The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1898-03-31
A GREAT MASS OF MONEY
The Total Cash OF the Whole
World In q Lump
Exceeds s12, 600, OOO, 900, ana Piled To.
gsther Would sise Up veYy
Well with Cleopatra's
Needle.

on similar lines from other countries
all over the world, it forms the basis
for a number of interesting deductions
and comparisons.
These reports show that the money
capital of the world is SIP, 13O, 900 900.
\ good, round sum, indeed, and yet it
makes only eight dollars for each one
Of the billion and n half inhabitants;
but, as many of the inhabitants have
no money at all, there is Il large proper
ton to be divided among those who are
fortunate enough to get it, though there
is no uniformity in the distribution.
In ascertaiuing these figures of the
total money wealth there is little du-
plication, for nearly third Of the So
5OO.O00,0oo of paper money in the world
is secured by gold and silver, which is
included in the sum total given. To
be exact, there are s.. 700 900 900 of pa
per money "uncovered"-that is. the au-
thorities issuing it hav1 not the gold
and silver to redeem it. This sum rests
simply on credit and not on security Of
intrinsic value.
The same thing is true in regard to
much of the silver coinage, to the ex-
tent of about one-half of its face value.
Take last year for illustration. The
coming value of the silver produced
was s215,272,7 700, while the commercial
value was only sos, 400, 800. This is a
difference of Sl05,s35, 300.
The total sum of the worlds money
is made up of 81 100000 in gold, ST.
270,00O,0 900 in silver, and $4,000. 900, 900
of paper. OF this the government and
people of the United States own--to
give the best exact obtainable figures
$G06,270,542 in gold. $G37500,7s1 in sill
yer, and S1,12o,000,00O of paper. This
paper consists of gold, certificates, sill
YER certificates, United States notes,
treasury notes, national bank notes. and
currency certificates.
This volume is continually changing
and gradually increasing. During the
last fiscal year the minis of the United
States coined in gold ST. Gao, 7O5, and in
silver $24, 1927, 7S6. The same sort of
thing is going on in all civilized coun-
tries, and so the annual gold product
of the world-which in 1896 was $204.-
1906 ,600-is being consumed; but it must
be remembered that little more than
one-half of it goes into the arts. And
the artisans do not always use bullion,
but take the coin, which is of no more
value; so likely the wedding ring you
buy to-day was five-dollar gold piece
yesterday. In this manner the gold cir
culation is being decreased, while the
work at the mints is making up the loss,
and usually a little more.
OF the total amount of gold and sill
yer produced the United States does n
fair proportion. According to the last
report, which is for the year 1896. it
produced s53,OSs,0OO in gold and $7s,-
e69,236 in silver at coinage value.
But the idea conveyed by figures alone
is at best incomplete. Figures in the
millions are confusing; figures in the
billions mean almost nothing to the
mind. Comparison can give better the
true significance of the amounts quoted
above.
Take, for instance, Cleopatra's Needle,
that famous shaft once wonder of
Egypt, now set up in Central park, New
York. The obeisk is 81 feet high. If
the gold and silver of the world be
placed on a scale they will weigh about
267,246,1S4 pounds, the gold being TO-
069,714 pounds this weight, and if these
are combined with the paper money we
will have a bulk with cubic contents of
43S,3S1 feet
But their amounts will be better un-
derstood if divided. If the paper money
were pressed firmly into bale "a feet
long its other two dimensions would be
30 feet, and it would not be an incon-
spicuous figure il stood on end beside
the obelisk. If before baling these bills
they were joined end to end they would
form a band that would reach four
times around the earth at its equator.
If the gold were cast into a single
pyramid and set near the monolith it
would tower far above it's great base,
for il from ground to apex it was 3sA
feet, il could have that same measure
ment along each of its base lines.
ApyEamid of the silver would be much
larger than this, though the face value
of the coin represented in each is near
ly alike: IF you wish to get an idea of
the proportion lay SEQ gold piece be-
side pile of 20 silver dollars. Theapex
of the pyramid of silver might tower
115 feet and its four base lines could
each measure the same distance.-Chi-
n n Tiraaae- IT.ro1l