Show S SILVER ILVER HIGHEST IN THIRTY YEARS following the lifting of the export ban on silver says the wall street journal and during the days of spectacular price advances bat ensued the american smelting smelling Sm elting refining company the largest producer of refined silver in the world did not hold its silver but continued to dispose of the metal as it came along this action of the company was significant at the time it indicated uncertainty over the immediate situation and reflected the experience of the silver industry at least of those who deal in the refined product that it is safer not to count on anything more than the daily market following are the daily new york prices for silver quoted by handy harman since the day before the lifting of the export ban by the federal reserve board with the corresponding london prices to date new york london may 5 L 4 48 ll 11 may 6 lOl ig 48 9 16 may 7 34 4 48 8 5 may 8 48 may 6 9 1 1 I 1 1 may 10 58 may 12 58 7 1 I 1 may fay 13 55 may 14 54 may 15 53 may 16 lilii ll lii 54 T may 17 1101 5 53 3 12 may 19 53 may 20 1083 52 may 21 ban lifted in the united states ban lifted in london the local price for silver is based upon the daily london quotation when the federal reserve board removed the ban on silver exports there was no immediate response in the local quotation although everything ery thing pointed to much higher prices than the official which had ruled since last august but when the british government removed the ban a few days alt afterward erward the price of metal began to mount and was reflected ted accordingly on this side within a week bar silver was quoted in london at 58 pence which gave a new york equivalent of Yi and in some cases was quoted at highest in thirty years this was the highest quotation for silver in london since 1877 and the highest in now york since 1890 under the effect of the german herman 5 silver purchase act of that year silver is arth worth more than gold intrinsically when the pric of the former exceeds under our i uge laws the ratio of silver to gold is 16 to 1 As the coin value of gold Is 2067 an announce ounce r silver conse reaches the gold value per ounce at one sixteenth of that figure the course of silver since the lifting of the export ban has thus borne out the early prediction that followed that action from a commercial point of view the present price level of silver is of tremendous importance to producers they are getting the highest price for the metal in nearly thirty years recent developments represent indeed a graphic climax to the experience of mine owners during the early years of the war copper and lead mining companies where silver is an important byproduct will now be able to reap a harvest to compensate them for their difficulties and losses even before we entered the conflict silver producers however have nothing to complain of since the government fixed the price at 1 an ounce in the pittman act of april 1918 at that time it will be recalled after considerable delay and negotiations the silver minors miners won a notable victory the government had been threatening about a year previously to fix the price of silver at 86 cents an ounce this resulted in conventions at salt lake lahe city and denver and the appointment of a delegation to go to washington and make representations on behalf of the mine owners lt it was shown that it cost as high as 1 to produce an ounce of silver bullion in the mines and districts where silver was the chief product washington was between the importunities of british officials on the one hand and the mining industry of the united states on the other the result was the pittman act which forced the british or indian government to pay more than 1 an ounce and this was the salvation of the silver industry in this country velvet to mining companies the pittman act was a clever piece of legislation to ingratiate the mining west it not only saved the silver industry from disaster and enabled it to carry on during the war but it insured to the producers a minimum market on a war basis of cost for an in indefinite definite period 1 the war is over and as the eap exp export ort ban is lifted there is disclosed a pressing demand from buyers who have had to withhold their shipments on top of a world wide scarcity of the metal the extent of these demands will have a tremendous influence upon silver prices how long the demand will remain acute is difficult to say but whatever the duration it means velvet to the mining companies but this is not all under the terms of the pittman act the secretary of the tras ury must replace the silver dollars melted down by new silver purchased in the open market at 1 an ounce he melted down about of our silver dollars the law does not say when the secretary must replace the iii elter silver dollars he may never do it in the meantime unless the law is repealed silver cannot go helow below 1 an ounce no wonder the american mining congress says 11 silver producers are playing in luck |