Democratic Sentinel, Volume 4, Number 19, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 June 1880 — Precious-Metal Mining in the United States. [ARTICLE]

Precious-Metal Mining in the United States.

Whoever looks over the whole field of American precious-metal mining will be convinced that this industry is certain to make a very rapid growth in what is left of this century. He will also come to the conclusion that the production of silver is destined to increase very rapidly for a score or so of years to come, provided the demand for this much-slandered metal does not fall too far short of the supply. Beyond a brief term this yield of silver will surely diminish, especially if there is any cornu derable lowering in its price. The observant eye can also see that the production of gold is likely to be extended to many new fields, and that the yield of this metal is, in the. future, likely to be rather more steady than that of its bulkier sharer in the greed of men. North America and the twin continent on the south are doubtless to be the great producers of precious metals in the future; their store of silver must be of greater value at the present price of this metal than their store of gold. If the world continues to use silver in the coming century as it has in the past thirty centuries, there is a fair prospect that our continent will win some thousands of millions from its silver-bearing lodes. Even if we make what seems to me the mistake of gold alone as a basis of exchange, the production of this metal will no doubt give us a larger mining industry than any other country can expect to gain.— Atlantic Monthly.