Butler’s reference to a Chinese
official, Wujun Tang, as claiming China to have a “severe oversupply
of silver” (reported by Dow Jones newswire on July 7, 2003) calls
for an examination of the same source to see what has been happening
long-term with world silver supply.
Dow Jones is the parent company of the Wall Street Journal.
Let’s consider this source and the statements it’s made over
a time frame of a generation, about silver supply.
The time frame I chose was 1961 through early 1980; lack
of time disallowed a check of the past 23 years.
We keep hearing about being in the 14th year of
a big silver deficit. As you will see, actually this deficit extends
at least to 1949, as one of the references (#214) shows. While you read these documented references,
you might recall that on American supermarket shelves there used
to be a drink called Tang, which was an orange powder mixed with
water to produce fake orange juice.
Fake, like Mr. Tang’s claim about severe oversupply of silver
in China! To locate these shortage references, I reviewed
the index to microfilm of the Wall Street Journal, 1961 through
early 1980. Shortage references
cannot be found by only reviewing the index; the entire article
must be printed and reviewed. I
may have missed some of these references in the review of hundreds
of articles. Many other references to a long term silver
shortage undoubtedly can be found, including the Wall Street Journal,
April 1980 through the present; New York Times; London Times; other
dailies, and business magazines.
All references below except the first one are from the Wall
Street Journal. During this time frame, the only sources alleging
a shortage wasn’t present were the Silver Users Association and
a certain bullion bank in London
still active as a partner to them, as we shall see. As we come to the close of the long era of suppressed
silver prices we may anticipate that the severe oversupply of liars
will include voices other than that of Tang.
We have seen others in responses from CFTC, COMEX and Congress! As the phrase I feel lucky to have coined has
it, “silver is in danger of falling below the price of manure” (because
of the severe oversupply, according to shorts and users)!
LET
THE DOCUMENTED REFERENCES BEGIN!
1)
“It is clear that during 1903-1920 the demand exceeded the supply.”
(American Review of Reviews, New York, November 1926, page 512,
article entitled, “The Amazing Adventures of Silver” by J. Laurence
Laughlin, Emeritus Professor of Political Economy at the University
of Chicago, reference to India and China)
2)
“Predictions of a critical silver shortage in the near future.”
July 17, 1961
page 6
3)
“Use of silver has exceeded mine production for the past
several years.” July
17, 1961, page 6
4)
“Silver supplies fall.” October 16, 1961, page 1
5)
“Supplies nearly exhausted.”
October 16, 1961, page 1
6)
“Near-exhaustion of the supply of metal.” October
16, 1961, page 1
7)
“Fast-dwindling supply.”
October 16, 1961, page 1
8)
“The shortage” October 16, 1961, page 22
9)
“Declining supply of silver.”
October 16, 1961, page 22
10)
“The Treasury became a net seller of silver beginning in
1959, and sales since then have nearly wiped out the accumulated
“free” Government silver.” November
29, 1961, page 3 (“free” silver was metal not needed
to back redeemable silver certificates.)
11)
“The consumption gap has been filled by imports, used silver
and until now the Treasury’s stock of silver.”
November 29, 1961, page 3
12)
“World silver consumption has outrun production consistently
over the past decade, with a gap of nearly 140 million ounces last
year between production of 211 million ounces and consumption of
350 million ounces in the non-Communist world.” August 20, 1962, page 20 (Note---this
reference states shortage extends back to at least 1952!)
13)
“The U.S.,
the world’s largest consumer and second largest producer, used more
than 159 million ounces of silver in 1961 but produced only 41 million
ounces.” August
20, 1962, page 20
14)
“The silver supply for industrial users is likely to be contracted
further this year by copper production cutbacks announced last month
by a major U.S. copper producer.
A reduction in copper production cuts silver supplies because
two-thirds of the silver produced in the U.S.
is a by-product of ores mined for copper, lead and zinc.” August
20, 1962, page 20
15)
“Scarcity of silver” March 12, 1963, page 4
16)
“The silver shortage” March
12, 1963, page 4
17)
“The domestic supply is insufficient” March
12, 1963, page 4
18)
“Unsatisfied overseas demand” March
12, 1963, page 4
19)
“Since 1959 free world silver production has fallen short
of nongovernment demand.” March 14, 1963, page 12
20)
“THERE IS A WORLD-WIDE SHORTAGE OF SILVER.”
(Emphasis mine, March 15, 1963, page 4
21)
“Insufficient domestic silver supplies” April
3, 1963, page 3
22)
“Demand for silver increases” April
3, 1963, page 3
23)
“Overseas demand for silver increased again” April
3, 1963, page 3
24)
“The Treasury’s supply of “free” silver not needed for currency
backing reached near-exhaustion in November 1961.”
May 24, 1963, page 2
25)
“U.S.
industrial consumption of silver has grown to more than 100 million
ounces a year, and coinage takes 75 million ounces yearly, while
domestic production runs only around 35 million ounces.
This has required heavy imports, which the Treasury dislikes
because it means sending U.S. dollars abroad to pay for them.
That worsens the balance of payments deficit, and gives foreign
central banks a potential counterclaim on the shrinking U.S.
gold reserve.” June 6, 1963, page 26
26)
“Drain on the U.S. Treasury stock of the metal” September
9, 1963, page 3
27)
“Market supply below demand” September
12, 1963, page 3
28)
“In the past week, silver users in the U.S.
have had to go to the Bank of Mexico to get part of their supply.” September
12, 1963, page 3 (a hint of leasing here)
29)
“The supply wasn’t sufficient to take care of consumer demands,
trade sources said.” September
12, 1963, page 3
30)
“Substantial increases in overseas demand has sharply reduced
the supply to U.S.
consumers.” September 12, 1963, page 3
31)
“Fast shrinking stocks” September
12, 1963, page 3
32)
“The London bullion
trading firm of Samuel Montagu & Co. predicted that the heavy
demand for silver could lead to a drain on the U.S. Treasury’s stock
of metal.” September 12, 1963, page 3
33)
“Free World consumption climbed steadily to 366 million ounces
last year from 270 million in 1961 while production lagged far behind,
averaging about 200 million ounces a year.
