Ch. 1: Gold and Silver in 1888

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	40 MINERAL RESOURCES.

	Imports and exports.—The following table, arranged by the Director of the Mint, shows the movement of gold and silver during the last calendar year: Imports and exports of gold and silver during the calendar gear ended December 31, 1888.



	World's production of gold and silver for 1887 and the three preceding years.



	Industrial consumption.—The total consumption of the precious metals in the industrial arts, according to the statements furnished the Bureau of the Mint, has been very much larger during the past year than in preceding years, both in gold and in silver. The increase has been large both in bars furnished by the Government institutions and in bars furnished by private refineries, but especially large in the value of silver bars for industrial use furnished by private refineries in the United States. According to the figures presented in these tables, the value of gold bars for industrial use furnished during the calendar year 1888 was $13,321,025.46, against $11,072,000.40 in 1887 and $0,031,791.10 in 1880, showing a steady increase each year in the consumption of gold in the industries in the United States. The value (coining value) of the silver bars furnished for industrial uses during the calendar year 1888 was $7,908,148.79, against $5,241,998.19 in the calendar year 1887, and $4,858,323.58 in the calendar year 1886, showing a steady increase also in the value of silver used in the United States in the industries, but a very large increase during the last year.

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