The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1896-09-26
.HASGOLD GONEUP?
Startling Figures OH the Worlds
Gold Production.
TIE HIGHEST AUTHORITIES
lIas sold "nppresIatea2"

Tho advocates OF the free coinage OF
silver say It has. Like tho man who
thinks his own train In motion because
the one alongside Is moving In an OPP
rosltc direction. the silver men Insist
that instead OF all other prices tlnclud-
Ing that OF silvcr) having fallen, the
price OF gold has really risen. and the
price OF everything else has stood stu.
They assert that there has been u
steady change In the ratio OF u dollar
In gold to u given quantity OF grain,
cotton. clothing. food and silver, and
argue that since one dollar In gold Will
buy more OF all commodities In the
markets OF the world to-day than Il did
in 1873. gold has advanced In value,
while the value OF other articles has
stood still. Hence their constant as
sertion that gold has appreciated.
Let us see. To appreciate means to
increase In value. Anything which In.
creases in value. does 81 either because
II has grown relatively scarce, or be.
cause each Individual needs more OF 1t
for his daily use.
Now has this happened about gold'
Fifty years ago the world had billion
people in round numbers: now II has
billion and halt The population
has Increased tity per cent In htty
years
Has the gold Of the world increased
b at the same rate as the population? II
80. have we any right To assume that
gold has appreciated? II II appears
I. l, Hn1 MN mildly than
the population. would II not rather de-
precIate than appreciate"
Gold Production Increased.
I.et,us examine .!e figures. from the
best authorities Of the world, soetbeer
Mulhall. Preston and others, Mulhall
indicates that the amount OF gold in
the world. cofnsd and uncelned.s htty
years ago. amounted 10 less than -
800 COO, 900. Taking his figures for 1890
and adding the production since that
date. the gold in the world to-day,caIn-
I'd and uncolned. IL shown TO De over
$1,000. GCO, 900. Thus il will be seen that
the world apparently has about three
times as much gold to-day as II haa
fifty years ago.
ulatIon in the meantime there would
thus be three times as much gold for
zach person now as there was half
century ago. But the population has
increased 80 per cent, so there. Is appar-
entity twice az much gold In the world
for each Individual as there was at that
time.
But this Is not all Fifty years ago
only . per cent OF the gold OF the
world was coined into money. Now C
per cent Of 1t IS coined. So 1t appears
that, while the per capita of gold has
been doubled, the proportion OF that
gold which is turned into coin has also
doubled.
This means that there Is four times
as mueh gold coin for each individual
In the world to-day as there was NIFTY
years age.
Does this look as thought there was
n scarcity OF gold? II gold coin IS four
times as plentiful for each individual
to-day as Il WAS fifty years ago. Is It
reasonable 10 assume that the legiti-
MAZE need for more OF it as medium
OF exchange Is greater now than Il was
then: II not. how can II be shown
that IL has appreciated"
There Is another way Of booking ut II.
or the total money % the world fifty,
wears ago only 20 per cent was gold.
Now nearly 80 per cent OF the money OF.
the world IS gold. Had the demand
FOR money Increased mere rapidly than
the gold Increased there would have
been a greater prop5TtiOnate growth of
the other kinds % money, either silver
or paper or both. FOR both are plentiful
and are constantly used for currency
everywhere. But their proportion has
decreased while the proportion OF gold
has Increased.
But" say the friends OF silver. "the
mere fact that gold money has lncrcas-l
ed does not prove that Il Is sufficient
20 meet the wants OF business, because
since the crime of 1919 In this country
and similar crimes about the same
date In other countries. the quantity of
silver money has decreased"
silver and Paper Honey Increased.
Let us see about that. Preston, the
Director OF the United States mint, es Z
Z Inmates that he worlds silver money in.
1873 was Sl.Sl7 900. 900. He estimates tn.
worlds silver money to-day to be 49,
so, 900, 900. Of which amount SS,440, 70o,-
900 IS full legal trndcr. Thus the silver
money of the world has apparently
more than doubled since 1879. This
shows the utter fallacy OF the argu-
ment OF the silver people that ailvt-
money has been reduced since 1919. 1t is
interesting In this connection also 20
note that the paper money OF the world
has trebled in the past half century
having been in 1913. according to Null
hail. .l.300.00O. 900. and In 1880, $3.50
900. 1000.
There Is still another light in which
this currency question should be con-
sidered. II the value % house 'ap-
preciates' the rent increases propor-
tlonately II II depreciateS IN value,
the rent falls. This rule applies equals
Iy to the rent OF money. usually termed
interest This test ought TO determine
the actual value OF money and show
whether It Is scarce or plentiful. In the
past fifty years rates Of Interest have
fallen from Onc-fourth 10 1ne-hnlt. ar-
cOrd!ng 10 the loctlhy. thus indicating
that there is less scarcity OF money TO
meet business demands than was The
case fifty years ago.
The increase IN the gold Of the world
has been something enormous In the
past half century. Prior TO 1875 the
average production seldom exceeded
ton millions a year. Since that time IL
has been from one hundred 10 Two
hundred millions u year. Thus the rate
~ production increased ten-fold, md
In some years twenty-iOld, and had IN
hfty years trcbled the amount OF gold
In the world and quadrupled the
amount OF gold coined for each lndiyl-
ual. E
But" says somebody. the business
o. the world has increased enormously
meantime, ut Il much greater rate than
the gold has lnCreaged, and since the
amount OF gold has failed 10 keep pace
with business, gold has naturally app
preclnted." FL
Let US examine that subject II IL
true that the business OF the world has