During this time the U.S. Treasury was selling off unneeded
silver stocks at 91 cents an ounce, in effect putting a ceiling
on the metal’s value.” October
16, 1963, page 14 (again, sounds like leasing)
34)
“The Treasury, fast running out of silver dollars…” March
25, 1964, page 11
35)
“Small Treasury stocks of silver dollars” March 25, 1964,
page 6
36)
“With this run on the Treasury, that august institution is
running out of silver dollars.”
March 27, 1964, page 4
37)
“The Treasury is gradually running out of silver for coin
manufacture. Estimates vary on when Uncle Sam’s 1.5 billion
ounce silver stockpile will be exhausted, but most guesses place
the vanishing point between five and 10 years.”
April 2, 1964,
page 1
38)
“Rising industrial demand for silver makes it unlikely the
Treasury would try to solve the coinage problem by going to the
market to replenish its bullion supply.
We’d be chasing our own tails, says a Treasury man.”
April 2, 1964, page 1
39)
“U.S.
silver stocks of 1.4 billion ounces will be exhausted in a few years
at the present rate of consumption.”
August 17, 1964, page 4
40)
“Dwindling silver supply” September
10, 1964, page 1
41)
“Shrinking stocks of silver” September
10, 1964, page 1
42)
“Shortages are threatening to deplete the Treasury’s silver
stocks much faster than was expected only a few months ago.”
September 10, 1964, page 1
43)
“If they have to keep coin output extra-high for two or three
years, as officials expect, this could bring the silver inventory
perilously close to bottom.” September
10, 1964, page 1
44)
“THE ENTIRE WORLD OUTPUT OF SILVER ISN’T NEARLY ENOUGH TO
MATCH RAPIDLY RISING INDUSTRIAL USE.” (Emphasis added)
September 10, 1964, page 1
45)
“Silver supply drops” September
10, 1964, page 10
46)
“The supply kept dwindling” September
10, 1964, page 10
47)
“Shortage of the metal” September 16, 1964, page 9
48)
“Shortage of silver” September 16, 1964, page 9
49)
“Domestic mines produced an average of only 34 million troy
ounces annually over the past five years while the average domestic
consumption was 106 million troy ounces yearly, or more than three
times mine production.” September
16, 1964, page 9
50)
“A crisis could come through depletion of the Treasury’s
silver stock.” December
28, 1964, page 9
51)
“World silver use outruns production.”
December 28, 1964, page 9
52)
“The Treasury’s reserves fell to 1.2 billion ounces from
1.5 billion in 1964.” December
28, 1964, page 9
53)
“THE GOVERNMENT HAS LITTLE HOPE
THAT MINING WILL INCREASE FAST ENOUGH TO STAVE OFF FURTHER DEPLETION.”
(Emphasis added---yeah, especially when the price has been
so suppressed for 39 years on top of that time!)
December 28, 1964, page 9
54)
“The height of the nation’s most severe coin shortage” (people
were “hoarding,” actually “saving” silver coins!)
December 28, 1964, page 9
55)
“THE FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEM OF FUTURE AVAILABILITY OF SILVER”
(Emphasis added) January 21, 1965, page 5
56)
“It is becoming more apparent that in the long run there
won’t be enough silver to satisfy combined industrial and coinage
needs.” January
21, 1965, page 5
57)
“Treasury silver stocks, including bullion and coin, declined
by 364,500,000 ounces in 1964, a drop of 23%.”
January 21, 1965, page 5
58)
“Treasury silver stocks at the end of 1964 were 1,218,000,000
ounces, down from 1,582,500,000 ounces at the close of 1963.”
January 21, 1965,
page 5
59)
“World production of silver is insufficient to cover both
industrial and coinage requirements.”
February 1, 1965, page 7
60)
“Nearly all of a year’s world silver production has been going for
coinage, leaving little of the metal for constantly expanding industrial
needs.” February 1, 1965, page 7
61)
“The Treasury, hungry for a solution to its tightening silver
pinch, is becoming strongly tempted by “sandwich” coins.”
March 25, 1965, page 23
62)
“A sandwich, favored by silver miners,
that would cap a copper core with silver.
Officials worry that this formula, because it calls for some
silver, would provide only an interim solution, leaving the Treasury
to face a more urgent silver bind six to eight years hence.”
March 25, 1965, page 23
63)
“Industrial users, nervously watching silver consumption
outrun world production year after year, argue that silver shouldn’t
be used at all in coins anymore. Their needs are increasing as more silver is
used in photography, electronics and jewelry.”
March 25, 1965,
page 23
64)
“Treasury silver stock now down to less than 1.1 billion
ounces” March 25, 1965, page 23
65)
“The billion ounces of Government silver on hand amounts
to only a three year supply, forcing the Treasury to look to other
metals for coin making.” June
7, 1965, page 3
66)
“Tight silver supplies” June
7, 1965, page 3
67)
“THE CHRONIC SILVER SHORTAGE” (emphasis added) June
7, 1965, page 14
68)
“Industrial Silver Supply Expected to Stay Tight Even After
Coin Shift” June 8, 1965,
page 12
69)
“Silver for industrial users will continue in short supply.” June
8, 1965, page 12
70)
“Despite stepped-up exploration in recent months, U.S.
silver production can’t be expected to fill more than about one-third
of industrial demands any time within the next five years, estimated
John M. Kelly, assistant Secretary of the Interior for mineral resources. Silver imports, already declining, will probably
drop further in the years ahead, he said, necessitating further
sales from the Government’s silver stockpile to makers of silverware,
film and other products.” (Why
can’t the users just fend for themselves, instead of feeding off
the taxpayers, then staging raids on silver owned by people in other
nations by “leasing?”) June
8, 1965, page 12
71)
“Statistically, the Treasury’s silver position appears very
tight. Current stocks of about 690 million ounces include
465 million legally earmarked as backing for silver certificate
money, leaving only 225 million “free” for outright sale. Moreover, 165 million ounces of the “free” silver
is earmarked for a permanent defense reserve.” June
27, 1966, page 24
72)
“FACED BY A CONTINUING GLOBAL SHORTAGE, SILVER STOCKS WILL
CERTAINLY CONTINUE TO DECLINE IN COMING YEARS.”
