SILVER

the annual world production of silver, which exceeded 200,000,000 fine oz. for the first time in 1908, continued above that figure during the next five years. the out- break of the world war affected the output unfavourably, and the civil wars in mexico—actively prosecuted during the years 1914-7——still more reduced production, for the mexican con- tribution fell from 81,233,887 oz. in 1912 to 22,910,058 oz. in 1915, roughly a reduction of 58,000,000 ounces. the world pro- duction in 1914—172,263,596 oz.—was the lowest recorded since the year 1906, 165,054,497 ounces. the official authority for these world statistics is the report of the director of the u.s. mint, whose tabulated data from 1910-25 are appended:— 549 the output in 1904 was 206,875 oz., and in ro1o reached 32,869,264 ounces. it is quite probable that even more valuable deposits, buried beneath the vast canadian forests, await similar chance discovery. the increase in the asiatic contribution is chieily attributable to the active development, under british management, of the burmese mines; these mines had been worked intermittently in past times by chinese labour. the output rose from 105,603 oz. in 1916 to 5,287,711 oz. in 1924. mexican output.—the magnificent contribution of mexico in 1924, amounting to 91,486,136 oz., is by no means the utmost that can be expected from that quarter, though it represented over 37% of the world production. many wide areas known to be rich in mineralised ore are still untapped, owing to their inaccessibility and to the lack of capital. given a government whose stability would encourage the entry of foreign capital, and extension of railways, 1t would be dificult to forecast a limit to the amount of silver which mexico would produce. other poiats worth notice are the gradual exhaustion of the european output, and the substantial increase in the production of south america in consequence of favourable mining developments in peru. the large production of the united states of america during 1923 was owing to the desire of american mining com- panies to obtain the high price of 100 cents an oz., paid by the united states treasury under the pittman act. this measure authorised the replacement at that figure of the silver repre- sented by the dollars which were broken up and sold to the indian govt. in 1918. the figures of the world production of silver during the period 1917-24 by no means include all the world supplies for those years, for very large amounts of silver plate were melted and realised, and enormous quantities of silver coins were demone- tised owing to the rise in the price of silver, which caused the intrinsic worth of the coins to exceed their nominal value. dur- ing 1922 alone over 50,000,000 oz. is estimated to have been placed upon the market. silver continues to flow, as it has for centuries, from west to east, where it is absorbed by the popu- silver production (in fine oz.) (units of thousands) — : ia: & che central south wein) vas canada mexico erica america i91o, §7,138 32,869 7liave 2,027 fa 477 iqii} 60,399 2,741 79,032 1,212 14,434 1912 63,767 31,625 81,234 2,846 13,981 1913) 66,802 31,525 55,486 2,136 13,126 igi4 72,455 28,407 26,062 2,755 10,449 iqi5| 74,961 26,626 22,910 2,920 13,687 1916} 74,415 25,460 29,771 2,603 15,580 iqi7} 71,740 22.221 42,020 2,370 15,451 1918} 67,810 21,384 62,517 2,900 14,712 1919} 56,682 16,021 65,904 2,800 14,753 1920) 55,361 12,794 66,062 2,700 14,588 1921 53,052 13,135 64,465 2,000 15,614 1922 56,212 18,5381 81,077 2,000 21,395 73,296 17,755 90,859 2,500 27,323 65,367 19,736 messrs. samuel montagu & co., london, estimate the production for 1925 as follows: mexico 91,000 los 66,000 canada 19,000 the above table records a drop 1n the average australasian figures for the years 1914-9 of about 8,000,000 oz. from the average of the four preceding years 1910-3. this is chielly owing to the reduced output outside australia. the very low figures fot 1920 and 1921 were caused by prolonged! mining strikes and an outbreak of fire at the broken hill mines—the great produc- ing centre in australia. ever since the discovery, about the middle of the r6th cen- tury, of the rich silver deposits in mexico and peru, the amert- cans have contributed the bulk of the world’s production: in 1924 their proportion was about 80%. canada has become an important producer following the discovery of rich deposits in the cobalt region of ontario, uncovered accidentally during the cutting of the temiskaming and northern ontario railway. | africa | europe | australasia asia world 1,037, | 15,992 21,546 5,257 221,716 1,064 15,693 16,578 5,039 226,193 1,217 15,992 14,738 5,505 230,904 1,056 16,446 18,12 5,308 210,013 