on Friday, July 1, 1892, Mr. Stewart offered as a substitute for the bill the following: "That the owner of silver bullion may deposit the same at any mint of the United States, to be coined for his benefit, and it shall be the duty of the proper officers, upon the terms and conditions which are provided by law for the deposit and coinage of gold, to coint such bullion into standard dollars authorized by the act of February 28, 1873, entitled 'An act to authorize the coinage of the standard silver dollar and to restore its legal-tender character,' and such coins shall be a legal tender for all debts and dues, public and private, provided the foreign silver coins, or silver coins bearing the impress of foreign mints, and bullion formed by melting down such coin, shall be excluded from the provisions of this act, and the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized and required to make such regulations as may be necessary to carry this provision into effect. The act of July 14, 1890, entitled 'An act directing the purchase of silver bullion and the issue of Treasury notes thereon, and for other purposes,' is hereby repealed." Senator Vest draws the line.-In this substitute Senator Stewart attempted to fasten legislation upon the country by which it would have been compelled to take the product of the Western silver miners as it was offered at the mint for free coinage. This was going a little too far even for Senator Vest, who moved to strike out the last provision as to foreign silver coin. He said he was for free coinage of silver, "not to give a market to the mine owners of the West, but because it is a money metal," and he opposed discrimination against any portion of the silver product which is brought to the mints. This motion was agreed to, and the substitute was passed by a vote of 29 to 25. It will thus be seen what interest the silver barons had and still have in the election of Mr. Bryan. Should Mr. Bryan be elected in 1900 and the silver Democrats carry Congress, Senator Stewart has only to offer his first amendment in the shape of a bill; he may be entirely sure of its passage. The silver mine owners will then be in a position to fix the kind of money in which they shall be paid. As all mining assessments in Nevada and California are specifically made payable in gold, their bullion will probably command payment in the same kind of money. That may be one of the ways in which they expect to maintain the parity of the two metals. Treasury notes have always been held to be payable in "coin." GOLD AND SILVER. The following table shows the production of the precious metals in the world for the calendar years 1860-1895, latest obtainable data: Product of gold and silver in the world, 1860-1895. [The annual production of 1860 to 1872 is obtained from 5-year period estimates, compiled by Dr. Adolph Soetbeer. Since 1872 the estimates are those of the Bureau of the Mint.] The following table shows the production of gold and silver from the mines of the United States in the years 1860 to 1895. The silver product is given at its commercial value, reckoned at the average market price of silver each year, as well as its coining value in United States dollars: Product of gold and silver from mines in the United States, 1860-1895. [The estimate for 1860-1872 is by R. W. Raymond, commissioner, and since 1872 by the Bureau of the Mint.] Product of gold and silver in the United States from 1792 to 1844, and annually since. [The estimate for 1792-1873 is by R. W. Raymond, Commissioner, and since by Director of the Mint.] WORLD'S STOCK OF GOLD AND SILVER COIN IN 1873 AND 1896. The stock of gold and silver in the world in 1873 and 1896 is estimated by the Treasury Department to have been as follows: Gold. 1873. 1896. $3,045,000,000 $4,100,000,000 4,200,000,000 Commercial ratio of silver to gold each year since 1687. [NOTE. From 1687 to 1832 the ratios are taken from Dr. A. Soetbeer; from 1838 to 1878 from Pixley and Abell's tables, and from 1879 to 1894 from daily cablegrams from London to the Bureau of the Mint.] Gold and silver, the precious metals, as they are called, are under no law of tariff, or under no law of inclusion or exclusion; they go just where they are most wanted. They go wherever there is a |