(Emphasis added) June 27, 1966, page 24
73)
“Federal officials are sure that the supply eventually will
be too little to hold the price at its current $1.29 an ounce.”
June 27, 1966, page 24
74)
“Global production, including both newly mined silver and
that obtained from melting coins and other salvage sources, currently
runs at an annual rate of 305 million ounces.
Consumption for both coinage and industrial applications
is about 405 million, leaving a deficit of 100 million.
The U.S. Treasury is the major source of silver to bridge
the global supply gap.” June
27, 1966, page 24
75)
“The Treasury’s mountain of silver is dwindling’ June 27, 1966, page 24
76)
“The Treasury’s stock of silver will drop about 110 million
ounces in the first half, and the second half decline is expected
to amount to about 50 million ounces, or 160 million ounces for all of 1966.” June
27, 1966, page 24
77)
“In 1965, Treasury silver stocks plunged 400 million ounces
after skidding 370 million ounces in 1964.”
June 27, 1966, page 24 (Three quarters of a billion ounce decline in 24 months!)
78)
“By the close of 1966, Treasury stocks will be about 640
million ounces, off from a recent high of 2.1 billion in 1958.
Treasury officials are optimistic that these shrunken stocks
will meet requirements at least for another year or two so that
the Government can keep a lid on prices without resorting to such
drastic silver-stretching steps as curbing exports or halting silver
certificate redemptions.” (Less
by 1,460,000 bars of 1,000 ounces!) June
27, 1966, page 24
79)
“The U.S. Treasury acts as residual supplier to world markets
finds it increasingly difficult to maintain sales.”
December 21, 1966, page 21
80)
“Dwindling reserves held by the Government official stock
is estimated at about 600 million ounces, down from 2.1 billion
held in 1958.” January
4, 1967, page 21
81)
“Shrinking stock” March
9, 1967, page 14
82)
“Treasury plans to halt redeeming paper money to protect
silver stock” (it certainly wasn’t planning to protect the silver
from the users, as they soon got most of it) March
14, 1967, page 4
83)
“Dwindling Treasury stocks” May
18, 1967, page 4
84)
“Dwindling stocks of silver held by the U.S. Treasury” May
18, 1967, page 4
85)
“Industrial use of silver in the U.S.
during 1966 was 150 million ounces.
Domestic production supplied 40 million ounces.” May
19, 1967, page 2
86)
“The Government conceded that its stocks were getting smaller”
May 19, 1967, page 2
87)
“WE’RE TALKING ABOUT TWO SILVER SHORTAGES, DOMESTIC AND WORLD-WIDE.” (Emphasis added) May 19, 1967, page 2
88)
“Dwindling Government stocks of the important industrial
metal.” May
22, 1967, page 4
89)
“Consumers in a few foreign nations may feel an immediate
supply pinch. Japan,
for instance, meets about two-thirds of its annual consumption through
imports, the bulk coming from purchases at the U.S. Treasury.” (Is it any wonder we see Mitsui & Company
currently listed as a Silver Users Association member?) May
22, 1967, page 4
90)
“The Treasury’s stock of “free” silver plummeted by about
19 million ounces last Thursday, the same day the department clamped
a ban on exports from its fast shrinking hoard.
The “free silver” is the only amount held by the Treasury
that is readily available for sale at the fixed price of $1.29 an
ounce; the rest is legally required as backing for silver certificate
currency outstanding.” May
24, 1967, page 8
91)
“The latest Treasury statement shows the free stock was down
to 58,760,344.7 ounces from 77,711,831.1 ounces held just 24 hours
before.” (Run on silver certificate
redemptions) May 24, 1967, page 8
92)
“Another factor said to have contributed to the sudden rise
in demand for gold was the U.S. Treasury’s move last week halting
exports of silver.” May
24, 1967, page 8
93)
“Most North American producers long ago anticipated a supply
pinch.” May
29, 1967, page 14
94)
“The current supply crisis” May
29, 1967, page 14
95)
“The Treasury Department acted to conserve its dwindling
stocks by halting exports and restricting domestic sales to qualified
industrial users only.” (What made a user qualified, membership in the
Silver Users Association?) May 29, 1967, page 14
96)
“FOR YEARS DEMAND HAS OUTSTRIPPED SUPPLY BY A GOOD MARGIN.” (Emphasis added) May 29, 1967, page 14
97)
“It appears unlikely U.S.
companies will improve much on last year’s production of 40 million
ounces, or 26% of the 150 million ounces consumed by domestic industry.” May
29, 1967, page 14
98)
“International run on America’s
silver supply” June 6, 1967
page 12
99)
“A shortage of the metal” June
6, 1967, page 12
100)
“Heavy domestic demand is still swiftly shrinking the Treasury’s
free silver stock.” June 6, 1967, page 12
101)
“From 81.5 million ounces May 15, just a few days before
the restrictions were imposed, the free stock was down to 55.6 million
ounces May 29 and, at last report on May 31, the stock was down
further to less than 51.2 million ounces.” June
6, 1967, page 12
102)
“Treasury Free Silver Stock Fell Last Week By
11 Million Ounces.” June 8, 1967, page 11
103)
“At the close of business last Friday, the free silver stock
was 45,011,461.5 ounces, down from 45,857,059.6 ounces the day before
and from 55,994,385.8 ounces a week before.”
