The following figures, which have been compiled by a very competent authority, show at a glance what were the prospects of the silver market from the point of view of supply from the mines.

* The question of the standard of Holland is in abeyance as we write.

17

Production of gold and silver throughout the world in the years 1852-1875 inclusive.

II..Production of Silver. [Note.'.The amounts are given in millions and tenths of millions sterling.]

III.-Total Production of Gold and Silver together. [Note.-The amounts are given in millions and tenths of millions sterling.]

Note..The authorities for the above figures are (1) for Australia-the Register of Statistics of Victoria and New South Wales, published by the

Colonial Governments; (2) for United States, Mexico, and South America, and Russia-Reports of the Director of the United States Mint, 1874, 1875; and (3) for "other countries "-the same as No. 2, production of 1871 taken as an average, no details being ohtainahle. For 1875, the figures for the United States are taken from a summary published in San Francisco, and for Australia and Mexico, etc, from the imports of the year.

The authority to whom we refer in presenting these statistics to the public stated, " I am not concerned to discuss the policy of Germany in adopting a gold standard, but I submit that the figures of the enclosed table prove that the demonetization of silver was "ill-timed,' for not only was the production of gold falling off, and that of silver increasing, but there had been for some years a diminished demand for the latter. I maintain that had Germany simply decided to replace her silver with gold, as opportunity offered, she might, within a very few years, have accomplished her object without incurring the serious loss caused by the plan she adopted, and without disturbing the Eastern exchanges. This is what France did during the Empire, and the operation was, as is well known, very successful.

The throwing on the market by Germany of a milliard of silver concurrently with another disturbing cause, the exportation of a large amount of England's stock of gold, in consequence of the American crisis, set all interested in maintaining the value of silver to work, to devise means for meeting what was seen to be a more serious movement as affecting the silver standard currencies than had been witnessed since the effects produced by the discovery of the American mines. Attention was then directed to a set of circumstances which at a glance told the far-seeing that it would be useless to attempt to oppose a current that had been for a long time gathering strength unobserved. The supply of silver as shown by the figures already given had been increasing, while the find of gold had for several years past been declining. The effect of this increasing supply upon a stock of silver which had been accumulating more rapidly of late years since the addition of the forced paper currencies of

France, and the United States, to the other States such as Russia, Austro-Hungary, and Italy, did not make itself felt until the subject was investigated. It was then discovered that there were much larger stocks of silver ready to be put into circulation than was supposed. It came to light that the Bank of France, for example, held some seventy millions of the precious metals of which silver formed about a third part, and the Mints of Switzerland, Italy, and Belgium were coining only a small proportion of what they had laid up. Germany held a great quantity in addition to that which had been already thrown upon the market, but for obvious reasons when once the intentions of the German Government were declared they had to a great extent spoiled their own market. Coincidently likewise with these direct influences which had been affecting the price of the metal, there was the exceptional demand for gold from Germany and the United States, and also from Holland on a smaller scale.

The most material negative adverse influence was the depressed state of trade with the East. For years large quantities of the metal had flowed in a continuous stream to pay for the exports of our Indian Empire, and to China to settle the balance of trade, but the stagnation in trade with this quarter of the world which had long prevailed had almost completely closed up this important channel at the most critical moment. By closing up one of the most regular outlets for the surplus supply of the metal, and thus stopping a regular conversion of ingots into currency the depreciation was naturally much intensified. Lastly, and what is perhaps of more importance, looking to the more distant future, than any of the other circumstances referred to, was the increasing production from the mines and particularly the new mines that had been discovered in Nevada, one of the States of North America. In this district, which is bounded on the west by California, on the south by California and Arizona, on the east by Utah and Arizona, and on the north by Oregon and Idaho, extraordinarily rich veins of silver had been struck. In one of the mines, moreover, where the gold and silver was discovered together, the production of the latter was a secondary consideration, the chief object being to extract the gold.

The 'Financial Review' (annual) for 1876, published by Messrs. W. B. Dana and Co., of New York, gives among a mass of other valuable information the following tables taken from the annual Government reports of the contribution of the mines of the United States to the world's supply of the precious metals prepared by Professor Raymond, Commissioner of Mining, and by Dr. Linderman, Director of the Mint.