European nations, and
with American money considered at
"par."
Why World Production Declined
World production of silver fell off
heavily in 1919. An increase in Mex
ican production, chiefly at Pachuca,
was wiped out by natural decline in
productivity of the older established
silver districts of Cobalt (Canada),
Tonopah (Nevada), and Broken Hill
(New South Wales, Australia).
Strikes also interfered in Nevada and
Canada. Worst of all, over 60 per
cent of the world's silver production
comes, not from silver mines, but as
a by-product from copper and lead
mines. Copper production was cur
tailed to under 60 per cent normal,
and lead production curtailed nearly
as much throughout the world. World
output is estimated at under 160,000,
000 Ounces pure silver in 1919 versus
177,453,000 ozs. in 1918, and a record
high of 228,738,00 ounces in 1911 when
Cobalt, Tonopah, and Broken Hill and
also Mexico were in their prime.
Coinage Requirements Heavy
World demand for coinage purposes
was" close, to 300,000,000 ounces as in
1918 and 1917, or double the total
world production of new silver. In
dia, China and Mexico increased the
output of new silver coinage; the uni
ted States mints worked heavily but
not at capacity. There was a de
crease in European coinage owing to
the coin value of silver in European
monev beine less than the bullion
value or metal value of the coin. The
total minting of new silver coinage
in Europe, while heavy in the aggre
gate, is comparatively small when
compared with India and China, and
the decrease in European silver new
coinage in 1919 was more than off
set by the prodigious increase in coin
age in India and the Orient.
The Mexican mints, practically idle
in 1918 and early 1919 when silver
sold at a higher value than the coin
value of the Mexican peso, resumed
activity in 1919 when the government
in recognition of the high price of
silver, lowered the amount of silver
legally required in the peso (by act of
November, 1918, again Oct. 25, 1919).
The Mexican government bought 3,
000,000 ounces early in the year. The"
act of Oct. 25 authorized the govern
ment mints to commander half the sil
ver production of Mexico.
A corresponding reduction of the
amount of silver in European coins is
inevitable, and legislation to this ef
fect has already been introduced in
Holland, as well as in the United
States, and is pending in Britain, as
we go to press, as well as in Germany
and France. As with Mexico, Euro
pean mints and our own must become
heavy coiners again, once the new
coin basis is established with reduced
amount of silver per coin, and there
fore higher price of silver per ounce.
The use of silver in the arts and in
dustries requires over 60,000,000
ounces of new silver yearly.
Great Britain now a Debtor to India.
Probably even more important than
the huge coinage demand for silver is
the demand to pay the net trade bal
ance owing to India, China, and sil
ver nations, by the world. It is for
tunate, now, in the world shortage of
gold, that these nations will accept
silver.
The world owes India in 1919 about
850,000,000 rupees, about $382,000,000
with the rupee around 45c. The debt
to China, Hongh Kong, and the East
Indies, is nearly as great again. Brit
ain has become a debtor nation to
India, where formerly she was India's
only great creditor nation.
This has an important bearing, es
pecially because the premium on the
rupee and the discount on sterling ex
change practically insures Britain con
tinuing a debtor nation, and, practi
cally insures Britain maintaining In
dia on a silver basis.
There might have been a tempta
tion to place India on a gold "basis so
long as the world could thereby have
been compelled' to pay India in gold,
and India compelled to pay Britain, an
erstwhile creditor, in gold. That
would have replenished Britain' gold
supplies, and Britain sorely needs re
plenishment of her gold supplies.
However, with Britain also a debtor
nation to India, India should stay on
a silver basis.
However, even with India placed on
a gold basis, this would greatly affect'
silver. Assuming for a moment that
India silver coinage would absolutely
cease (which it would not, of course) ,
the requirements of silver to serve as
a backing for the unsecured paper
"money" of Europe and America would
more than fill the gap created by the
suppositious withdrawal of India ut-
To The Men of America
By Rose Trumbull, Scottsdale,
Arizona.
You talk of your breed of cattle,
And plan for a higher strain,
You double the food of the pasture,
You heap up the measure of grain;
You draw on the wits of the nation,
To better the barn and the pen;
But what are you doing, my brothers,
To better the breed of men?
You boast of your Morgans and Here
fords,
Of the worth of a calf or a colt,
And scoff at the scrub and the mon
grel, As worthy a fool or a dolt;
You mention the points of your road
ster, With many a "wherefore" and
"when,"
But, ah, are you conning, my brothers,
The worth of the children of men?
And what of your boy? Have you
' measured
His needs for a growing year?
Does your mark as his sire, in his
features,
Mean less than your brand on a
steer?
Thoroughbred that is your watch
word, For stable and pasture and pen;
But what is your word for the home
stead? Answer, you breeders of men!
terly from the silver market.
'. Removal of Silver Limitations
The silver market was fixed at
$1.01 1-2 per fine ounce by the Pitt
man wartime act, which authorized
price fixing, embargo on silver ex
ports except under license, and which
authorized the melting of 350,000,000
silver dollars in the United States
Treasury, containing 270,000,000 ozs.
silver, of which 200,000,000 ozs. were
to be supplied to Britain and chiefly
to India through Britain.