June 8, 1967, page 11
104)
“Due to a shortage of the metal, the market price for future
delivery of silver recently has climbed above the $1.29 an ounce
set by the Treasury.” June
13, 1967, page 13
105)
“Silver has been in short supply” June
26, 1967, page 18
106)
“Last year’s industrial consumption of 104 million ounces,
domestic mines accounted for about 40 million ounces in 1966.”
July 18, 1967, page 2
107)
“Silver Prices Climb to Further Records; Some Orders Unfilled”
July 19, 1967, page 26
108)
“SILVER DEMAND IN THE FREE WORLD FAR OUTSTRIPPING SUPPLY”
(Emphasis added) July 24, 1967, page 4
109)
“THERE HASN’T BEEN A MAJOR NEW SILVER MINE OPENED IN MEXICO
FOR MORE THAN HALF A CENTURY.” (Emphasis
added) July 24, 1967,
page 4
110)
“SILVER IS IN SHORT SUPPLY WORLD-WIDE” (Emphasis added) July 24, 1967, page 4
111)
“Dwindling supply of high-purity metal” October
13, 1967, page 22
112)
“Scarcity of bidders willing to put their metal up for bidding”
(Small wonder, when Walter Frankland’s Silver Users Association
has always wanted others to sell silver to them at a loss) October
16, 1967, page 12
113)
“Tightening supply spurs buying” October
24, 1967, page 28
114)
“The tightening supply of silver continued to motivate buyers
at all centers.” October
24, 1967, page 28
115)
“The strike at most U.S.
copper mines now in its 15th week is holding up most
production of silver in this country.
Silver is a by-product of copper mining.
Dealers estimated that upwards of 14 million ounces of silver
had been lost to the strike.” October 24, 1967, page 28
116)
“Silver is in increasingly short supply” November
10, 1967, page 8
117)
“Most of the current supply is committed: the silver certificate
redemption program, due to expire next June 24, has 296 million
ounces earmarked. The Treasury owes the stockpile 165 million
ounces, and another 65 million ounces are the property of the Atomic
Energy Commission. A further
50 million ounces are needed as coinage reserve requirements.
That leaves a deficit of around 200 million ounces, and dealers
say the weekly sales by the General Services Administration for
the Treasury could chew up another 84 million ounces by the end
of June.” November
20, 1967, page 28
118)
“Part of this shortage will be made up by melting coins”
November 20, 1967, page 28
119)
“THE WESTERN WORLD IS NOW CONSUMING SILVER AT THE RATE OF
500 MILLION OUNCES ANNUALLY, ABOUT TWICE AS MUCH AS IT’S PRODUCING.”
(Emphasis added) November
20, 1967, page 28
120)
“Dealers still see the possibility of a price-inflationary
silver shortage.” November
20, 1967, page 28
121)
“Private analysts expect deficits unless production increases
or prices move high enough to attract silver from foreign sources.”
November 20, 1967,
page 28
122)
“There’s a deficit in the Treasury’s coffers that will have
to be made up by the coin melting program.”
(Trashing real money to help the greedy
users!) November
20, 1967, page 28
123)
“The Treasury says it has about 370,000,000 ounces of silver
on hand, down from 1,750,000 ounces in 1962.”
November 20, 1967, page 28
124)
“Silver coin hoarding grows.
A pre-1965 quarter contains 36 cents of silver at $2 an ounce.
But it is still illegal to melt U.S.
coins.” (Hoarding
because the shortage was making silver more valuable. The Treasury was sucking up silver coins through
the 12 Federal Reserve branch banks, melting it, and selling it
to the greedy Silver Users Association.
We shall see more on this in due time.)
December 7, 1967, page 1
125)
“The agency (General Services Administration) discontinued
sales of 99.9% silver when its stocks of surplus U.S. Treasury metal
dwindled to near the 165 million troy ounces required to be set
aside next summer for use in the event of a national emergency.
It resumes commercial grade offerings Friday at the request
of industrial users, whose supplies have been abnormally squeezed
by the five month old nonferrous metals strike in the U.S.” December
18, 1967, page 28
126)
“SILVER NEEDS FAR EXCEED DOMESTIC PRODUCTION” (Emphasis added)
January 18, 1968, page 14
127)
“THE GOVERNMENT IS FAST RUNNING OUT OF SILVER AND SOON WILL
STOP SELLING SILVER TO ANYONE” (Emphasis added) February
23, 1968, page 1
128)
“STATISTICAL TABLES PROJECTING WORLD-WIDE SILVER SCARCITIES,
RISING WORLD-WIDE SILVER DEMANDS AND SOARING PRICES” (Emphasis added)
February 23, 1967, page 1
129)
“Demand outstrips supply” April
9, 1968, page 33
130)
“World output of silver is below world consumption” April
9, 1968, page 33
131)
“Supplies of silver continue to tighten” April
29, 1968, page 26
132)
“Many certificate holders who have refused to sell their
bills until the last minute have been dismayed to find that prices
for the certificates have been declining in recent days.
Reason—the Government is now exchanging silver of as little
as 90% fineness for the certificates, compared to bullion of about
99% purity only a week ago. (The Government ran out of the purer metal.)”
June 20, 1968, page 22
133)
“SILVER COINS ALL BUT DISAPPEAR FROM CIRCULATION” (Emphasis
added) August 15, 1968, page 1
134)
“Since last year, the Treasury has accumulated 250 million
ounces of silver in coins as a hedge against a shortage.”
(The coins were melted and sold to the Silver Users Association!) September
23, 1968, page 28
135)
“Figures showing the Treasury’s stock of silver---both in
coins and bullion---shrank to 246.1 million ounces at the end of
November from 319.1 million ounces on July 1.
More than half of the decline was through bullion sales.”
(Sales to the users!) December
6, 1968, page 16
136)
“The Treasury supply will end.”
May 13, 1969, page 2
137)
“Silver supplies may get tighter.”
May 27, 1969, page 8
138)
“The Federal Government is beginning to see the bottom of
its once mountainous store. Two weeks ago the surplus stock was down to
150 million ounces. The Treasury,
as a consequence, has reduced its weekly auction offering to 1.5
million ounces from 2 million ounces.”
