Democratic Sentinel, Volume 5, Number 44, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 December 1881 — GOLD AND SILVER. [ARTICLE]

GOLD AND SILVER.

Report ol the Director of the mint. The annual report of Horatio C. Burchard» the Director of the United States Mint, for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1881, contains, in addition to the customary detailed statements of the operations of the mints and assay offices, much valuable information in regard to the production of precious metals in the United States and in the world, their use in the coinage of this and foreign countries, consumption in arts and manufactures, specie circulation, aud an examination of tho course of prices i comparing paper and metallio circulation for a series of fifty-six years, with the percentage of yearly prices to the mean prices of staple articles, indicating the annual variations in the purchasing price of money. Gold and silver received and operated upon by all the mints and assay offices, exceeding by more than $60,000,000 the receipts of anv previous year, amounted to $226,225,522, of which $193,371,101 was gold, and $32,854,421 silver. This large increase was duo to the continued influx of gold from abroad, over $95,000,000 deposited being from that source alone. The coinage facilities of the mints will be enlisted to their fullest extent in converting this bullion into coin. The gold coinage amounted to $78,733,864, or which $15,345,520 was in double eagles, and the remainder in coins of lesser denominations. The coinage of silver was confined to the minimum value of silver bullion required to be coined by the law authorizing the coinage of the standard silver dollar, $27,637,955 of which wero struck ; of subsidiary coins only $12,011 were coined, and of base metal or minor coins $405,109. The total coinage of silver dollars since the passago of the act for their coinage, up to Nov. 1, was $100,672,705, of which $34,096,327 are in circulation, and $58,833,770 held by the treasury for tho payment of outstanding silver certificates, leaving $7,737,608 for disbursement by the treasury in ordinary payments. The usual examinations and settlements were made at.the close of the year. The report, referring to the probable restoration of silver to its former the monetary circulation, says: “Iu view of the failure of the international monetary conference to Agree Upon any practical measure, aud while awaiting its future action, it is a question for our serious and early consideration whether it is not desirable to suspend further coinage of silver until by international agreement and effective legislation unlimited coinage of silver and gold at common fixed rates shall have been authorized by the principal commercial nations of Europe and America. Should the $650,000,000 silver coin now full legal tender in Europe be demonetized, the United States could not, single-handed among commercial nations, with no European co-operatiou or allies, sustain the value of silver from au inevitable fall. With tM&t danger menacing us, wo cannot, without serious embarrassment, continue such coinago unloss other commercial nations will agree upon the general use of silver as well as gold.” The ratio of 15% to one already approved, and iu use among the nations composing the Latin Union, would doubtless be chosen. This would causo, if the coinage of silver, as well as gold, at all the mints of the world wero made free, as bi-metallism implies, the voluntary withdrawal from circulation of the standard dollars and their recoinage. In such case the further coinage of the silver dollars of the present weight, unless needed for circulation, is a useless expenditure. Director Burchard estimates the world’s production of gold for the calendar year 1880 at $107,000,000, and of silver $87,500,000. The consumption of the world in ornamentation, manufactures and the arts is estimated for the same period at $75,000,000 gold aud $35,000,000 silver. The estimated circulation of the principal countries of the world is placed at $3,221,000,000 ; full legaltender silver, $2,155.000,000; limited tenders, $423,000,000; total specie, $5,759,000,000; paper, $3,644,000,000; making the total circulation, including the amount held iu the Governments’ treasuries, banks and in RCtive circulation, $9,403,000,000. Upon tho subject of the course of prices, and indicating the annual variations in tho purchasing power of money in the United States, the Director has prepared tables showing the averaga annual prices of both gold and currency of tne leading staple articles in the New York market for fifty-six years, with the mean price of each, and also the relation which the average annua] price of each article bears to the mean price for the whole term of years. The mean percentage for each year of all articles named furnishes a basis for measuring the purchasing power of money, and is instructively compared with the per-capita circulation and estimated wealth for •ach year.