The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-09-30

THE GOLD HoARpnRs OF INDIA

Millions Hidden Underground Treasure ] of the Fortress of GWalior.
 About fifty million of francs is said to be the total amount of the gold pro- duet of the two worlds since the dis
 covery of America And, strange to say of this outpouring of gold which during four centuries has been scattered 1 all over the world, an immense portion remains idle in India where it has been embedded. In India the gold returns to the earth and remains there more completely hidden than it was in its original state5
 The amount of gold brought into ln- 1 dia during the past sixty years, that is to say, from 1887 to 1898, is greater l by three milliards nine hundred and forty three millions of francs than the amount exported. The soil of India ab- sorbs the floods of gold just as the sand of the deserts swallows the overfcW of the great rivers. When it is remember ed that this work of absorption has been going on with little interruption for ' ten centuries and stil continues under our eyes, it is easy to form an idea of the immense treasures that are hidden in that country, All this gold remains sterile and, consequently, is lost. It is absurd to say that it is brought into monetary circulation or that it passes oh ttn Ic nf bp nDtiNa pDl6- smiths It is disseminated in innumer- able hiding places from which it never emerges.
 In ancient times and up to the period of the conquest and occupation by the English, individual property was not protected. The country from one end to the other was the prey of rival fac 1 tions who ravaged it cease'ssly and without mercy. Princes and potentates as well as the small fry were squeezed and shorn constantly. To escape from the general robbery the natives, great and small, carefully concealed their money and their values under ground. This inveterate habit became hereditary among them, so that to-day the natives do just what their ancestors did in past ages, It is estimated that milliards up | on milliards of francs in gold lie in the hiding places of India, and it is known that this colossal treasure Is in coin that dates back several centuries.
 To the suffering and wretchedness that poverty ordinarily creat the natives of India add the tortures, equally pain ful, of an incurable avarice. That is the thing which puzzles the observer and throws him off the right track. In that distant country all the poor and indigent have little hiding places where they put away their little treasures and guard them, watching their growth and never drawing from them, even in the face of famine and dishonOr, danger or death All around them and above | them are the proud and the rich who do just as their ancestors did and re- main exactly the same as they were, that is to say, unsuitable hoarders, sus- picious and cruel misers. They hide their gold in the vaults of old forts and in citadels and add to it from generation to generation, from century to century Like that of Harpagnon, their beloved treasures, possess for them charms far more fascinatinS than those of the im- mortal houris and of their enchanting peris.
 The persistence of the Maharaiah of Sindhi in pettoning the British Government to give back to him the fortress of Gwalior is perhaps remem- bered-a persistence that sel med strange | indeed, not to say suspicious, because | GWalior was not one of the holy places, | like so many others in India. After | numerous petitions and intrigues the ! Maharajah at last won his case. The | fortress of Cavalier was given back to | him. And now quite recently the secret l of his persistent effort has become clear to everybody who reads, He had con cealed in the fortress of Cavalier an I immense treasure in coined gold, and ! this gold had been put away with such [ care near the corner stone of the fort, to which a subterranean passage led, | and closed up with such skill and cum ming that nobody in ignorance of the secret could possibly discover the treasure.
 In the presidency or the province of Bombay it is estimated that there are three hundred millions of flames in gold soVereigns which are preserved with eX- treme care, not ony account of their intrinsic value but on acs ount of the fact without counting the image of Saint George, tn re is stamped upon them the etfisy If a dragon. In India, as in China, the dragon is a holy crea- ture af celestial oriGin. an induc ament to the faithful to become enrolled among the beatided, so that they can live wi h dragons in peace and prosperity.
 But unfortunately, the gods them selves, and especially the gods Of India, are very fcnd of gold. They whistle for it through the lips of thor priests. Obedient to the divine call il comes, ripping from all points until it reaches the sacred parVis. It accumulates in the subterranean passages of the tenn pies to which the priests al ne have ae- cess. Thence 1t oVerfiows and takes it's $ place, like a proud conqueror, upon tba altars where 1t shares with the god the incense and homage of the men whom it has bewitched,--Paris Corre spondence of the Courier des Etats-Unis.