Apropos of the purchase of silver by the American Government, we understand that Reuter on Tuesday received a message to the effect that the Government had accepted a tender of a million and a half of silver and that the method of quoting silver henceforth would be on the double basis of domestic mined and foreign mined.
But this message appears to need some elucidation according to intelligence received at the end of last week by a leading American bank, which was as follows:—
"Regulations modified (to) authorized purchase domestic portion of mixed domestic and foreign bars provided both lots ore delivered smelters subsequent 17 January 1920.""
The previous advice this bank had received was to the effect that the Government would not take existing stocks either domestic or foreign off the smelters' hands.
This means, presumably, that the U. S. Government is buying American-mined silver at the dollar an ounce as provided for by the Pittman Act.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.