Show THE SILVER MARKET the market for silver is no longer controlled by the british government but the price is dependent on the law of supply and demand which accounts for the recent fluctuations tuat ions in the market from down downto to this is the natural result of the removal on may 5 of all restrictions on the mew metal toy by both the united states and british governments the market for silver in new york is really governed by the demand from london where all purchases are made for the indian government and the market advances or declines according to the requirements of india and china which also purchases most of its silver through the hon hong 9 kong branches of london banks the recent decline in the price of silver is said to be due to the fact that indias andias demands show a great falling off and china has ceased buying until it is assured that kiao chau and shantung will be returned to it these being very prosperous provinces china must buy soon china however needs silver and must sooner or later buy in london or bombay the two cities where it has established banking facilities silver mine operators and investors in silver stocks need haye have no fear that the metal will sell below 1 an ounce for years the director of the mint raymond T baker who is now in nevada is reported to have said in reno on june 20 that the price of silver will not fall below one dollar per ounce in less than seven years and probably not for several years longer he said that the probability of congress repealing the pittman silver bill was remote mote and added if the government were to purchase the entire silver production of the united states for the next five years the silver to be melted and sold to the allies under the terms of the pittman bill would not be replaced it would be impossible to purchase the entire output of the united states hence it will be a somewhat longer period than five years I 1 should say not less than seven years before the replacement would be completed the government has melted under the pittman bill ounces and ounces have been sent abroad pittman bill a the pittman bill was passed as the result of negotiations between representatives of the federal reserve bank and the british government which did not wish to pay more than 85 cents an ounce the market quotation when negotiations commenced in october 1917 at that price the greater portion of the silver output of this country could probably have been purchased but this would have been insufficient and the only source of supply of any large quantity of silver were the silver dollars held in the united states treasury many senators representing the silver producing states wished the old ratio value of an ounce to be re established but this price could not have been paid by great britain credit due governor boyle the agreement to fix the price at 1 an ounce was largely due to the excellent judgment and political sagacity of governor boyle of nevada the silver state which is now enjoying great prosperity owing to the boom in silver mining all over the state and particularly in southern nevada where some remarkable bodies of silver ore are being opened up in the new divide district the present high price of silver is undoubtedly responsible for the boom in silver mining in nevada but increased mining activity will probably not appreciably add to the output of the state until next year new mines are being developed old mines are being reopened and big milling plants are to be constructed but it takes time to place big mines on a large jarge producing basis and heavily increased output of silver from nevada cannot be expected before the end of the year but 1920 should witness an immense production of silver from nevada gordon hall in new york telegraph |