The Portland daily press., 1896-01-25
ALL ABOUT GOLD.
Supply Of the Precious Metal and
Where 1t Comes from.
ALSO WHAT BECOMES OF 1T.
How 1t is Minted and What is Done
With the Coin.

How 1t is Minted and What is Done
With the Coin.
Washington Star
II the government had been forced to
go to the Morgan syndicate, which has
just been dissolved for gold 1t would
have made the second purchase OF gold
by the government IN the history OF the
United States. The first purchase IN MS
tory was made at the time of the last
syndicate deal. In the century prior to
that first bond deal, bonds were sold for
gold, but gold was not purchased with
bonds.
The contract with Mr. Morgan and his
friends, which was not oonsumma ted re-
Gently, was to call for the delivery of so
many ounces of gold in exchange for SO
many bonds. This gold could have been
delivered at any of the subtreasuries in
the form of bars or coin Gold bullion
and gold coin are worth exactly the same
charge for any one who delivers it at the
min is.
The owner of gold. however, does not
have to wait for the coming process. The
law provides for fund, out Of which the
value of deposit of gold can be paid to
the owner as soon as the as.ayer can de-
termine what it is worth.
How simple the financial problem
would be if all the gold which has passed
through thesmints OF the United States
and been converted into coin was now
in the vaults under the treasury build
ing. It would amount to more than
81, $50. 000, 90, or nearly one-half of all
the gold now in the world.
Instead of this the United Slater has
only one seventh of the worlds gold sup
ply and less than one-eleyenth of that be-
longs to the government. In fact if the
greenbacks outstanding were like the
gold certificates. which are in circula-
ton, the government would be $3.50, 600,
600 short Of meeting it's obligations and
it would require nearly one-half of all
the gold owned in this country, or one
sixteenth of the gold supply Of the world
to make good it's obligations.
We will take out Of the ground in the
next four years probably enough gold to
make up this deficiency, if we could ii,
it down and keep it from going abroad.
But we have taken out of the ground in
twenty three years 1921, 900, 600 worth of
gold to add to the Sl35, 600, 900 which was
in this country at the end of 1872. And
of this 1856, 600, 000 only $3.50, 0O0 900 is left
with us in the form of coin. In the
meantime we have imported enormous
quantities of gold; but we have exported
quantities even moIe enormous.
When John Sherman was Secretary OF
the Treasury $4,000, 900 was placed to
the credit of the assay Office at New York
by one transfer check for the purchase
of imported gold. That was the largest
transaction of its kind in the history Of
the treasury.
THE OUTPUT OF THIS COUNTRY.
But all of that has gone away again,
and with it much of our own gold. The
balance of trade against us. and the reali-
cation by English investors on American
securities accounts for that.
All these figures were given to me by
Director Preston, the head OF the mint
bureau, in his comfortable Office in the
treasury building
Most of them he has in his head, and
some he finds in the proofs of the pages
of his annual report, which is in the
hands of the pubic printer.
"The production of geld in the United
States in 1885," said Director Preston,
swas between $46 600, 600 and S47. 900, 600.
I have estimates as high as $52, 600, 600;
but I prefer to be conseI vative The
worlds production last year was more
than 5000, 900, 000."
It takes an educated acuteness to make
reasonable estimate of the worlds pro-
duction of gold and silver. Every esti-
mate, of course, must be approximate
for there is no way of pinning down
the miner to an accurate statement of
the value Of what he has taken out of
the ground, even if he knew it, The best
that can be done is to get reports from
the smelters and refners, from the mints,
from the collectors of customs and then
with fair knowledge OF what the gr eat
and little mines are doing. to estimate.
The estimate may be many millions
wide of the mark. So may the estimate
of exports and imports ON which the &C
ouracy of the figures on the gold supply