Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-08-09
Estimated Product of 1897,
. .s1sO. SIS. 900 Sis. ooo. 900 sas 12a oo0

Totals " .sls0, $4,000 s21s, 00O. 200 s3s 125 600
nave spoken of the addition likely TO
De made in 1897 TO the worlds stock of
goid by the klondike district by the Trans
Naai, by the United States Australia
Russia, Mexico, India. etc. of ali of these
gold-producing countries, of course the
klondike is at present the one of most a h.
sorbing interest. 1t strikes the magma
the forty-niners 1t will add in 1897 possi-
bly, s6.oOo,OOO to the gold treasure of the
world.
influence of the Addition.
Now, as to the influence of such addition
to the worlds gold. The influence 1t will
exert depends mainly on how many years
the Klondike district shall continue a pro-
Queer and how large its annual increment
to the worlds existing stock of gold shall
be- There is every reason to believe that
Alaska and the adjacent British territory
are possibly as rich in gold as was Califor-
mia or Australia when first discovered. /
nave estimated that the Klondike district
will In 1897 produce s6O00.UU worth of
gold. 1t will add to this product from year
to year probably for a minimum of one or
two decades. And whether the gold comes
from American or British territory is a
matter of indifference, except to the own
ers and, to some extent, to the countries
producing 1t. The effect of the increase on
the economic condition of mankind, on the
rate of discount. the rate of interest, the
tate of wages, on prices and on monetary
policies, of a newly discovered gold field of
wonderful richness is the same, whether
the field be located in American, British or
Chinese territory.
Now, the first influence that the new ad-
dition to the worlds existing stock of gold
will have will be felt by silver. In fact. it
has already been felt by 1t. Gold is the
natural competitor-we might almost say
antagoniSt-of silver as a monetary medi-
UNI, and every ounce of gold newly placed
On the market deprives from liz to 30
ounces of silver of a possible employment
money that 1t might have. l say this
because gold, weight for weight, is now
worth thirty-six and six-tenths times as
much as silver. and because, at most half
of the gold discovered finds industrial en-
ployment.
cult.
1.-The new conditions to the worlds stock
of gold, whether they come from the Klon-
dixie, Cripple Creek or the Transvaal. from
India, Australia or Russia, will render BIZ
metallism by the United States alone more
difficult and more improbable than ever
and will even seriously imperil the slender
chances that international bimetallism now
has.
"Bimetallists have long been asking the
question where the gold is to be found that
is to take the place of the silver demone-
tiZed. The discoveries at Cripple Creek, in
the Transvaal and on the Klondike are a
mines of the world have been turning out
gold of late years in greater profusion
than ever before.
Leaving out of consideration the indus
trial employment of the two metals, the
world now annually produces in gold alone
some S50,000.OO0 more for monetary uses
than it did in both gold and silver during
the eight years ION an average) that pre-
coded the beginning of the depreciation of
the latter metal.
"On the supposition that silver has entire
ly ceased to be coined, the world is richer
in 1897 in material for the coinage of full
legal tender or standard money than ii was
at any former period of the worlds his
tory, and the indications are that 1t will
grow richer in this respect in every sue
ceeding year for decades to come.
Hence my belief that the first effect of
the new additions of gold to the stock al
ready in existence will be an effect detri-
mental to bimetallism, whether national or
International. There are some, 1 know
who think that the increased production of
gold will have the contrary effect, and that
1t will lead to the demonstration Of silver.
They base their argument on this, that the
increased production of gold will be follow
ed by a depreciation of it's value. This
might be II the new demand for gold did
not increase more rapidly than the supply.
But the former is likely to exceed the lat
for"