TABLE IV.

PRODUCTION OF GOLD AND SILVER IN THE UNITED STATES FROM 1792 TO 1844, AND ANNUALLY SINCE.1

(The estimate for 1792-1873 is by R. W. Raymond, Commissioner, and since by Director of the Mint.)

There is a constant shifting of positions by the principal countries in the production of gold and silver, especially the former. As previously stated the United States lost the first place as a producer of gold in 1894, having been surpassed by Australasia. 1902 the United States held second place, still being preceded by Australasia; South Africa, Russia and Canada holding the third,

In

fourth and fifth positions, respectively. In the same year the total output of the British possessions was about $154,000,000, being more than one-half of the world's production. The United States came second with a product of $80,000,000 or more than one-fourth; together these two nations contributed fully four-fifths of the output of the gold mines of the world.

In 1904 the ranking positions of the three principal gold-producing countries were: Australasia, first, Africa, second, and the United States, third. In 1905 the order was again changed, being: Africa first, the United States second, and Australasia third. It is probable that the position of second rank now held by the United States, will be maintained for some time to come, yet it is possible that the discovery and development of a number of large producing mines of high-grade product of the bonanza or propylitic type, such as have been discovered recently in Nevada, might advance the production of the United States well toward the position of first rank.

In 1902 Mexico led in the production of silver, her output exceeding one-third of the world's production. The United States was a close second having a product of one-third that of the world. Of the total output of the world, North America contributed 71.9 per cent, while Central and South America added 14.1 per cent, making a total for the American continent of six-sevenths of the world's silver output. During the years 1903, 1904 and 1905 the yield in silver of the United States and Mexico experienced a rapid change, and in 1905 there was a reversal in the positions previously held for some years. The yield in ounces for the three years beginning with 1903 was as follows: in 1903, the United States, 54,300,000 and Mexico, 70,499,942; in 1904, the United States, 57,682,800 and Mexico, 60,808,978; and in 1905, the United States, 56,101,600 and Mexico, 54,652,893.1

A report on the world's production of precious metals made in 1897 by M. de Foville, Director of the French Mint, is an interesting and instructive summary, a review of which is given below. History is divided into four unequal periods: The first ends with the Middle Ages, and is of historical interest only.

"In the fifteenth century Europe possessed a slender stock of gold and silver, whose total has been usually estimated at one thousand million of francs-$200,000,000. The second period begins with the discovery of America, and closes in the middle of the

1 Mines and Quarries, Report Bureau of Census, 1902, p. 563, and Report Director of Mint, 1906, pp. 125–127.