(At many of these “auctions,” attended by Silver Users Association
members, prices for Federal silver sagged, slumped, and declined---a
rigged auction, huh?) May
27, 1969, page 8
139)
“The supply of Government silver entering the market is diminished
and ultimately exhausted.” July 30, 1969, page 7
140)
“Much of the recent gains in price for silver has reflected
a tightening supply.” November
5, 1969, page 39
141)
“Annual production of silver is advancing about 4%, but this
increase in output is well below the needs for industrial consumption.”
November 5, 1969,
page 39
142)
“DOMESTIC NEEDS ARE ESTIMATED TO BE OUTSTRIPPING PRODUCTION
BY MORE THAN 100 MILLION OUNCES ON AN ANNUAL BASIS.”
(Emphasis added) November
5, 1969, page 39
143)
“Treasury’s Role in Silver Market Is Fading As
Its Available Stocks Slip To Low Levels” January
19, 1970, page 4
144)
“The U.S. Treasury is slowly fading from the silver scene”
January 19, 1970, page 4
145)
“For the last 11 years, annual silver production started
falling short of demand.” (Reference #12 claimed the shortage extended
back another 7 years farther than this!)
January 19, 1970,
page 4
146)
“On January 1, 1959, the Treasury’s supply was an impressive
1.9 billion ounces, an amount equal to 6.5 times total world consumption
that year. The Treasury’s stocks currently are down to
about 110 million ounces, or less than a fourth of total annual
demand. Not all of that might be available to silver
buyers, though a spokesman says there is still enough silver in
Treasury vaults to conduct weekly sales of 1.5 million ounces through
September and possibly into October.
The sales are conducted by the General Services Administration.”
January 19, 1970, page 4
147)
“Stocks are limited” January
19, 1970, page 4
148)
“Some (price) rise seems inevitable, considering the supply
and demand situation. World silver production in 1969 was about 250
million ounces, while consumption was 350 million ounces.” January
19, 1970, page 24
149)
“Tight supplies” April
29, 1970, page 32
150)
“Supplies continue to tighten” April
29, 1970, page 32
151)
“The U.S. Government, which for many years has taken up the
slack in deficit production, is expected to be sold out by late
September or October.” April
29, 1970, page 32
152)
“INDUSTRY OFFICIALS DON’T EXPECT THAT RISING WORLD SILVER
PRODUCTION WILL CATCH UP WITH DEMAND.”
(Emphasis added) October 1, 1970, page 28
153)
“World demand for the metal has been rising about 2% a year
to 365 million ounces. But new worldwide production accounts for only
250 million ounces of silver a year, according to Walter L. Frankland
Jr., executive director of the Silver Users Association.” November
9, 1970, page 23
(Notwithstanding the statistical differences between
this reference and number 119, both sources agreed to the existence
of a huge ongoing silver deficit.
As for Frankland, even when he has admitted a supply deficit
exists, the Wall Street Journal noted, “Mr. Frankland rarely forecasts
higher prices,” see April 27, 1979, page 34! So they cut their own throat by holding the
price down, preventing increases in mining production! The shareholders of these companies need legal
redress against management for creating the shortage that is soon
to do them great harm!)
154)
“The U.S. Treasury may soon be buying silver.”
October 6, 1971, page 6 (Note---there
were only 4 articles mentioning silver in the Wall Street Journal
in 1971; only 5 in 1972; and just 5 in 1973! It makes you wonder if member companies of the
Silver Users Association advertised more frequently in the publication
during those years!)
155)
“The supply and demand picture still reflects one of a deficit
in production.” December
16, 1974, page 20
156)
“The largest deficit was 214 million ounces in 1973.
In the U.S.,
the biggest silver consuming country, annual demand is five times
domestic production.” December 16, 1974, page 20
157)
“LONG-TERM CORRECTION OF THE SHORTAGE ISN’T IN SIGHT.” (Emphasis
added) December
16, 1974, page 20
158)
“Chronic deficit in silver output” December
16, 1974, page 20
159)
“The supply of silver coins is dwindling.
About 400 million ounces of silver in coin form has been
melted in the past 10 years.” August 18, 1975, page 16
160)
“Raymond Nessim, metals trader at the Phillip Brothers division
of Englehard Minerals & Chemical Corp., argues that “there are
still a lot of coins circulating---about 400 to 500 million ounces
of silver in coin form.” Phillip Brothers is one of the major trade
concerns in the coin market. “We
buy a good amount of the silver content coins for the manufacture
of silver industrial products,” Mr. Nessim says.”
August 18, 1975,
page 16 (Silver
coins are far less common than their original mintage figures. Franklin Sanders appears to favor them over
other physical. He could
prove correct.)
161)
“More silver will be used than is produced.”
August 27, 1975, page 20
162)
“Supplies of silver are diminishing.”
August 27, 1975, page 20
163)
“Shortage of silver supplies in Chicago”
June 17, 1976, page 18
164)
“The Government has much less silver in its stockpile than
it held in years past.” September 10, 1976, page 22
165)
“Most analysts expect demand this year to pick up enough
to tighten supply; more silver is used up annually than is mined.”
February 8, 1977,
page 38
166)
“One thing that eventually might tip the scale toward higher
silver prices is greater industrial demand this year for reduced
available silver supplies, analysts at J. Aron & Co., New York
based precious metals dealers, say in their latest research report.”
May 13, 1977, page 26 (Rumor abounds that J. Aron & Co.,
once part of Goldman Sachs, was the architect of silver leasing!)
167)
“Further growth in world demand and some drop-off this year
in the flow of new supply…” May 13, 1977,
page 26.
168)
“Because much silver is produced as a by-product of copper
refining, a U.S.
copper workers strike would affect 30% of U.S.
silver production. That could
mean a loss of more than one million ounces for each month that
output is halted, the analysts say.”
May 13, 1977, page 26
169)
“J. Aron analysts contend that much of the increase in world
silver mine production likely will be offset by a reduction in supplies
recovered from some secondary silver sources.
