New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-10-12
THE SUPPLY or GOLD.

Controller EckclS has done GOOu service ~! He
curing Il statement of the amount OF goid com
actually held by less than half the banks III
the country 1t has been one OF the STOCK
arguments" of Bryan, Altgeld and their fol-
lowers that there is not enough gold III the
country to do business: that the Treasury ana
the National banks hold practically all there Is,
thus possessing monopoly of it: ana that the
Treasury reports showing over S6cO.OOO.OOO gold
i'm the country are all false. Strange as 1t may
apDcar these assertions have actually obtained
some credcncc and are perpetually reiterated
by the most reckless or dishonest Populists as
a sufficient reason for breaking the monopoly
held by banking Institutions and giving the
country Il greater supply of money. lhs De
lief is pronounced strange. because no intel
ligcnt man who has examined the official rec
ords can have any doubt that they are substan-
tally correct. Students have at times ques-
toned their accuracy to the extent OF lew
millions either way, but the strong possibility
is that the Treasury statements are too low
rather than too high.
Their substantial correctness will be appre-
ciatcd when il is known how the estimates are
obtained. Twcnty-thrcc years ago. when there
was little gold in the country. the amount held,
according 10 the careful examination made by
Mint Director Lindcmann. was about Sl33,-
100000 As TO at least SlO.OOOOO0 of this no
question is possible. and subsequent mint III
rcctors discovered and corrected small errors III
This original staten mt of the amount oil goId
in use at the starting point. so that II has now
been as positively determined as any other fact
Of our monetary history. small allowance
for unrcported exports reduced the amount to
about 3O.OOOOoO and II was found that this
also included SI56G99Sl bullion afterward
coined Practically no gold was then In actual
circulation except on the Pacific Coast. the
premium July !. 1873 being 1jia per cent.
From that date to this the calculation has been
made each year by adding the amount coined,
which is absolutely known, deducting coin ex-
ported and adding coin imported. both officially
returned each year, and deducting the amount
of gold coin used in the arts and manufactures.
rs determined 10y many successive official in
vestigatOns. II will be seen that there X no
chance for extensive error as To The changes
each wear which have resulted In the Treasury
statement that the gold coin In the country
amounted October ! 10 SG00.JI4 ,221. besides
SIO9gs.5Ii bullion held by the Treasury. II
must he added that there Is actually some gold
bullion held by other parties which Is never
taken into account, so that the amount Of gold
is probably greater AT all times than The Off
cal estimate.
Men who refuse 10 credit such records and IN
the face Of them assert that there is practically
no gold in the country outside that held by
the Treasury and the National banks. deserve
10 he classed as deliberate falsihcrs because
they have no evidence and make no effort Ia
obtain any warranting their assertion. Rut the
Controller has row obtained reports from only
a part of the State. private and savings banks.
and loan and trust companies. showing the
amount of gold they hold. His returns are
from only 22GJ such institutions ont of about
1000 but show that these held Sti.iSf .ID in
gold and gold certificates. The full returns for
all National banks are officially given. and
show that they held SlGl .SJ3.JtO in July. while
the Treasury bow holds about S1250O0OOo gold
or S.; O.,t;O bS exclusive of certificates Outstand
ing besides S4O.OOO.Om in bullion. The State
institutions which reported do large share
of the aggregate business. and held proper
tonqtey much more gold than others. bur In
env event the amount held by State instifu-
tons. outside The Treasury and the National
banks could not exceed S1OOOOOOO0 The
actual amount outside the institutions report
ing and the Treasury is at least S52I 100 $50. sc
that there is 10 ground whatever for belief
that less than $500 100000 to S25O.NO,OW re-
main in the hands of the people. The asscr
lions of Bryan. Aligcd and other Populisis are
proved false both ways, as 10 the amount out
side the banks. and as to the total amount in
the country.
The Controller adds later information regard
ing the number Of dcpOstors in the banking in
sttutions. showing that there were 2.i35.22'ij In
MI 1 A m ,;l inst m
| lions reporting their total deposits aggrcgat
| ing about S;.331 .OOOOOO Mr.. Eckcls shows
| ground for believing that the whole number
| of dcposlors Is between 10.OO0,OW and II 900.
| 600 and their deposits over $1,000, G00OOO This
| is but part Of the force against which Bryan
| and his followers have declared war
LORD ROSEBERYS TINDTClTION