Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-08-03
INDIA'S boarded GOLD.
Immense Store of Precious Metal Idle
I'm Land of Hfnd0Os.

immense store OF precious Metal Idle
I'm Land of HindoOs.
Paris Correspondence Courier DIES Flats Unis.
About 90 milliards of francs is said to be
the total amount of the gold product of the
two worlds since the discovery of America.
And, strange to say, of this outpouring of
gold which during four centuries has been
scattered all over the world an immense
portion remains idle in India, where 1t has
been embedded. In India the gold returns
to the earth and remains there more COM
pletely hidden than it was in it's original
state.
The amount Of gold brought into India
during the past sixty years. that is to say,
from 1897 to 1898, is greater by three mil
lizards nine hundred and forty-three mil
lions Of francs than the amount exported.
The soil of India absorbs the floods CT gold
just as the sand of the deserts swallows
the overflow of the great rivers. When it
is remembered that this work of absorb
ton has been going on with little Interrupt
ton for ten centuries and still continues
under our eyes, it is easy to form idea
Of the immense treasures that are hidden
in that country. All this gold remains
sterile, and consequently is lost. 1t is ab-
surd to say that it is brought into none
tary circulation or that it passes through
the hands of the native goldsmiths. 1t is
disseminated in innumerable hiding places
from which it never energies.
In ancient times and up to the period of
the conquest and occupation by the En-
gliSh individual property was not protect
ed. The country from one end to the other
was the prey Of rival factions who ravaSed
it ceaselessly and without mercy. Princes
and potentates as well as the small fry
were squeezed and shorn constantly. To
escape from the general robbery the ma
tives, great and small, carefully concealed
their money and their values under ground.
This inyeterate habit became hereditary
among them. so that today the natives do
just what their ancestors lid in past ages
1t is estimated that milliards upon mill
lizards of francs in gold lie idle in the hid
ing places of India, and it is known that
this colossal treasure is in coin that dates
back several centuries.
To the suffering and wret chedness that
poverty ordinarily creates the natives of
India add the fortunes, equally painful, of
an incurable avarice. That is the thirg
which puzzles the observer and throws him
off the right track. In that distan- country
all the poor and INDECENT 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 or dishonor
danger or death. All around them and
above them are the proud ana the rich,
who do just as their ancestors did and re-
main exactly the same as they were-that
Is to say, Unsuitable hoarders, suspicious
and cruel misers. They hide their gold
in the vaults Of old forts ard in citadels
and add to 1t from generation to genera
ton, from century to century. Like that
Of Harpagnon, their beloved treasures pos
Sess for them charms far more fascinating
than those of their immortal hours and Of
their enchanting peris.
The persistence of The Maharatah Of
Sindhi in petitioning the British govern
ment to give back to MIN the fortress of
Gwalior is perhaps remembered-a persist
ence that seemed 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 in
trfgues the maharajah at last won his case.
The fortress Of Gwalior was given back to
him. And now quite recently the secret Of
his persistent effort has become clear to
every one who reads He mad concealed in
the fortress of Gwalor or immense treas
ure 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 cunning that nobody in ignorance OF
the secret could possibly discover the
treasure.
In the presidency or province of Bombay
II Is estima ted that there are 300 600 go of
francs in gold sovereigns which are pre-
served with extreme Gale, not only OH ac-
count of their intrinsic value but on &C
count of the fact that, without Counting
the image of st. George, there IS stamped
upon them the effigy of dragon. In India,
as in China, the dragon is a holy creature
Of celestial origin. an inducement to the
faithful to become enrolled among the
beatified. so that they can live with drag
ons in peace and prosperity.
But. unfortunately, the gods themselves.
and especially the gods of India. are very
fond Of gold. They whistle for 1t through
the lips of their priests. Obedient to the
divine call, it comes ripping from all
points until 1t reaches the sacred parvs. 1t
accumulates in the subterranean passages
Of the temples, to which the priests alone
have access. Thence 1t oVerfows aud takes
its place, like a proud conqueror, upon the
affairs. where it shares with the gods the
incense and the homage of the men whom
it has bewitched.