They look for a decline in supplies from Germany’s
silver coin melt program, which last year yielded about 28 million
ounces, and probable declines in silver shipments from India,
where the government has limited exports.”
May 13, 1977,
page 26 (The silver users
weren’t content to go after U.S.
silver coins---raids in other countries apparently occurred, including
Switzerland
and Canada.)
170)
“The total amount of available silver market supplies could
drop as much as 30 million ounces this year from an estimated 447
million ounces in 1976.” May
13, 1977, page 26
171)
“More silver is consumed each year than is mined.”
January 30, 1978, page 27
172)
“ANYBODY WHO BELIEVES THAT THE U.S.
CAN TURN FROM A BIG DEFICIT TO A SMALL SURPLUS DESERVES TO BE ON
THE WRONG SIDE OF THE SILVER MARKET.”
(Emphasis added) March 15, 1978, page 36
173)
“More silver is used up than is mined each year.”
June 28, 1978, page 38
174)
“While silver production is higher than it was one year ago,
the added production isn’t enough to cover a sharp increase in silver
sales to Banco de Mexico and our export contracts as well, one mining
executive complained.” July 25, 1978, page 38 (Imagine
the picture if lease sources wanted to restore their all time high
inventories!)
175)
“WE’RE HEADING FOR A REAL SHORTAGE OF SILVER.”
(Emphasis added) November
22, 1978, page 38
176)
“Silver Futures Growing in Popularity; Shrinkage of Supplies
Is a Key Factor” January 17, 1979, page 38
177)
“Fresh enthusiasm for silver began when traders noted that
stocks of the metal in warehouses approved by the Comex had declined
13 million ounces, or 19%, in 1978 to 56 million ounces by year-end.”
January 17, 1978, page 38
178)
“Though no one is sure where all that silver is going, much
of it has been bought by industrial users whose inventories are
low, analysts say. “People need real silver in their pipelines,”
asserts Dr. Jarecki of Mocatta.”
January 17, 1979, page 38 (Naked shorting
won’t substitute for real metal!)
179)
“The silver boosters assert that world production of the
metal is expected to fall short of consumption needs by some 150
million ounces this year. But, they concede, that’s nothing new.” January
17, 1979, page 38
(The deficit is nothing new so we become used to it
as if it’s normal for inventories to decline in a flat price environment!)
180)
“What is new, says Charles R. Stahl, a silver analyst who
is president of the Economic News Agency, is that silver stocks,
which usually have bridged the gap between production and consumption,
are shrinking.” January
17, 1979, page 38
181)
“Because of too much demand for too little supply, Mr. Stahl
believes, silver “offers the biggest upside potential of all the
precious metals.” January 17, 1979, page 38
182)
“Tight silver supplies have also sparked rumors of a possible
market squeeze.” January
17, 1979, page 38
183)
“Says ContiCommodity’s Mr. Sarnoff, “Stocks are dropping
pretty rapidly at the various exchanges.”
January 17, 1979, page 38 (Paul Sarnoff was president of The Metals
Consultancy and a big believer in an eventual silver boom which
wouldn’t end due to rising world population and shrinking silver
deposits. See “Perpetually Escalating
Silver Prices” in Archives.)
184)
“Silver will get an added boost because it is in short supply
and is used more than gold by industry.”
January 22, 1979, page 28
185)
“Reduced stocks in warehouses approved by exchanges in London,
Chicago and New
York helped propel silver prices to new
contract highs.” January 25, 1979, page 36
186)
“The lack of availability, demonstrated in declining exchange
stocks” February 7, 1979, page 32
187)
“Says Mr. Conway of Merrill Lynch, “Most likely it’s a little
bit of everyone deciding they want a piece of the silver pie.
THE SHORTAGE HAS BEEN SO WIDELY PUBLICIZED that private persons
have climbed on the delivery bandwagon.”
(Emphasis added; Ted Butler may have been acquainted with
Vincent Conway, having been with Merrill Lynch.)
February 7, 1979, page 32
188)
“A compendium of fears---including supply shortages, market
squeezes, Iranian political turmoil, possible gasoline rationing---has
pushed the price of silver considerable higher than even the most
enthusiastic predictions of a month ago.”
February 7, 1979, page 32
189)
“Shrunken stocks in warehouses approved by the Comex, which
declined six million ounces to 52.6 million ounces in the past five
weeks, have heightened concern about short supplies and stirred
worries of a possible market squeeze, in which prices would be driven
unnaturally high because there wouldn’t be enough metal to satisfy
all those who wish to take delivery of it against futures contracts.” February
7, 1979, page 32
190)
“I THINK THE SEVERE SUPPLY SHORTAGE IS BECOMING OBVIOUS,
says Dr. Jarecki, chairman of Mocatta Metals Corp.”
February 7, 1979, page 32
191)
“Sr. Jarecki likes to note in speeches that world silver
stocks---estimated at fewer than 750 million ounces by industry
sources---are small enough that a few people buying large enough
quantities to squeeze the market isn’t farfetched.” February
7, 1979, page 32
192)
“Says Vincent Conway, chief metals analyst at Merrill Lynch,
“Silver is there for those who need it, but it’s tough to get.
ITS EXISTENCE AND ITS AVAILABILITY ARE TWO DIFFERENT THINGS.” (Emphasis added) February 7, 1979, page 32
193)
“Tight supplies” April
27, 1979, page 34
194)
“Supplies in warehouses approved by exchanges in London,
Chicago and New
York have continued to decline; they have
fallen about 15.6 million ounces to 125.5 million ounces since early
January.” April
27, 1979, page 34
195)
“Industrial demand still outstrips supply by about 150 million
ounces annually, while many traditional sources of secondary supplies
have dried up, industry sources say.”
April 27, 1979, page 34
196)
“Many years ago, Simon D. Strauss, Asarco Inc.’s scholarly
metals guru, perceived a long-term supply demand imbalance in silver.”
