San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1892-06-02
THE woRLD's GOLD.
figures Seem to show h h sup
ply Scarcely Equals h De-

ply Scarcely Equals the De-
mand.
New York Commercial Bulletir.
The worlds movement of gold for
the last few years has been singular
and hot easily explainable. For the
five years 1885 to 1890 inclusive, the
annual product. according TO the
United States Mint Report, has aver
aged $1l2, GOO, 600. For the like peri
OF, the amount OF gold coined appears
from the sams authority, to M, 9
averaged $l34, OO0, 900. The annual
coinsge has therefore exceeded 81 9
production by $22. 000, 900, or nearly
IL per cent. Included in the coinage,
however, IL Q recoiDage of gold
coin averaging S25, 009, 600, which
leaves the coinage OF new gold
at sos, 900. 900, or So, V00. 600 below the
actual average production. With
/, ome 81 IL per cent Of the product of
the mines going into 10 coinage, the
question arises, how has the con,
sumption in the In the industrial arts
been supplied? Great palms have
been taken. by monetary statisticiane
and especially Dy the directors OF our
own mint, to settle the difficult pro
olem of the quantity of gold gong
into this branch OF absorpliID; but
there is reas. N to doubt whether any
really trustworthy estimate has yet
been reached. Ernest Seyd, before
the British Select Committee on the
Depreciation of Silver, est.
mated the consumption from
2S4S to 1870 ~ averaging $S4, O00,.
0tO Since that time the demand
must have considerably increased
aud consistently with that eupposi
ton DR.. Soetbeer estimated the con-
sumption III 1880 to be $50 600, 900
while the. director of the United
Sta es has collected statistics which
led him to conclude that this use o.
the metal amounted In 1885 to about
$40. u 0. 600. 1t would appear reason
ab,e 10 assume from these estimatet
that the current worlds annual con
sumption Of gold IN the industrial
arts may now amount to not lese thar
$50. 600 GOO per Annum but whence
these late 5 years IL the coinage con-
sumption of new gold has equaIed The
production within s., 90, O06? Part OF
she consumption In manufactures ID
supplied from old plate, watches,
jewelry, etc But, II we are to trust
,fficial reports. that portion is moi
CONSIDERABLE. Our own mint stats.
20 are the only available informa.
ton showing the differentsources q q
IJrms of this supply; and 1t is doubt
al whether, after che most pains
taking Efforts to get the data, the re
acts have beer a~scertaiDed The
mint reports for 1897 give the amount
If GOLD so used in the United States
for the wear a $13 623 900 OF which
Si0,ll2 900 Ia reported rs domestic bul.
lion and q small amount in coin. and
So, $40, 900 as old material and foreign
,oin aud bulIiOl. 1t would thus ap
pear froin this showing that while
Ihe new coinage consumption leaves
sturplus out OF the production OF only
s., 900 0O0Syet the industrial consuInp.
ton of tie United States alone OF the
direct product of the mines amounted
o three times that surplus. How
much greater the discrepancy would
be upon tho entire worlds industrial
takings'is readily apparent. These
movements fail 40 widely to tally
that there is mapifestly great error
somewhere In the data; but exactly
where the mistake lies it IL difficult
to demonstrate conclusively. The
-tatemepis of coinage should ap-
prosch very closely to exact
,ess, for they are compiled from Gov
eminent reports, which above all
others, are exempt from liability to
error. The production, however, II
20 a considerable extent q matter q
estimate as to the movements OF
which cOgnIzsnce car be taken, while
the small streams of supply flowing
through individual hands are more
numerous han is generally supposed
md yet escap count It is not i'm
probable that the new supplies thus
eludipg notice would make q con-
siderable contribution toward solving
this discrepancy. 1t Is q question that
needs Inquiry how tor the bars fur,
Dish by the mints to gold workers
consis respectively Of metel coming
from the mines and that derived from
he remeltiDg of old metal. 1t is by
no means certain that the mines al
ways discriminate 10 their reports
BET ween the different sources OF sup
ply WIN 0beiIo oAoOoboee, obu pr
maps they cannot always do 80. II,
however. it should be that much of
the bar gold sold by the government
10 gold workers has come from re-
melting the old metal, that would 80
tar reduce the estimates OF rev gold
taken by the industries and to that
extent would diminish the current
lack of balance in the statistics Of The
worlds gold movement,