GOLD AND SILVER.
	By Waldemar Lindgren and Others.
	INTRODUCTION.« The Geological Survey obtains its data of the production of gold and silver by direct returns from the mines, and it is desired to acknowledge in this place the hearty cooperation of the mine owners, large and small producers, throughout the country. Without this cooperation the proposed plan would have been a failure; with it, it is believed that the i"eport reflects an accurate picture of the conditions of the industry, scattered as the output is among over 3,000 producing mines. The number of mine owners who have refused to report their production is extremely small, and the few that still persist will doubtless reconsider when they clearly understand that the figures given are wholly confidential, that only totals of States, counties, and districts are given, and that in the case of single producers in counties and districts their production is so reported as to conceal the exact amount of their output. It should be added that a very large and growing number of companies no longer make a secret of their production of gold and silver. The data collected by this method, however diligently, are apt to be slightlj' lower than the actual figures for the reason that it is very difficult, if not impossible, to obtain the output of individuals who perhaps only do some placer work during the wet season and return to other avocations during the rest of the year. This applies especially to Chinese and other alien miners, from whom, as a rule, no information can be secured in any case. These reasons explain why the figures of the Director of the Mint, which are derived chiefly from direct returns of the United States mints and assay offices and from smelting and refining works, are apt to be slightly higher than those here published, though a comparison will show that this is by no means always the case. On the other hand, it is impossible to secure from the sources just enumerated such reliable data as to the production of counties and individual districts as are nThe writer was given charge of the collection of gold and silver statistics on July 1, 1904. The short time available may in part excuse the lack of detail in the report and a certain lack of a comprehensive plan in the reports of special agents and assistants. HI