June 18, 1979,
page 30
197)
“This year, such users as the photographic film and electronics
industries are expected to consume 38 million more ounces of silver
than will be produced, according to statistics compiled by J. Aron
Commodities Corp., a New York precious metals concern.”
July 18, 1979, page 34
198)
“WORLD-WIDE SHORTAGE OF THE METAL.” (Emphasis added) September 12, 1979, page 35 (Larry Edelson of Safe Money Report with
your “there is no shortage of silver” claim, where are you now,
red-faced in a dark closet?)
199)
“I don’t think the commodities boom is over yet---at least
not for those commodities for which there is a legitimate tightness
of supply,” agreed Howard Levine, a metals trader for ACLI International
Commodity Services.” (Article entitled, “Gold and Silver Prices Skyrocket,
Others Stagnate”) October 11, 1979, page 38
200)
“The bull market in silver rages on, arousing fears that
in a few months there won’t be enough silver to satisfy the delivery
contracts of those who are long the metal.”
October 26, 1979, page 48
201)
“Dr. Henry Jarecki, chairman of Mocatta Metals Corp., a leading
precious metals firm, is worried about the current supply-demand
situation in silver. Each year, he points out, industrial demand
for silver outstrips new production.”
October 26, 1979, page 48
202)
“Supplies are so small that a substantial portion of them
could be in a very few hands,” Dr. Jarecki says, adding that there
is the danger of a squeeze. He defines a squeeze as “a concentration of
ownership in a few hands,” which allows these owners “to dictate
the price without reference to the cost of production.”
October 26, 1979, page 48 (Ironic how the short cartel has
combined lease silver with naked shorting to crush the silver price
since the early 1980’s---“without reference to the cost of production”---and
all the more since the early 1990’s.
I detect the user’s association at the center of this situation.
We will consider that next time around!)
203)
“Traders calculate that in two months Waltuch amassed contracts
calling for delivery of 40 million ounces of silver to his customers.
If they take delivery of that silver when the contracts come
due, they would deplete about 80% of the deliverable supplies of
the metal in Comex warehouses.”
October 26, 1979, page 48 (Norton Waltuch was a
broker used by the Hunts.)
204)
“The buying momentum was sparked in London,
where traders have begun to fear a shortage of available supplies. The amount of silver in warehouses approved
by the London Metal Exchange has dropped by more than half in the
last month to 9.5 million ounces.”
November 28, 1979, page 38
205)
“Gold and silver speculators returned in force for the first
time since the U.S. Federal Reserve System put fetters on them by
tightening credit. Much of the initial buying burst came from Europe,
where traders seemed especially concerned about supply shortages.” November
29, 1979, page 6
(Central banks don’t like real money competing with
their funny printing press money, which eventually gets overpowered.)
206)
“Traders agreed that a key factor in the market’s behavior
is the potential shortage of silver available for immediate delivery.
Silver in warehouses approved by the London Metals Exchange
has declined by more than half in the past month, to 9.5 million
ounces. On the Comex, the number of contracts outstanding
for delivery in December represents about 45 million ounces, or
two-thirds of all the exchange’s deliverable supplies. If holders of futures contracts opt to take
delivery, “it’ll be a pretty tight squeeze on price,” said John
Boyd, director of commodity research at Drexel Burnham Lambert.” November
29, 1979, page 6
207)
“Heavy buying and concern over shortages of immediately available
supplies have lifted silver prices.”
December 3, 1979, page 15
208)
“Says Charles Stahl, author of Green’s Commodity Market Comments,
a precious metals newsletter, “There isn’t enough silver around
to meet demand from speculators and industry; silver has many more
industrial uses than gold.” January
4, 1980, page 3
209)
“A SILVER SHORTAGE EXISTS” (Emphasis added) January
10, 1980, page 38
210)
“The silver shortage” January
10, 1980, page 38
211)
“Dimes and quarters made before 1964, which are 90% silver,
may become even more scarce.” February 1, 1980, page 30
212)
“The agency didn’t have metal to deliver.”
February 15, 1980, page 30 (Reference to Minpeco and the Bank of Peru in the silver
slide after the January 21, 1980 Comex rule change brought on the
crash.)
213)
“The General Services Administration, trying to pick up $50
million for the U.S. Treasury by selling off some old-fashioned
“Carson City” silver dollars, has bought itself a large problem.
When the word went out to collectors that 1883 dollars could
be had for $65 each, 1884S for $60 and mixed years for $45, the
orders came pouring in. The GSA is “just buried” under the 350,000 pieces
of mail that arrived in the first 10 days after the offer, a spokeswoman
says. It is busily revising
its RATIONING SYSTEM downward, cutting the maximum allotment per
individual to 10 1883S, 20 1884S and five from the mixed year collection. Our first reaction is to say that someone in
the GSA should take a few lessons in pricing but WHEN WE THINK ABOUT
HOW RAPIDLY PAPER MONEY IS DEPRECIATING WE REALIZE THAT IT IS HARD
INDEED TO KEEP UP.” (Emphasis
added---this is how the article was worded, note it mentioned Carson
City, Nevada Morgan dollars, whose mintmark
was CC, whereas it discussed S mints---San
Francisco.
At any rate, you see what has already happened with one form
of silver---demand far exceeding supply.
This should happen with all forms of silver VERY soon!)
214)
“FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS, WORLD SILVER CONSUMPTION HAS OUTDISTANCED
NEW PRODUCTION; in 1979, total usage was 161.8 million ounces above
production. The difference was supplied by sales from private
stocks and bullion recovered from melted silver coins, silverware
and scrap. New production
isn’t expected to increase appreciably.”
(Emphasis added---notice this reference infers the shortage began
in 1949!) March 3, 1980, page 28
215)
“Fears of silver delivery squeeze” March
3, 1980, page 28
216)
“Fears of a shortage” March
31, 1980, page 1
217)
“SILVER IS A DEPLETING RESOURCE OF THE EARTH AND IS BOUND
TO INCREASE IN VALUE.” (Emphasis added) March 31, 1980, pages 1-16
CHINA, THE SHORTS AND USERS---AND
WHOLESALE LYING!
