MINING: Silver in Uniform

The greatest boondoggle the world has ever seen—the U.S. silver purchase program—is turning into something useful after all. Deep in the supersafe vaults at West Point last week scores of husky youngsters lifted heavy silver bars from brick-like stacks, started them on the road to useful work in war plants (see cut). Before long more than 40,000 tons of silver, which cost the U.S. about $675,000,000, will be lend-leased to war plants for the duration.*

Biggest single chunk of uniformed silver will go to Aluminum Co. of America, which needs at least 14,000 tons for electrical conductors formerly made of copper. Based on the Government’s artificial price of $1.29 an oz.—several times the world market price—this silver alone is valued at more than all Alcoa was worth last year.

*The U.S. owns roughly 100,000 tons of silver, but more than half of it is coins or backing for silver certificates.