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 25.112).—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.
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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