Market Inert Through Paucity of Buyers: Suspension of Purchases by America The market has been rather inert. Though supplies have not been pressing, the price has been disposed to fall owing to a paucity of buyers. The appetite of the Indian Bazaars has not been robust, possibly because of the rapidity with which Pittman Act purchases have neared their end. The Continent has been again a seller, and China seems prepared: to let out silver at any marked advance in the level Reuter /announces tthe receipt of the following telegram from Washington "The Wreasury announces the suspension of silver purchases until it is ascertained whether the estimates of offers already accepted exceed the 200,000,000 oz. which the law authorizes the Government to purchase. (This announcement means that the Government has Pratically concluded another phase of war time financing through the replacement of almost all silver loaned to Great Britain in 1918.... Officials believe also that it means that the (Treasury will be out of the silver market as a buyer for several years."
Senator Pittman has_ recently written to the U. S. (Mreasury with regard to the administration of. the Act which bears his name. We give an extract of the Under-Secretary's reply "Entirely apart from the fact that producers of silver have no special equity in the matter, you will appreciate that in administering the provisions of the Act the (treasury of the United States must keep in mind the best interests of the country a whole, and not merely the special interests of the silver producers. The revocation of these allocations of silver for subsidiary coinage means a saving to the people of the United States, or, in other words, to the whole body of t:"payers, of over $5,000,000, representing in part saving realized through not having to purchase over 14,500,000 ounces of silver at a price averaging about 30 cents sri ounce over the regular market price, and in part a saving of interest resulting from making available for immediate coinage into standard silver dollars bullion which would otherwise be kept as a dead asset in the subsidiary silver bullion account until such later time as further silver might be needed for subsidiary coinage. (he Comptroller-General of the United States, the highest authority in these matters, having decided that the course was authorized, the Treasury's duty was clear and the allocations were accordingly revoke ed. Whis action has saved the people of the United States about $5,000,000 without: depriving the silver producers of anything to
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.