1,059 14,535 11,000 5,542 172,264 1,188 15,563 9,250 5,894 173,001 1,203 14,001 10,700 7,070 180,802 1,183 11,916 10,000 9,224 186,125 1,257 12,663 9,934 9,982 203,159 1,272 6,990 7,188 8,240 179,850 1,232 8,372 2,685 8,903 173,296 1,012 wii 5,362 8,870 171,286 1,320 8,342 11,485 9,403 209,815 1,544 8,674 13,819 10,240 246,010 45; : 11,139 239,068 world 240,000 elsewhere 64,000 lous countries of asia, mostly in payment for foodstuffs and raw material needed by western nations. before the world war nearly 50% of the world’s production was thus absorbed. the following are the net imports in the official returns of the chinese and indian authorities:— net imports of silver into china (in 02.) i9io 23,756,000 i918 . 25,609,000 iqii 41,753,000 igiq . 57,907,000 i9k2 20,981,000 1920 . . 100,976,000 1913 39,205,000! 1921 . 35,349,000 1914 14,849,000! 1922 . 43,134,000 1915 20,036,000! 1923. 73,243,000 i916 31,259,000! 1924 . 28,342,000 ioi7. 22,871,000! 1 net export. 550 net imports of silver inte india (in 03.) on govern ment iv ag! year aie. on private a/c. igio-i 223,237 54,880,471 iqii-2 164,061 32,065,039 ig12-3 56,025,301 35,052,341 1913-4 35:399,524 35;797,827 i914-§ * 4,251,329 60,017,452 1915-6 * 2,697,540 35,629,913 1916-7 104,140,566 11,946,760! 1917-8 72,150,731 2,380,767 i918-9 233,702,408 3,326,211 1919-20 99,853,233 2,911,451! 1920-1 1 138,629 22,378,075 1921-2 608,680 63,525,636 1922-3 659,599 85,397,544 1923-4 : 1,176,094 92,081,963 1 net export. appreciation during the world war.—the annual totals varied greatly, largely owing to the influence of the war upon the far east- ern demand. china, taking advantage of the high price of silver as compared with gold, exported silver to india and imported gold, later replacing the silver. indian demand was increased by restric- tions placed upon gold imports from the united kingdom. failing the unlimited supply of gold to which they had been accustomed, the natives took silver instead. the high cost of commodities in the united kingdom and allied countries during the earlier years of the war, together with the need of providing small change to the military camps scattered throughout these countries, called for the provision of subsidiary coins on a jarge scale. russia, france and italy were in a similar plight, and even neutrals like holland came into the market, impelled by rising prices. as the war continued, the greatest strain fell upon india, which had to provide currency for troops and munitions in three great theatres of the war—mesopo- tamia, east africa and egypt. the stock of silver rupees in the indian treasuries on aug. 15 i914 was 3,776 lakhs; on april 7 1918 it had fallen to 1,044 lakhs. the united states govt., unable to secure rupees to pay for purchases from india, sold to the indian govt. 207,000,000 oz. of silver derived from united states dollars lying idle in the treasury. at the same time the high value of silver was unearthing supplies of silver coin from out-of-the-way places. manila dollars, the maria theresa dollars current in the arabian gulf, and afghan and other coins were put into the melting pot to be reminted into rupees, whilst most of the silver coins of russia filtered into the interior of asia in exchange for goods, in lieu of russian notes, which, before the russian debacle, were freely current. during 1914-7 nearly 90,000,000 oz. were shipped from china to india—a temporary measure only—caused by high prices. these heavy movements account for china’s large imports of silver in succeeding years. the replacements of these exports, notwith- standing sales of demonetised silver by germany and other countries during 1919-20, drove the price of silver on feb. 11 1920 to 89d. an oz., the highest quotation on record. drastic measures were then taken by the british govt. to check the advance in price, which was adversely affecting the value of the rupee. the quality of the silver currency of the united kingdom and its dependencies was reduced from -925 to ‘500 fine; the surplus from this source was about 59,000,000 ounces. when this important step was taken by the united kingdom, the edge of the china demand, then accentuated by speculation for the rise, was blunted. in 1920, 70,000,000 oz. were imported into china from san francisco and 20,000,000 oz. from london. as the price of silver fell, the united states treasury com- menced purchases in 1920, which were completed in 1922, to replace the silver sold under the pittman act to india, and, though the new demand provoked some competition from china, the possibility of shipments of silver from india and supplies of demonetised con- tinental silver soon restored the market to normal conditions. in 1924 a new inquiry