On May 5, 1919, our government an
nounced completion of the contract
with Britain and India, and removed
embargo on exports and price re
strictions. London for two days tried
to hammer the price of silver down,
and tried to obtain an additional 100,
000,000 ounces silver at a fixed price
6f $1.00 or thereabouts. The U. S.
government refused the request, the
London speculators were caught short
and the price of silver reached $1.19
8-4 on May 13, 1919, when a great
Goodyear Leadership
and Tires for Small Cars
58
30x3 Goodyear Double-Cure
Fabric, All-Weather Tread
30x3 Goodyear Single -Cure
Fabric, Anti-Skid Tread
boom developed in silver stocks in the
securities market. The British coun
tered, by withdrawing India from the
silver market, officially at least.
Since May 5, no silver has been sold
for export to India, in this country,
and the British government has tried
to hammer silver by trying to consign
gold to India, and by selling Chinese
silver short, early in the summer.
Huge quantities of silver have been
exported to China, which has been al
most -utterly drained of its silver.
There is a lurking suspicion that sil
ver for India is being imported into
India via the Flowery Kingdom. At
any rate, it is a fact that India, the
great silver consumer of the world,
has not been (officially) in the silver
market since May 5. This makes all
the more remarkable the very remark
able climb in the price of silver since
the summer.
Future Trend in Prices
Where the climb in silver will halt,
it is folly to predict. The withdrawal
of gold from general circulation places
a greater burden on silver.
Even were gold not withdrawn from
general circulation, the great increase
in prices and increase in volume of
commerce, makes more money and
more small change imperative with
which to carry on business. There
has actually been less new coinage of
silver and gold combined, not more,
and notwithstanding increase in silver
coinage.
Paper is a mighty poor substitute,
as the world has found out on many
occasions in the past, and as the world
is finding out once more through de
preciated value of the money of the
so-called "gold" nations, who?e
"money" is really paper "shinpla3t
ers," utterly unsecured by either gold
or silver to the extent of eight to
twelve billion dollars recently issued.
Besides the demand for silver coinage,
for industrial uses of silver, and the
great silver demand to pay the world's
trade debts owing to India and the
Orient, prodigious quantities of silver
must he required in the next ten
years or so to "validate" some por
tion of the unsecured paper "money"
recently issued by the leading nations,
including the United States.
Supply and Demands
What the world needs nowadays is
a silver wizard or group of wizards,
who with 160,000,000 ounces silver ac
tual yearly production, and perhaps
250,000,000 ounces possible production
a few years hence, to go around, can
(Continued on Page 8)
&
4
$2QPO
$2765
L
Charming Hats
We take a great many things for
granted In a world that Is rich In won
derful and beautiful fabrics. We hard
ly stop to think how they are related
to the seasons of the year and that It
has taken some centuries to perfect
them. But they are here, at hand, for
the artists in apparel to use In Inter
preting their Ideas to us. Milliners
make their choice and hats tell the
story of the seasons and much more,
With rich velvets and brocades, warm,
soft-looking beavers and plushes, gold
and silver tissues, with furs, making
up the brilliant and cheerful millinery
of midwinter. There is something of
splendor In it
Four charming hats for midwinter,
shown in the picture above, are good
and sufficient excuse for a little ex
travagance on the part of the eternal
feminine. Every woman knows that
her hat is the most Important Item in
her costume, and here are four that
have all the excellencies, beauty of
fabric, beauty of line, becomlngness
and 'fitness for the season. The hat,
with graceful brim, at the top of the
group is a triumph of the framemaker
to start with, and Is made of velvet.
It has a soft tarn crown and a sash
of wide satin ribbon ending In bows
Enormous resources and scrupulous care
have produced in Goodyear Tires for small
cars a high relative value not exceeded even
in the famous Goodyear Cords on the
world's highest-priced automobiles.
In addition to its larger sizes, Goodyear manu
factures an average of 20,000 small car tires
a day in the world's largest tire factory
devoted solely to the" 30x3, 30x3',. and
31x4-inch sizes.
;
Last year more small cars using these sizes
-were factory-equipped with Goodyear Tireg
than with any other kind.
Their extreme worth is available for your
Ford, Chevrolet, Dort, Maxwell, or other
small car, at the nearest Goodyear Service
Station. Go there for these, tires and.
Goodyear Heavy Tourist Tubes.
Goodyear Heavy Tourist Tubes are built to protect casing.
Why endanger a good casing with a cheap tube? Goodyear
Heavy Tourist Tubes cost little more than tubes of
i-..: iwi , ,t 97V
iMniuuHi jVAjy2sttc K" wuTETprnnr nag
j
for Midwinter
that follow the season's mandate In
keeping to the right
Just below, at the left of the group,
black velvet and gold cloth brocaded
with black achieve a handsome Na
poleon hat which also has a soft
crown. Except for a sash and tie ol
narrow gold ribbon about the crown
It Is without trimming. This Is one of
several (successful off-the-face hats. ,
Opposite it a large velvet hat is faced
with beaver. Its brim Is turned up at
the front and a handsome ornamental
pin fastens it to the crown. 'With this
hat a wide scarf of angora yarn makes
a neckpiece to correspond, taking the
place of fur.
Siberian squirrel fur the lightest of
the gray squirrel skins makes the
spirited turban at the bottom of the
group. A small cascade of fine lace,
with a bit of fur along the plaited edge,
results In a trimming that cannot be
Improved upon. All these models are
worn well down over the head and not
an ear Is visible.
"
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