Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1895-10-26

Bankers Magazine, and he inquiries
what is to be done with 1.-The coming
flood of gold" He says: Assuming
that the quantity required for indus
trial purposes and to replenish cTcula-
tion remains about the same as hither-
to, the bulk of the annual surplus i'm
ports will simply go to swell the huge
accumulation in the banks (of Eng
land) vaults;" and it is understood that
already the accumulation is so great
that it has become necessary to pro-
vide increased storage room in the
vaults of that bank.
The London Financial Times sees no
reason for assuming that there will not
be vast increase in the quantity
taken for industrial purposes and alb
sorbed into the money circulation of
different countries. On the contrary,
it thinks such an increased use must be
the logical result of the great augment
in production that now seems to be as
sured for many years to come This
will give stimulus to business of all
kinds, and by so doing will cause an
advance in prices, which, in turn, will
render necessary the employment of
larger amounts of gold money for the
transaction of a stated amount of busi-
ness Manufacturers and agricultur-
lists will probably develop their respec-
i've industries to such an extent as to
remove much of the difficulty arising
from an inconvenient accumulation of
bullion"
The question as to whether very
large stocks of gold are convenient or
+. l.
be answered merely by reference to the
number of dollars or pounds worth of
gold contained in the pile. A much
more abundant supply would tend to
lessen the buying power of the unit, by
raising the general level of prices of
commodities even if there were no i'm
portant change in the cost of producing
the precious metal. But it is well
known that modern science has intro
duced processes which enormously
cheaper the cost of obtaining the aver
age ounce of gold, thus rendering it
possible to take out gold from rock
which previously would not pay
for working, as well as yielding n vast
profit from mines that formerly would
have given but moderate one. So
long as the results of these operations
are not large in comparison with the
total stock the big profits may go into
the pockets of the gold producers, but
when the total of supply is consider
ably increased by it the price of gold
must fall as measured against the
things thata bought with it, and this
without reference to what the gold
previously in use may have cost to pro-
duce it. The latter point was not raised
amid the great advance in prices that
followed the augmentation in the
worlds stock of gold from the mining
activity in California and Australia
near the middle of the present century.
1t would not be raised now, except by
some crazy free silver extremist, if we
should have doubling of prices in con-
sequence of corresponding augment
in the supply of gold.
The present year will witness an in
crease of about five per cent. in the
worlds stock of gold, and it seems
probable that within the next few
years the annual augment will have
risen to not far from ten per cent. The
resulting abundance cannot fail to eff
| feet n corresponding change in the
| prices Oh IHuS sweeping
away the main argument by the abuse
of which the free silver extremists
have striven to pervert the minds of
the people. Nor is there any reason to
suppose the change would render "by-
metallism, with free coinage at sixteen
to one" any more possible than it is
now, for the cost of producing silver
has been cheaped far more than in the
case of gold. 1t would be idle to sup
pose that cost cannot be further les
sened, as measured in units of human
labor, and experience has shown that
difference of three per cent. or less be-
tween the legal and commercial value
of one metal as expressed in terms of
the other is as fatal to circulation on
equal terms" as would be difference
of fifty or more per cent. And the in
crease in the quantity of gold would
lessen if not abolish the need of using
silver as the basis of paper currency,
more especially so as basis of redemp-
tion at long way below gold par
Chicago Tribune.