No. 59.-Expenses incurred in the redemption of national-bank notes, by fiscal years, from No. 60.-General cash account of the national-bank redemption agency for the fiscal year No. 61.-Average amount of national-bank notes redeemable and amount redeemed, by fiscal years, from 1900. No. 62.-Percentage of outstanding national-bank notes redeemed and assorted each fiscal year from 1905, by geographical divisions. 74.54 70.13 46.04 54.31 98.23 92.15 93.59 112.02 114.49 119.07 54.05 112.97 114.44 Maryland. 82.23 79.66 63. 11 117.44 Baltimore.. 143.86 111.89 District of Columbia. 86.77 75.88 75.57 60.83 115.96 120.24 125.12 122. 19 131.20 48.36 69.18 67.45 75.59 40.76 34.27 38.12 55.83 51.60 55.82 60.68 60.37 40.23 30.96 36.37 67.69 55.68 68.12 74.79 70.64 71.81 40.61 34.85 29.24 33.59 50.92 49.82 62.28 67.11 63.58 67.37 40.27 35.93 30.02 33.98 49.93 50.55 55.79 61.40 60.92 68.51 55.31 38.68 31.82 26.93 49.10 48.09 54.62 59.01 56.54 62.69 39.35 34.38 28.70 31.68 47.13 44.25 48.28 53.98 53.06 57.26 34.64 27.80 24.52 29.99 47.00 42.21 46.70 52.78 39.70 32.72 26.44 32.81 50.97 43.69 52.42 58.44 53.14 40.30 33.18 27.52 31.51 43.07 42.72 49.60 52.83 52.67 58.08 41.34 32.32 27.65 37.56 50.61 46.16 55.06 58.03 56.35 65.00 53.44 42.36 37.84 36.41 54.99 51.74 63.61 71.31 72.83 No. 63.-Average amount of national-bank notes outstanding and the redemptions, by fiscal years, from 1875 (the first year of the agency). No. 64. Changes during the fiscal year 1915 in the force employed in the Treasurer's Total force June 30, 1914: office. Regular roll. Agency roll. Postal savings roll.. No. 65.-Appropriation made for the force employed in the Treasurer's office and salaries paid during the fiscal year 1915. REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE MINT. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, BUREAU OF THE MINT, Washington, D. C., November 1, 1915. SIR: In compliance with the provisions of section 345, Revised Statutes of the United States, I have the honor to submit herewith a report covering the operations of the mints and assay offices of the United States for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1915, being the fortythird annual report of the Director of the Mint. There is also submitted for publication in connection therewith the annual report of this bureau upon the production and consumption of the precious metals in the United States for the calendar year 1914. OPERATIONS OF THE MINTS AND ASSAY OFFICES. In many ways the fiscal year 1915 was the most eventful in the history of the mint service; certainly it was as regards the New York assay office and the San Francisco Mint. The movement of gold from the United States in the first three months and the movement of this metal to our shores in the last three months were on such a tremendous scale that the patience, skill, and capacity of the officials and employees at these institutions were sorely taxed. Since July 1, 1915, the volume of business has increased so steadily and so rapidly that the records show the total value of the deposits at the New York assay office for the first four months of the fiscal year 1916 to be $126,224,600 or nearly that of the deposits for the whole of 1908-$131,792,227-which has heretofore been this office's banner fiscal year. The mint at San Francisco received between April 1 and November 1, 1915, more than $50,000,000 in foreign gold coin and bullion from Australia, Japan, and China, as compared with $4,346,000 during the entire calendar year 1914. Very little, comparatively speaking, of the foreign gold received has been in fine bars. Much the major portion has been in coin, chiefly British sovereigns and Japanese yen, and the prompt melting and storing of it have presented problems calling for extraordinary energy and some ingenuity. In order that no injustice might be worked to depositors of foreign coin because of the delay incident to the melting and refining of it, the regulations governing the handling of precious metals were so modified, with your approval, as to permit the payment of 99 per cent of the value of said deposits, ascertained upon their being weighed immediately after receipt, when presented in sums of 400 $1,000,000 and over. Of course such deposits come only from banking houses of recognized standing, and when advantage is taken of this regulation the depositor is required to give a guaranty in writing of the integrity of the coin or bars involved. The former regulation permitted advance payment of only 90 per cent of the value ascertained when the deposit was weighed, 8 per cent more after the trial assay, and the remaining 2 per cent following the final assay. It can readily be seen how that regulation would have operated against the depositor in the loss of interest when several millions of dollars were involved in one transaction as has so frequently been the case. Another important change which you authorized in the regulations is the reporting by the assayer, on deposits of fine gold bars or coin, in deposits of not less than 5,000 ounces, to one-tenth of one-thousandth instead of one-quarter of one-thousandth. I found that the loss to the depositor on large deposits was frequently considerable, so I had the honor to recommend to you what has proved to be a most equitable arrangement. A new regulation of importance to miners and prospectors is that which you recently issued, upon my recommendation, reducing the charge for ore assays at the minor assay offices and the Philadelphia Mint from $3 for gold and silver to $1 for these metals and $1 for each of the following metals determined: Copper, tin, zinc, iron, lead, and tungsten. This has already resulted in a material increase of business at the several institutions, has made the mint service more responsive to public requirements, and has been generally commended by those whose needs it is intended to meet. The minor assay offices should be so operated as to make them as serviceable to the miner and prospector as the Department of Agriculture is to the farmer, or they should be abolished. Receiving, melting, assaying, and forwarding bullion deposits only do not justify the expenditure of the money necessary to their maintenance. It is an interesting fact that in the past fiscal year coinage was executed for more foreign countries at the Philadelphia Mint than in any previous 12 months of that institution's history. These countries were Cuba, Costa Rica, Salvador, and Ecuador. Some of the increased business may have been due to the unsettled conditions in Europe, whose mints a number of the Latin-American countries have long patronized, but all of it is business which promises to continue. Furthermore, it is evidence of an increasing friendly feeling toward the United States on the part of our neighbors to the south. Every possible courtesy in the way of facilitating shipments and simplifying methods of payment was extended to the representatives of these countries. Although a considerable amount of silver was purchased by my predecessor in the fall of 1914, the stock on hand of this precious metal was so low in July, 1915, that I found it necessary to purchase, with your approval, 4,375,000 ounces in order to be prepared for what was clearly to be-and in due time proved to be an unprecedented demand for subsidiary coins. The highest price paid was $0.4963 an ounce, or 2.005 cents above the minimum paid. The average price paid was $0.48724 an ounce. The entire amount was 7424°-FI 1915-26 |