set in from europe; silver was acquired for coinage by the governments of russia, germany, austria, poland and other countries. currency conditions, however, were still un- stable, and some of the newly minted coins, melted into bars, came back to london for realisation after a few months. the employment of silver for the arts and sciences, which languished during the war and in the years immediately succeeding, became more normal by 1924. the amount thus applied is usually about 40,000,000 oz. a year, the great bulk of which 1s used in the united states. barring unexpected discoveries, the principal! source of supply in the future is likely to be mexico, should local conditions remain favourable, whilst the great material progress of india, owing to war profits, new industries and a series of good monsoons, will probably kcep that great empire in the forefront of consumers. bibliography.—b. white, silver: its history and romance (1917); w. l. uglow, ‘‘ gneissic galena ore from the stocan district b.c.,” econ. geol., vol. 12 (1917); t. a. rickard, ‘ flotation of gold and silver mineral,” min. sci. press, vol. 115 (1917); v. dolmage, ‘* the copper-silver veins of the telkwa district b.c.,"” econ. geol., vol. 13 (1918); j. a. carpenter, “ recovery of silver from manganese- simmel—simonds silver ores,” feng. amfin. jour., vol. 110 (1920); h. b. cronshaw, ‘silver ores,’ monographs on mineral resources, imp. inst., london (1921); n. m. penzer, the mineral resources of burma (1922); j. w. moule, ‘‘ burma corporation ltd., a description and review of early chinese and present-day operation,”’ proc. inst. min, met., melbourne, no. 46 (1922); j. m. bell, “‘ ore genesis at keeley silver mine,’ mining mag. (1923). (b. wu.) simmel, georg (1858—-1918), german philosopher and sociologist, was born in berlin march 1 1858. professor of philosophy first in berlin’ (1901), then in strasbourg (1914), simmel was one of the first academic philosophers to apply philosophy to history and sociology. his philosophy centres round the conception of a spiritual life, various in its forms, and obedient to its own laws, whose external manifestations are to be seen in sociology and the arts. the ultimate theme of his works, which are written in a brilliant and very personal style, is nearly always the connection between life and the meta- physical general principles, revealed to the philosopher in con- crete existence. he died in strasbourg sept. 28 1918. simmel’s chief works are: uber sociale differenzierung (1890); einleitung in die moralwissenschaft (1892-3); philosophie des geldes (1900); kant (1904); die probleme der geschichtsphilosophie, 2nd ed. (1905); schopenhauer und nietzsche (1907); die religion (1907); philosophische kultur (1911); rembrandt (1917); grundfragen der soziologie (1917); lebensanschauung (1918). see w. knevels, sin- mels religionstheorie (1920); n. j. spykman, the social theory of g. simmel (1925). simon, sir john allsebrook (1873- ), british poli- tician and lawyer, the son of a congregational minister, was born feb. 28 1873 at bath, and educated at fettes college, edin- burgh, and wadham college, oxford, where he was a scholar. he became president of the union in 1896, and was subsequently elected fellow of all souls. he went to the bar, became barstow law scholar in 1898, and was called in 1899. his manifest abilities and the persuasiveness of his advocacy soon brought him to notice; he was chosen one of the counsel for the british govt. in the arbitration on the alaska boundary in 1903; and he rapidly attained so considerable a practice that he was able to take silk in 1908. he had gone into politics, and was elected liberal member for walthamstow at the general election of 1906. at first, probably owing to his absorption in his legal work, he did not command nearly so much attention in parliament as his wadham contemporary and fellow-lawyer, mr. f. e. smith (afterwards lord birkenhead). but he gradually made his way, and was appointed by mr. asquith solicitor-general in 1910, was knighted the same year, and became attorney-general with a seat in the cabinet in 1913. on the outbreak of the war in 1914, his resignation, along with those of lord morley and mr. burns, was confidently expected; but he finally decided to remain with his chief and the bulk of his colleagues. when the first war coalition govt. was formed, in may 1915, he was offered the lord chancellorship, but he declined the greatest prize of his profession as he preferred a political career in the commons. accordingly he accepted the home secretaryship, and gave up his legal practice. early, however, in the following year, owing to his inability to accept the government bill for