Show Rev Review ew of the Week In Finance and Trade By By Ira C. C Tichenor T THE HE situation in connection with the silver market be I. I amusing if it were not that it seriously concerns the silver mining interests of the United States in general and of Utah the second silver producing state in particular The situation has prevailed for some time and is generally known but the fact that it exists is vividly recalled by a dispatch from San Francisco stating that tons of silver bullion was being placed in the hold of a Pacific liner for shipment to the Orient At the maximum price of fixed by the United States government the value of the silver soon to leave the shores of America in the one vessel is placed at The white metal is being sent directly to and from there part of be sent to India and other Far Eastern countries in settlement of bills contracted by American and British principally British merchants When this shipment of silver valued here at reaches it will vill be worth more than be- be because cause the people of th Orient and principally of India the greatest silver consuming country of the world are wilting willing to pay a premium of 40 to 50 per cent for the metal I problem as to where this enormous premium goes is an THE extremely simple one It goes into the pockets principally of the British merchants of t. t r. r And who is the loser That question also is readily ani an- an i It It is the silver miner of the United States If any profit surplus or otherwise is to be made on the output of the silver silve mines of this country it should go to the silver miner and not to the British merchant of It is recalled that last year after the passage o or the bill bitI by congress providing for the smelting of of silver dollars in the vaults of the Unit d States treasury for the purpose of sending the bullion to the Orient and which action virtually I II I placed the price at which the government was to purchase silver for coinage at 1 it became necessary for the government in order to prevent the price of silver in the open market from soaring soar soar- ing to set a maximum price fixed at g 5 to be paid forthe for the white metal It Was Va generally understood at the time that this action was wasI taken at the request of the British government which feared that I the t e silver market which had been under the control of London for many any years would run away with itself to the great detriment of the English merchants through an n advance in the value of the he silver rupee That the move of the United Stat States s helped British merchants enormously is attested to by the London Times which said The Americans rose roseto to the occasion nobly Rather it might be said likening this country t tO a fish that I it rose to the bait beautifully to the silver dollars which the United R. R States is in process of reducing to bullion for the purpose of sending to the Orient and of which the shipment at San Francisco just alluded to is a part it does not require any considerable amount of figuring to ascertain that if the silver hunger is not satisfied by this immense amount of bullion and the premium of bf 40 to 50 30 per cent is continued until the entire amount is absorbed it will mean that this same merchant of will benefit benefit to the extent of from to year produced about ounces ounce of si silver ver with a m market value of approximately Half of this would be which may be set down as Utah's contribution contribution tion for twelve months to the British merchant of It is certain that had the Washington government taken noa no I a tion to o prevent nt the advance in the the price of silver the v value lue of f the whIte metal would have gone to at least making the I time ratio of 16 to I 1 between en silver and gold I Even at this price it would have meant an increased profit last year rear o of more than for th the silver silver miners of this state who have been compelled to struggle through many lean years Instead of getting it however they virtually paid of England's bill bitI to India besides making it possible for the British merchant of to get a of an equal amount I IT T WILL VILL do no harm ag again in to quote the London Times that The Americans rose to the occasion nobly and then repeat a paragraph para para- graph raph from an article in this column the silver articIe on question which appeared several months ago anti ami which said Probably it will be necessary for the United States government govern govern- ment to enforce the silver price restriction until all of the oo silver dollars are melted into bullion and shipped to the Orient but it would seem that thereafter there would be no good and nd sufficient reason why this country a the greatest silver silver- producing nation should submit to the thern dictation of any other as to the price of silver and to the direct disadvantage of its ts mining industry With the increased cost of labor and materials it is not every iery silver mine of Utah that could be worked at a profit even w with th silver at an ounce to say nothing of the I governments government's inexorable price but as previously said any profit surplus or otherwise that can be realized from the marketing of the white metal should go to the producer and not to merchants British or otherwise |