Of that majority, Senator Jones of Nevada, and Representative Bland, of Missouri, were the leading members. If in defence or in extenuation of the policy of the majority it shall be said that the United States has not remonetized silver, and that, therefore, the policy of the majority has not been tested, a partial rejoinder, if not, indeed, a satisfactory reply, may be deduced from the facts that between the years 1878 and the year 1893 the Government coined more than 400,000,000 silver dollars, and yet, in that period of time, silver bullion fell from 1.15 plus per ounce to .65 plus per ounce.
It is worthy of notice that the product of silver in the United States has increased with the demand for silver. Upon the passage of the Sherman Bill the product advanced from 45,000,000 ounces in 1888 to an average of 55,000,000 ounces from 1889 to 1893, inclusive. Upon the repeal of that act the product fell to 49,000,000 ounces in 1894.
It is not only probable, it is certain, that with every increasing demand for silver there will be an added supply. Consider what has happened since the appearance of the inventions of which I have spoken.
The world's annual product of silver from 1493 to 1865, inclusive, was 16,887,157 ounces. The largest annual product was from 1861 to 1865, when it reached 35,401,972 ounces. From 1866 to 1894 inclusive, the annual average product was 114,326,397 ounces. In 1894 the product was 167,752,561 ounces, which, as will be observed, was about nine times the annual product from 1493 to 1865.
From 1876 to 1894 the business of silver mining was increased 147 per cent. Can any one name any other business or pursuit in which there was a like increase? And is not the inference justified that the profits have been large and tempting, notwithstanding the demonetization of silver in some countries and the suspension of coinage in other countries?
I turn now to the future, and first as to the possibility of the further use of silver as currency.
I assume that in countries where the standard is gold there may be a considerable use of silver, as in the United States to-day.
An international bimetallic system, binding nations to each other for a definite term of years, is a proposition involving large responsibilities.
If in 1885 it was not practicable to secure the adoption of the bimetallic system, when silver was worth eighty-four cents per ounce, what is the prospect of its adoption when silver is worth only sixty- four cents per ounce, with an annually increasing product and a diminishing price?
What remains? This, possibly: That the nations may agree to purchase each a per cent of a fixed amount of silver as the product of each year. This scheme might prove, and probably it would prove, to be only a temporary expedient.