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496 lent by the German State, and interest charged to the account of this system ; profits or deficits to be divided between the two countries in proportion to the length of line and amount of traffic belonging to each. (2) The German mark was to be the only legal unit of currency, and Poland was to recognize the rights of the Reichsbank, for a period not exceeding 15 years, but by agreement the two Governments might modify this arrangement earlier. (3) While the German monetary system was maintained in the Polish zone, the postal telegraph and telephone charges should be in German currency. (4) The customs frontier would coincide with the political frontier, and the German and Polish customs law would apply, with certain exceptions. For 6 months, incoming goods from other countries, on which German or Polish duties had been paid previously to the partition, should cross the frontier without duty. For 15 years, natural products originating or coming from one of the two zones of the plebiscite area and destined for consumption in the other should cross the frontier free of duty. For six months, raw, half-manufactured and unfinished products of industrial establishments in one zone, destined for industrial establishments in the other, should cross free of duty; and this should continue for 15 years when the products, as finished, were intended for free importation into the country of origin. Natural or manufactured products originating in the Polish zone should, on importation into the German customs territory, be exempt from duty for three years from the date of the frontier-delineation. As regards export, the two countries should facilitate for 15 years the export of such products as were indispensable for industry in either zone. (5) Poland was to permit, for 15 years, the exportation to Germany of the products of the coal mines in the Polish zone, and Germany similarly to Poland in respect of the mines in the German zone. (6) For the 15 years, any inhabitant regularly domiciled or occupied in the plebiscite area should receive a "circulation permit" free of payment, enabling him to cross the frontier without other formalities. (7) Generally, the two countries should respect private rights.

 SILVER (see ).—Few subjects of economic importance present such a phase of the mysterious as silver, and the reason for this is perhaps not difficult to understand. In the case of the world's crops, not only are up-to-date and approximately reliable statistics daily available from the countries of production, but the countries of consumption see to it that they equally are in the foreground as to the daily progress of world's crops; and the manner in which statistics relating to these all-important subjects are now presented to consuming markets has become quite an art. For some reason the same attention unfortunately has not hithert— been and is not even now—paid to the production of silver. Most excellent statistics are presented annually by the U.S. Director of the Mint, by the Government of India, and in pre-war days by the German Metallgesellschaft, but these unfortunately are what we may term "post date" figures, and, whilst of great value in informing the student as to what has been, they do not tell us what is going on at any given period.

This state of affairs is no doubt due to the great difficulty which has always been experienced in obtaining definite and conclusive data as to the production of silver, owing to the fact that the metal is now chiefly obtained as a by-product and not from mines worked solely for silver itself. Generally speaking the most important metals with which silver is associated are gold, copper, lead and zinc. Gold and silver invariably occur together. Lead and zinc usually accompany one another, and the ores carrying these two metals particularly where lead predominates are frequently fairly rich in silver. Lead and silver usually form an especially marked combination, whilst copper is frequently associated with both gold and silver. These ores are generally described as silver lead, silver lead zinc, silver zinc and gold silver ores, and the mines producing these ores are not uncommonly spoken of as silver mines, overlooking the fact that the ores of the base metal have to be treated by smelting methods before the silver can be extracted. The quantity obtained in these ores ranges from about 2 to 50 oz. to the ton.

The production of silver, therefore, may now be said to be dependent upon that of gold, copper, lead and zinc; and conse- quently any causes which affect the production of these metals largely affects the production of silver as a by-product, and the world's demands for these metals will in a great measure control the future supplies of silver. Estimates from what are con- sidered good sources give the percentage of the world's produc- tion of silver as ranging from 70% from base metal ores and 30 % from precious metal ores.

Table I. World's Production, 1860-1919.

Year

Fine oz.

