Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1902-08-06
Btistellaueal1s geadimg.
GOLD BEYOND COMPREHENSION.
Illustrations of the Size Of Uncle
Sans Pile.

Sans Pile.
The treasury department at Washing
ton announced the other day that this
country possesses about a quarter Of
all the gold that has been made up into
money in the entire world.
To quote the official figures there is
now in the United States, including
treasury coin and bullion, $1,000, 900, 900
Of gold money, whereas the worlds en-
tire stock of gold money Is worth less
than five thousand miliions-$4.9 .906, 7OO,-
900. according to the latest figures
Some financiers believe that the amount
Of gold in this.2ountry is slightly great
er than the treasury estimate and that
the amount is close to $3.50. 900, ,000-a
billion and q quarter-while all the rest
Of the world possesses less than $780,
100000. This Is a larger sum Of COIN
ed gold than has ever been possessed
by single nation in the history Of the
world before.
Next to the United States, according
10 the latest report, comes France, with
$S1O, 600, 900, followed by the British en-
pire, with s769, 100000; Russia, with
1924 243OO,OOO, and Germany with s721,-
100000 So far as coined gold Is con-
cerned, it will be observed, the United
States in a class by itself.
The British empire is second in the
second class, but Great Britain proper
is last. it's store Of coined gold amount
ing only to $511 100000.
All other people are so far behind in
the race as not to be eligible even for
the second class. Austria Hungary
leads the third class with about $780,
10000 but even with this amount, the
great empire is very poor in gold mon
ey, relatively as well as actually, for
her gold supply amounts to less than
$3.50 per capita for her population Of
Al, ,OOO, 900 souls.
Uncle Sans children have nearly SIG
in gold apiece, which Is less than the
citizens of France possess. For each OF
them there Is little more than $2l or
gold coin a head. Germany comes third
in the per capita computation. the fig
ures being $12S1. Great Britain has
s12.34 of gold per capita, and Russia
with her enormous population Of 12S.-
300, 900, only s5.64.
The per capita for the entire British
empire is a shade under $780, that for
India's enormous horde Of 100000
souls, being only Is cents. Here, as
in other things, the British empire ex-
hibits the most astonishing extremes,
for there are parts thereof where the
per capita of coined gold Is in great ex-
cess in Australia, for instance, there
is $24. &c in coin as money for every man,
woman and child. At one time the
South African republics led this, with
per capita figures of $26.34, but now
Australia is the highest. Canada's per
capita is a few cents in excess of SO.
But these per capita figures of coined
gold should not be taken as indicative
either of country's actual wealth or of
the per capita Of money in circulation.
The total amount of money of all sorts
in the United States is rising of two
thousand five hundred millions, or more
than $2S for every citizen of Uncle Sam,
about double the per capita of gold.
In Australia, where the gold per cap
ita is the highest, there is little money
in circulation at all except that made
from the precious yellow metal; in In
dia the great preponderance is in Sill
yer, and this is true in even greater
degree in China.
1t is doubtful whether any one can
comprehend the meaning Of figures so
great as those which are needed to ex-
press the present wealth Of this coun-
try in coined gold. 1t would take la
borer earning a doLar a day 4l6,666
years to earn a billion and a quarter
of dollars and he would have to have
the longevity of more than 1000 Methu-
selahs. If the money had to be earned
by days work it would be better to put
4l6, ,666 laborers at it for single year.
Reduced t, avoirdupois, the one thou
sand two hundred and fifty millions of
gold dollars now in this country would
represent 100000 pounds, or $500 short