The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1898-08-06
"a GREA e MASS 0 & MONEY
The Total Cash of the Whole
World Ia q Lump. !.
Exceeds 81 700, ooO, 900, md Piled To-
gether Would Size Up Very
Well with Cleopatra's
Needle.

To the average individual the report
recently submitted to the secretary Of
1 the treasury by the directorSof mints'
/ is a not overinte document. But,
taken in connection with other reports
4 on similar lines from other countries
all Owe. the world, it forms the basis
for a number of interesting deductions
and comparisons. sf.=.
These reports show that the money
capital Of the world is s1s,130, 100000.
a good, round sum, indeed, and yet it
makes only eight dollars for each one
Of the billion and half Inhabitants;
but, as many of the inhabitants have;
no money at al, there is q large proper
tonic be divided among those who are
| fortunate enough to get it, though there
is 20 uniformity in the distribution.
In ascertaining these figures of the:
/ total money wealth there is a little du-
| Pllcation, for nearly q third of the 3d.
| 5oo,oo0,00O CT paper money in the world
is secured By gold and silver, which is
| Included in the sum total given. To,
be exact, there are So zoo, 600 900 of pa
I per money ''uncovercd"- 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 it's face value.
/ Tolyo 1oc+ fo
coming value of the silver produced
was 215,272,700, while the commercial
value was only $1Co. 400, 800. This is a
difference of $105, 900.
| The total sum Of the worlds money
is made up of $4,3G0,000,O00 in gold, $4,-
270:000,000 in silver, and $500, 600, 900
Of paper Of this the government and
| people of the United States own-to
| give the best exact obtairable figures
$685. 542 in gold, $637 sos, 7S1 in sill
yer. and $1,120,oo0,00o 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. SAC, 705, and in
silver $2+,327,7S6. The same sort of
| thing is going on in all civilized coun-
tries, and SO the annual god product
| Of the world-which in 1856 was $780,
396,Go0-is being consumed; but it must
| be remembered that q little more than
one-half of it goes into the arts. And
the artisans Go not always use bullion,
but take the coin, which is CT no more
value; SO likely the wedding ring you
buy to-day was fiyc-dol,ar gold piece
yesterday. In this manner the god cir
| cuiation is being decreased, while the
! worksat the mints is making upthe loss,
and usually a little more. .ss ~ Z ~.
Of the total amount Of gold and sill
yer produced the United States does a
! fair proportion. According to the last
report, which is for, the year 1896, it
| produced $50, 600 in gold and $751;
GGo, 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. - y: - =. = -
Take, forinstance, Cleopatra's Needle,
that famous shaft once wonder of
Egypt, now set up in Central park, New
York. The obelisk is 81 feetghigh. If
the gold and silver Of the world be
Placed on a scale they viii weigh about
267,24G,184 pounds, the gold Being. 49,
c69, 714 pounds this weight, and if these
are combined with the paper money.we
will have a bulk with cubic contents of
1891 feet. b. 81.
But their amounts will be better l11,-
derstood if divided. If the paper money
were pressed firmly into a bale "a feet
| long it's other two dimensions would be
so feet, and it would not be an incon-
spicuous figure if stood on end beside
the obelislz. If before baling these bills
they were joined end to end they would
| form 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 monoith it
would tower far above its great base,
for II from ground to apex it was 1891
feet, it could have that same measure
ment along each Of its base lines.
A pyramid 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