In
1923 the United States Senate appointed a commission to investigate and
report to Congress by January 1, 1924, on (1) the causes of the
continuing decrease in the production of gold and silver, (2) the
causes of the depressed condition of the gold and silver industry in
the United States, (3) the production, reduction, refining,
transportation, marketing, sales, and uses of gold and silver in the
United States and elsewhere, and (4) the effect of the decreased
production of gold and silver on commerce, industry, exchange, and
prices. The members of this commission are Senators Oddie and Pittman,
of Nevada; Senator Walsh, of Montana; Senator Gooding, of Idaho;
and"Senator Sterling, of South Dakota. H. N. Lawrie is assistant to the
commission, and C. E. Alden is secretary. The members of the commission
and the owners of mines protested vigorously against the ruling of the
Secretary of the Treasury regarding allocations of silver to the mint
for subsidiary coinage. The ruling reduced the quantity of silver
purchased under the rittman Act about 10,000,000 ounces. The commission
also promptly took action to collect all available data on the subjects
assigned, and the assistant to the commission prepared a summary
entitled "Gold and silver statistics," which contains tables and charts
derived from the United States Geological Survey, Bureau of the Mint,
Department of Commerce, and other sources.
The
financial and investment division of the Department of Commerce, at
the request of the commission, has issued a report (Bulletin 140)
entitled "Changes in the monetary uses of silver since 1914," by Leland
Rex Robinson, containing data obtained through the American consular
service. An analysis of the information received is given as follows:
The
use of silver for reserve purposes has declined since 1914 in most
countries, both absolutely and in proportion to gold and other forms of
cover for issues of notes; numerous facts have operated to reduce the
relative importance of silver as a circulating medium, in many
countries there has been a reduction in the fineness or content of
silver coins, and no movement appears to be in progress that would
justify an assumption that silver will soon regain its pre-war relative
position as reserve for issues of notes or as a circulating medium.
