It seems clear that discoveries of new silver deposits or enlarged and improved base-metal mining operations are the factors that will influence silver output. Changes in methods of silver recovery and even changed silver prices have no tremendous effect. Even the big drop in silver prices in the early nineties was accompanied by no decrease in silver production. Instead there was an increase.
POLITICAL CONTROL
The silver output of the world is divided among the various political groups as shown in Table 71:
Table 71.—Production of Silver in 1917 and 1913
| Country | 1917 production (ounces) | 1913 production (ounces) | 1913 percentage of total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 71,740,000 | 66,801,000 | 30.0 | |
| British Empire (chiefly Canada and Australia) | 34,001,000 | 50,429,000 | 22.6 | |
| France | 235,000 | 521,000 | 0.2 | |
| Italy | 450,000 | 424,000 | 0.2 | |
| 106,426,000 | 118,175,000 | 53.0 | ||
| Japan | 6,922,000 | 4,716,000 | 2.1 | |
| Peru | 11,000,000 | 8,351,000 | 3.7 | |
| Central America | 2,369,000 | 2,135,000 | 1.0 | |
| Bolivia | 2,434,000 | 2,410,000 | 1.1 | |
| Russia, Greece, etc. | 1,000,000 | 1,000,000 | 0.4 | |
| Mexico | 31,214,000 | 70,704,000 | 31.7 | |
| Chile | 1,673,000 | 2,000,000 | 0.9 | |
| Spain | 4,500,000 | 4,232,000 | 1.9 | |
| Germany, Austria | 1,500,000 | plus | 7,195,000 | 3.2 |
| Turkey | 1,509,000 | 0.7 | ||
| Miscellaneous | 1,700,000 | 700,000 | 0.3 | |
| Total | 170,038,000 | 223,126,000 | 100.00 | |
COMMERCIAL CONTROL
Through Ownership of Mines.
—The production of silver in the United States is all controlled by United States capital. One-third is controlled by lead-mining interests, one-third by copper-mining interests, and the remaining third by silver miners. Moreover, United States capital owns Mexican mining property normally capable of producing over half of that country’s output. Central American production and the by-product silver of Peru are similarly controlled. About one-quarter of the Canadian production comes from properties owned in the United States. In all, the capital of the United States controls over half of the yearly output of silver throughout the world.
Most of the Canadian and all of the Australian, Indian, and African silver is controlled by British capital, as is one-quarter of the Mexican production and some from Bolivia, Peru, and Chile. In all, Great Britain controls a third of the world’s output.
Germany probably controls close to 10 per cent. of the world’s silver production. A part of this is produced locally, but the main German control is in Mexico, the mines owned by Mexicans being taken as, in the main, German properties.