, 1877-09-08
THE FVTUEE OF GOLD.


An eminent German eeoligist, Herr
Edwards Sues, Professor Of Geology at
the University Of Vienna, and widely
known ,hrong ghout Europe fox his scien-
ti6c works and researches, has recently
published remarkable book entitled
'The Future Of Gcld." Die Hukanft
des Golde.' 1t is ! much more than
mere collection OF facts especially relating
to the production Of gold. for i; aims also
to supply Unquestionable deficiencies III
our previous knowledge concerning the
matter uf money. anu 70 apply 10 eco
nomic phcuomcna CERTAIN natuIL laws
formulated with scientific precision IL the
work In question.
Az geologi5t and minero,ogst OF au-
thority, Herr Sucss asserts positivcl Y that
the total production of gold from the re-
motest epoch known to the present time
has not been Large enough to authorize
the universal establishment It the single
gold inoney standard and that mankind
is in far greater dang Of an nltimat9
gold famine ihiIn ii the exhaustion q the
coal beds Ct tie Garth, a. vas once aprre-
bensive!y considered possible. The exist
ing stock OF gold, coupled with tiat which
may continu. t. he extracted, taken AZ
the MAXIMUM that may he reasonably al
iicipatcd, Professor Sres5 mentIons, Is u
so little magnitude Iciatlv,ly y as to excite
The rational fear that there Will not be
enough gold for the exigenciCs of future
generations. TO reach this conciusioIi-
Tor it is positively that with the Proies-
sor-he asserts that one has only to cx-
anime closely on the outside the extent Of
the present and prospective demands Ter
gold, and on the other the guarantees If
production afforded By the mines and
fields now operated, together with The
promise which geology holds out, with
reasonable assurance, Of the discovery of
new mines adequate 10 the maintenance
of proper supply Of the essentia! prec-
ious metal. And upon thes: material
points the work of THIS eminent German
sarant is particularly interesting and IL
strue;iye.
He ASSERTS that the mincs of the prec-
ious metals are simply magazines, making
the geological transformation of their con-,
ponent matter III the superficial stIata u
The earth accessible To nan and these
several strata containing the precious met
ais he slbdIyideS or distinguishes INTO
three classes. The first c:;;ss Contains
gold and silver, nlinutoiy scattered through
the rccl:. and this is III. earliest condition.
In this class occnr deposits OF gold, blend
cd with platinum and other metals IN a
metallic stage, such as is found at Mini
Tapil III the UIal Mountains. This par
ticular gold-btaring stratum IS rare, and
so insignificant III its production that 1t Is
rcally,not to be taken into consideration
an estimating the metallic resources for the
world monetary system. In the second
c'ass Herr Suess places the seams or lis
slmes which lave been wrought by vol
CONC action, t. which class belongs the
social, d - bonanza of Nevada, the !cdcs
or veins of New Granada and Ct The Car
pathian Mountains, those rf Victoria, ur
Queensland, and so.ae II tie ''g2Ig,s
Of New Zea.ard.
IS for the third ani last class &; s1ur-
-ccs o. deposits of The precious metal, CT
rather OF gold, /. has il csis!n IN ct:cm-
zeal alterations and mechanical G,sp.acc-
me,It of strata or beds OF the meta. for
,aeriv c, n;;iiI:ed III the interior ii moun-
tains, affected by water ard the ar. These
two powerful traaSfolm:n. agents have,
in time, lecrmposcG the older stIa;a, car-
ricd them away 10y ilaans ~ w..,l, cour-
ses, and formed those heds ri gulJ and
platinum BEARING grcVrt und aliuvium
which coEstltut: ihc great gold fields Il
California, Australia, New Zealand ana
the uIal- They az ,Aine'i By hydraulic
processes.
Herr SIess estimates the total produc-
tion Of gold for the quarter of a century
ending WITH 1879 q: 5,S04 800, Geo francs
(S3, ,2i2, ,Nt, ,tJ0l, IF which Ii, 763, ,o0o,.I3
francs were supplied from the .iiuviai or
placer mites, and tie Irmla!nd-r, =, 2,U2l,
90 coo francs 1891 .tt1, ,GuDl, T;ls derived
from MI cher so.ueas %h!eh must 1i..y
the decisive Part III tie supply III god Ia
the future. :pe. ttls pCi:I. Tie rgugIGos
tication OF tie German ;;-o!c:5:st IS t.ls
Frcin all geological revelations the pro-
dUcti,M ~ sald inES. essentially &epvai |
upcn these bars Cf The earth Wilc.c Iora = |
Certain t:m the primitive formation Was
lett exposed iii the surface. Ii We mark |
Npon sphere all such spaces, excluding T;
The seas, oceans and lakes. the stcppes, |
salt waterlcss deserts, and regions, cover
ed by Polar ice and eternal snow, and de- |
duct the ground which has tcen exhaust |
cd nore or less, III the course of aces
since the period when Ramsus H. sunk |
shafts III the -Akita, the gold field Of that
epoch, VIC must necessarily reach the cor
ciusion that up to the present time mo:r
than half OF the quantity ~ gold winch |
could ? ss!bly lie extracted from the earth
ty any M:e..as as yet Known las already ;
Cone INTO the hands Of raar.
There Is also rSasol iur expecting this !
exhaustion Of the supply 10 he reached, !
all the speedier because Of the ilnmensely |
greater scale and improved processes by |
which mining Is now carried on, and the |
great depths that are now reached. Con
sequently the period when the production
of gold shall diminish in a permanent !
mann and degree is relatively approach |
my; and II must unavoidably happen, ac- |
cordlng to Prof. Suess. within several cen |
turies- Therefore lie maintains that. i'll |
p opo-t:on as gold shall become rare, It
wii "e imprIctcable for it 10 maintain !
itself IN the money function with which |
1t has been invested, and II w.ll have to
be replaced.
On the ether hand, it is entirely differ
ent in mountains with respect to silver
1t IS true, be admits, that this metal is III
great part extracted from vcirs formed 10y
e-0Itiols; hut such wins are So numer-
Gus and 50 large, and, relatively, So much
Iicher IN the mass, that the supply lnay
be fac more confidently expected to stretch
forward into areno.e future. Moreover,
a very great progress is 10 he anticipated
In the processes and means OF extracting
this metal from It's various ores. From
these and other REASONS This dispassioDate
scientific investigator concludes it to he
wholly inexpedient 10 adopt the single
4 H.,