Year

Fine oz.

i860

29,095,428

1890

126,095,062

1861

35,401,972

1891

137,170,000

1862

35,401,972

1892

153,151,762

1863

35,401,972

1893

165,472,621

1864

35,401,972

1894

164,610,394

1865

35,401,972

1895

167,500,960

1866

43,051,583

1896

157,061,370

1867

43,051,583

1897

160,421,082

1868

43-051,583

1898

169,055,253

1869

43,051,583

1899

168,337,452

1870

43,051,583

1900

173,591,364

1871

63,317,014

1901

173,011,283

1872

63,317,014

1902

162,763,483

1873

63,267,187

1903

167,689,322

1874

55,300,781

1904

164,195,266

1875

62,261,719

1905

172,317,688

1876

67,753,125

1906

165,054,497

1877

62,679,916

1907

184,206,984

1878

73,385,451

1908

203,131,404

1879

74,383,495

1909

212,149,023

1880

74,795,273

1910

221,715,763

1881

79,020,872

1911

226,192,923

1882

86,472,091

1912

224,310,654

1883

89,175,023

1913

223,907,845

1884

81,567,801

1914

168,452,942

1885

91,609,959

1915

184,204,745

1886

93,297,290

1916

168,843,000

1887

96,123,586

1917

174,187,800

1888

108,827,606

1918

198,168,408

1889

120,213,611

1919

174,517,414

In order that an idea may readily be obtained of the centres from which production is now derived, the figures in Table 2, from the annual report of the U.S. Director of the Mint (1920), supplement those given in Table i for production itself.

Table 2. Production of silver (10,000 oz.) by countries.

1914

1915

1916

1917

1918

1919

United States

7,246

7,5oo

7,44'

7,174

6,781

5,668

Canada.

2,840

2,660

2,546

2,222

2,128

1,568

Mexico.

2,754

3,950

2,284

3.500

6,252

6,268

Central and

South America.

1,320

i, 660

1,818

I,78l

1,846

i,75l

Europe.

924

1,010

847

651

687

490

Australasia.

1,100

925

1,070

1,000

1,000

743

Asia

554

589

756

970

936

836

Africa

105

118

1 20

118

1 08

127

16,843

18,412

16,882

17,416

19,738

17,451

United States. The production of silver in the United States, the bulk of which comes from the western states, has always constituted a high proportion of the world's supply. Generally speaking the major portion of U.S. silver is obtained from gold, copper, lead and zinc ores mined in the States and metallurgically treated in that country. In addition large Quantities of similar ores are imported from other countries Mexico, Central America, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Canada for treatment, and the silver thus resulting goes to swell the U.S. figures of production of refined silver. The United States first came into prominence as a large producer in 1859 when operations on the famous Comstock lode in Nevada began. In 1860 the production was 116,019 oz -, an d m I 9 I 5 the output reached the high figures of 74,961,075 ounces. The preliminary official estimate of the production in 1920 was 56,564,504 oz., a reduction of 1 17,941 oz., as compared with that of the preceding year.

On April 23 1918 the Pittman Act became law in America, under which it is provided that : " The Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized from time to time to melt or break up and sell as bullion not in excess of 8350,000,000, standard silver dollars now or here- after held in the Treasury of the United States." This $350,000,000 represented about 270 mill, fine oz., of which the share of India was reported to have been 200 mill, fine oz., all of which was received in India between July I 1918 and July 17 1919. The Act also pro- vided that these sales were to be replaced by purchases of silver actually mined in the United States at the rate of Si. per oz. pure. The total purchases by the U.S. Treasury under this Act up to May 17 1921 totalled 54,120,197 oz., thus leaving 145,879,80307., still to be repurchased.

Mexico. -This country can safely be described as first among silver- producing countries of the world, in spite of the decreased output of recent years following upon the outbreak of civil war in 1913. The silver-bearing ores are widely distributed throughout the country; the mines and mining districts are exceedingly numerous, and many of the mines have been in continuous operation for hundreds of years. In 1911 the mine production of silver was reported as 79,032,- 440 oz. ; in 1914, owing to the civil war, it dropped to 27,546,752