Arizona republican., 1903-01-07
The ..rlenace" of Too rluch Gold.

| states treasury accumulRteQ a suTpluS
 of S72, 1922, ,151, although the expenses of | the government, "in round numbers,
 were 1S,O00, coo in excess of the ex- penses of the year previous. This is and the extra money is not to be con-
 sidered as a burden. or as an incentive to governmental extravaganza.
 The new year started with more gold in the United States treasury vaults 1 than was ever there before at one time. The total sum of the precious metal | held by the government in its several | treasuries is given as $615, 319. .367. or | four times as much as is held by the
 Bank of England. one and one half
 times as much as is held by the Bank | of France, four times as much as is
 held by the Imperial Bank of Germany, and twice as much as the Imperial
 Bank of Russia possesses. The pres ence of so much actual gold is account | ed for by Treasurer Roberts as some
 thing of a menace to business. and it is
 we'll to give his views on the subject
 for the study of those who have a con i cern for the financial welfare of the
 country.
 Cautious financiers," he said few days ago, express alarm at the tre-
 mendous imitation which has taken | place in recent years and Is still going on. The total circulation per capita in this country Is $29.52 and the share of | gold in it is 41.54 per cent. In no other | land are checks and like instruments of credit so much used as here. and it | is to be remembered that currency
 serves for only 10-or at most 15-per | cent of the volume of transactions. | With that standard, measure the enor- nous imitation now in progress In the United States. The expansion of busi- ness, excessive In not few branches, is natural result,
 "Out of it. in large part, grew the | dangerous exploitation of gigantic in- dustrial corporations. An imitation of
 currency breeds imitation of credits and
 arouses to activity promoters and spec
 ulators. The check, which was recent ly applied, made plain the danger. The
 extensive liquidation. the nervousness over the congestion of new stock In the hands of organizers, the dread of un- known evils, are not healthful condi- tions. They expose the wild schemes, l dubious companies, excessive capital | iZation, the frenzy-which is not busi- ness.
 "Yet, whatever perils may befall whatever crash and ruin may come in | the early future, they cannot involve the currency. They may reduce cred its, clip margins from stocks and par alyZe enterprises for a time. Even if corporations shrivel and banks totter, all our money will remain fortified in 1 gold. sure and steadfast.
 with other things equal, large ad- | ditions to the currency carry up the | prices of commodities. Notable ad- vances have taken place in the prices of articles of necessity during the past | five years-as much as 25 or 30 per cent The burden falls heavily at once on persons with fixed salaries and linn | ited incomes, who can find no offset. Real estate, except in favored forms and choice locations in cities, has not
 improved in earning capacity, as a rule. There are thus large classes of ! our people to whom this imitation is an evil, without palliation. Efforts for | better wages in these conditions are ! natural.
 Ut is conceivable that our wages and ! prices of commodities may be carried
 so high as to build barrier seriously | to check. our exports. That peril con- | fronts us; but the danger line is some ! distance ahead. If American skill and
 energy can keep ahead of this rise, we
 can hold and tighten our grip on for | eign markets. But too great an in
 fiation of our currency, even by gold, | will negative this.'
 l So, he concluded, the inflow of gold | is not without its hazards; but the ! American people are sane enough to
 make gold not only the symbol of pros | perity, but its stout defense.
 Nevertheless, the people are not likely to become alarmed by the influx of gold into the country. President Mckinley
 held to the theory that i've cannot have too much good money" and his
 doctrine will prevail for a long time to come