compulsory military service, he resigned his office and led a fruitless opposition to the measure in the house; and then went out to the front in france as a major in the r.a.f. he subsequently resumed practice as a barrister, and immediately regained his position in the front rank of his profession. on the break between mr. asquith and mr. lloyd george in 1916, sir john simon adhered to the former. he lost his seat in parliament at the general election in dec. 1918, but was returned for spen valley in 1922. on the occasion of the general strike in may 1926 sir john simon argued in parlia- ment that the strike was not covered by the trade disputes act and his speech, coming from such an eminent legal authority, created a deep impression. simonds, frank herbert (1878- ), american writer, was born at concord, mass., april 5 1878. he graduated from harvard university (a.b., 1900), after having seen active service in the war with spain. he became a reporter on the new york tribune 1891, and was its washington correspondent in 1903 and sims, g. r.—singapore its albany correspondent in 1904. he was albany correspondent of the new york sun 1905-8. he became a member of the edi- torial staff of the sun in 1908, editor of the new york evening sun in 1913, and in 1915 joined the new york tribuse as associ- ate editor in charge of its editorial columns. his brilliant articles in the american review of reviews (1915-8), analysing the mili- tary and political situation from month to month, brought him a wide reputation. after the armistice he continued to con- tribute articles on international politics to this review and other periodicals. he published, besides other works, they shall not pass—verdun (1916); history of the world war, 5 vol. (1917-24). sims, george robert (1847~—1922), british journalist and dramatic author (see 25.136), died in london sept. 4 1922. he published a book of reminiscences, my life, in 1917. sims, william sowden (18;8-— ), american naval officer, was born at port hope, ont., canada, oct. 15 1858. in childhood he removed to pennsylvania, and he graduated from the u.s. naval academy in 1880. then for eight years he served on board various ships in the north atlantic. during 1889-93 he was with the nautical school ship “ saratoga,” and then was transferred to the pacific station, and later to the china station. from 1897 to 1900 he was naval attache to the american embassy, first at paris and afterwards at st. petersburg (leningrad). in 1900 he returned to the pacific station. convinced of the inadequacy of american methods of target practice, he pressed his views upon the government, and in the end was enabled to arrange for a gunnery test and prove his claims. in 1902 he was assigned to the bureau of navigation, serving for the next seven years as inspector of target practice, which remarkably improved under his guidance. meanwhile in 1907 he was made commander and appointed naval aide to president roosevelt. he became com- mander of the battleship ‘‘ minnesota ” in r909. the following year, during a visit of the atlantic fleet to england, com- mander sims caused a stir by certain indiscreet remarks made at a dinner at the guildhall, london, where he said: “‘ speaking for myself, i believe that if the time ever comes when the british empire is menaced by an external enemy, you may count upon every man, every drop of blood, every ship and every dollar of your kindred across the sea.’”’ a semi-official protest against this utterance was made at washington by the german govt., which took offence at it, but the incident ended in a severe reprimand from the secretary of the navy. | in rorzr sims was promoted captain, and for two years was a member of the staff of the naval war college, newport, rhode island. during 1913-5 he was in command of the atlantic tor- pedo flotilla, and then returned to newport as president of the naval war college. when america entered the world war in april 1917 he was chosen to command the american naval forces in european waters. in jan. he had been promoted rear-admiral, and in may he was made vice-admiral. in his book the victory at sea (1920, in conjunction with burton j. hendrick) he shows how the convoy system, used in transporting 2,000,000 american troops, frustrated the submarines. on conclusion of the war he relinquished command of the fleet, and in feb. 1919 resumed his position as president of the naval war college. in 19019 he criti- cised the manner in which naval honours had been awarded. he received the g.c.m.g. from king george v. in 1918. in 1920 he made a formal report to the u.s. senate, charging the us. naval board with serious errors in the conduct of naval opera- tions during the war.