I
believe most silver investors to be highly aware of the long-term
shortage, as our education from Butler’s
series has told us. If there
were doubters, you just read a ton of documentation above. In the midst of all these shortage references,
however, I encountered several choice instances of shorts and users---probably
the same people amalgamated together, declaring there was no shortage
of silver. They want to influence
the price down by causing holders of silver to panic and dump it.
Well, the shortage was why we were taken off silver coins,
so the industrial users could devour that metal. Consider the following from October 11, 1968, Wall Street Journal,
page 6---
“The metal is being dumped by speculators,
while a continuing flood of silver is reaching the market from India
and elsewhere. “There is
plenty of silver about for industrial consumers, and it looks as
though speculators will continue to cut their holdings,” says an
official of N.M. Rothschild & Sons, a London
merchant banking and bullion dealing concern.
Other bullion dealers see “no reason” why silver’s price
shouldn’t drop further.”
It’s well known that once silver
enters India
it strongly tends to remain there because of the government assigned
premium on the price. More
can be had by selling Indian silver to other Indians.
There is no incentive to smuggle---none!
This is just---excuse me---lying B.S. for them to suggest
that Indian silver has seen significant smuggling.
The same issue of the Journal made note on India’s
export embargo on silver. The
Geographical Review, January 1936, page 47, commented---
“India’s
huge silver stocks were still detained there in 1934 owing in part
to the barrier of an import duty, which made silver more valuable
in India
than without.”
The
users employ psychological warfare, like the arm wrestler who attempted
to intimidate an opponent by spreading rumors that he had overcome
“a special machine” and tried to confuse his opponent at the start
by saying, “don’t resist me.” India
absorbs silver and retains it off the world market. Only silver fabricated as jewelry or other objects
leaves India;
it wasn’t for their domestic market; and it was just brought in
due to cheap labor rates. As
for N.M. Rothschild, this firm has been at the center of world finance
since day one, but especially since the London
market crash when rumors were spread about Napoleon defeating the
Duke of Wellington at Waterloo
on June 18, 1815. It remains a controlling influence in the Bank
of England, founded in 1694, as the famous authentic saying concerning
it says---
“The bank hath benefit of interest
on all monies which it creates out of nothing.”
The reign of paper money has been
unspeakably profitable for such sources.
As it comes to an end, we notice a former board member, George
Comninos, of a leading silver company, was with N.M. Rothschild.
N.M. Rothschild has undoubtedly been part of many underwriting
syndicates for member companies of the Silver Users Association---that’s
why they’d put out bearish talk on silver, along with the other
bullion dealers. N.M. Rothschild is also a member of the London
Bullion Merchant Association. Interlocked
with this association we find the International Precious Metals
Institute, and the Silver Users Association. So much for the bearish communiqué on silver
they put out. On January 30, 1978, page 22, the Journal had an item
that read---
“There isn’t any shortage of silver
for industrial use, nor will there be a shortage in the future,”
declares Handy & Harman, a major user of the metal.”
Lies, fabrications,
and falsehoods, all the users seem to have graduated summa cum laude
in lying. It seems easily believable that this same Handy
& Harman wouldn’t hesitate to broadcast falsehoods on silver,
when it and another Silver Users Association member, Englehard,
were charged with price fixing by a Federal Grand Jury (June 25,
1962, page 10)! Also on this issue we note (January 17, 1979,
page 38)---
“Others argue that supply and demand
don’t affect silver’s price much these days.
Silver’s price in 1978 was influenced primarily by the reduction
in the value of the dollar, says Walter Frankland, president of
the Silver Users Association. “Any moves the government makes to strengthen
the dollar will take away upward pressure on silver,” he asserts. Mr. Frankland believes that the reduction of
stocks in exchange warehouses “shouldn’t indicate a bullish market,
silver is still available, it’s just in someone else’s hands” he
says.”
Well, to these users, if there’s
one milligram of silver above ground in the entire world, even that
shouldn’t indicate a bullish market.
As for silver being in someone else’s hands, they’ve long
made it their business to get it out of those other hands, and into
their hands, at give-away rates. But we’re getting to the end of the line with
that. Indian silver is dispersed
among hundreds of millions of owners, none of whom think or reason
like the lunatic central bankers.
India
isn’t going along with the Silver Users program, and we silver investors
sure as hell aren’t going along with it
either. We have several good mining companies also,
who have the notion that their silver is for shareholder benefit
and will mine it when the users lose control of the price.
I tell you, China
is a junior partner in this enterprise.
The controlling factors are in New
York and London. HSBC, a users association
member, is the old-line British finance house that handled opium
funds for the British Empire when it had
400 million addicts in China. If you want a refresher on influences working
with China,
I suggest you read “Silver Devils” in the Archives here. U.S.
corporate interests dealing with China,
represented by the U.S./China Business Council and the National
Committee on U.S./China Relations, have formidable military-industrial
connections. My belief remains the only thing that could
induce the Chinese Reds to dump silver at rates sustaining the Comex
short cartel, is missile technology transfer.
Proof? Not being on the inside, I can only offer circumstantial
suggestions that this has taken place (see “Silver Devils.”)
If this is the case, it’s for Congressional hearings to establish.
As a line from Schwarzenegger’s “Eraser” (1996) said---
“I didn’t know treason was part of
the corporate strategy!”
As for China
gaining a monopoly on world silver refining, the only thing that
could really guarantee that is highly restrictive environmental
laws. Since it will take several years to start silver
production at inactive sites where infrastructure is nil, in the
same time frame, new smelting capacity can be built.
In any case, something interesting has been going on with
China
and those who like the silver price to be low.
Consider a press release by the NYMEX/COMEX on March 18, 1998---
“The members of the New York Mercantile
Exchange last night elected executive committee member Albert Helmig
to a two year term as vice