Along with all other commodities, that cinderella of finance--silver--had a share in the general rise in prices. One of the reasons is the enormous falling off of silver production in Mexico, where one-third of the total world supply is produced; another is the great demand for silver. Prior to the war, the use of silver plate by the wealthy classes had largely fallen off; but the war, because of the rise in wages, brought about a largely increased demand for silver to be used in ornaments: "The war has brought into the market a vast number of new buyers for ornaments, whose demand in the aggregate is estimated to more than compensate for the falling off in the purchases by the wealthy classes of silver plate. Wages everywhere, not merely in England, but practically all over the world, have advanced, and particularly in Western Europe; moreover, immense numbers of women, and even children, are being employed who were not employed before, and those who were employed before have a larger income, particularly amongst the wage earning classes, than has been the case in this country for many years past." The use of silver in coinage, too, was notably increased. Gold disappeared in countries where gold coins were used; paper money and silver token money took its place. Another reason for the advance in silver is connected with the demand for the metal in eastern countries. According to the _London Statist_: " ... About half the annual production of silver throughout the world is absorbed by the East, meaning principally India and China. It has to be borne in mind that prices in the East have advanced as well as in Europe and the two Americas, and, consequently, more token money is required there as well as here. Silver is the standard of value, and not token money at all, in China; and in India, while gold is nominally the standard of value, the rupee is the actual coin in which the Indian natives, as distinct from mere government officials, reckon their wealth. Now, as one result of the war, nearly all the governments forbid the export of gold; consequently, India requires a steadily increasing supply of silver, not merely to do the work that silver did before the war, but, in addition, to supply the void created by the prohibition of the export of gold." STOCK EXCHANGE WAR The accompanying diagram showing how military operations in Europe affected the average prices of fifty stocks, half industrial and half railway, was published in the _New York Times Annalist_: