The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-12-11
LEAD ALL IN WEALTH
AMERICANS HOLD ABOUT ONE FIFTH OF THE WORLDS MON-
 EY.
Big Gains fin Savings seen-Tnterest- ing Statistics From Comp
 trOller Ridgely.

William P. Curtis's Special to The | Chicago Record-Herald
 Is asked William Barrett Ridgely
 the other day how much money there
 was in all the world. He pulled open a drawer in his big desk. put on his l eye glasses, looked over some papers and replied:
 "On the 31st of December, 1903 which is the latest we have. the ag- gregate stock of money in the princi- pal countries of the world was S12,- 313, 0.00O.
 How much of that is gold, and | how much is silver, and how much is paper curency?"
 According to the most accurate | estimates. s5,62S, 200. 900 is gold coin. $3.201, 100000 is silver and $3,483. .500,- 900 Is in uncovered paper currency. How much of that money have we here in the United States?" About one-fifth of the total is held in this country. or approximately $2.- 500, ,200,00 The stock of gold in the United States is greater than that of any other country, being nearly one- fourth of the whole. or in the neigh borhood of $1.s2o. 100000. and we have about $679.20o,oo0 in silver How much is that per capita? 'The per capita circulation of the United States is $3o.77 and is greater than that of any country except France. where there Is $40.09 for each member of the population. Our mon- ey. if distributed equally throughout the land, according to the recent esti- mates of population, would give each man. woman and child $16.26 gold. $S.36 silver and $s.17 in paper. A statement issued by the Secretary of the Treasury not long ago showed that the coin and other money in circufa- ton in the United States amounts to $2. .S03, ,500, 900, of which $2S4. 1900, 900 is in the treasury, 9S2, 10000 in the banks and $1,536, ,300,000 in general circula- tion. There has been an increase in the money wealth of the United States of nearly $1,00o. .0oO. 900 during the last ten years. In 1894 the total circula- tion was $1.sO5, ,OOO.ooO. and the per capita, exclusive Of coin, in the treas ury was $24.2s. There was a slight falling off in 1896 and 1897, when the per capita fell as low as $21.10, but since that date 1t has been climbing up rapidly. The national wealth has increased nearly one-third In money, and the per capita of circulation. without counting coin in the treasury is $s.s7 greater than 1t was seven years ago."
 What Is the banking power of the world?"
 According to Mulhall. the eminent England statistician. the worlds banking power has more than doubled within the last fourteen years. The total in 1890 was s15. .985. .O0O, 900 and in 1904 1t Is $33,536, ,30O,O 900. That is an in- crease of nearly no per cent. The banking power of the United States in 1890 was s5.150.O0O,oOO. while in 1904 1t had increased to $1S,s26,6 500, 900, gain of 168.47 per cent"
 How many banks are there in the United States?"
 Altogether 19.044, with an aggre- gate capital of $1,473,904,G47 and de- posts amoun9ng to $10,55S,SS9, 4S1. Of these 5,53l are national banks, B. 519 State banks and 4.546 private and other nonreporting banks. This is an increase from 7,3O2 banks since 1882, while the capital has more than doub- led and the deposits have very nearly quadrupled. There has been a most extraordinary growth in our sav- ings bank system; not so much in the number of banks, which has re- mained about the saFe for the last ten or twelve years, but in the num- Der of depositors, who have increased from 4.25s,S9S, in 1890, to 7,305,44S in 1904. The total deposits have doub- led, being si.524,S44.50f in 1890, and