Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1906-12-18
WHERE THE GOLD Is.
Great Britain's Lack Of the Precious
MetaI-A Comparison With Other

6Feat 6rttalnb LACK OF tno FTcCioue
MetaI-A Comparison With Other
Countries.
1t is a surprising fact that, though
for the past fifteen or twenty years
the production Of gold throughout
the world has been steadily rising, the
United Kingdom at the present time
is bare of gold. Not in literal sense,
for there Is always a handsome
amount of coin and bullion In the
vaults Of the Bank of England, but
in comparison with other and perhaps
more fortunate countries.
The English stock Of gold at the
Bank of England was f24,000,000 at
the close of the year 1880, in the days
Of small gold production and much
smaller business. It was only f2S,-
000, 900 at the close of 1905, though
we have seen that the gold produc-
ton had trebled in the interval, and
business had probably doubled. The
highest point reached was in 1895, at
the end of which year 1t stood at f45,-
900, 900. 1t Is today about $4,000
000-a dangerously small sum for
modern times.
| Where England has stood still,
France, Germany, Russia, Austria,
Italy and the United States have all
advanced. In most Of these countries
trade has been developing far faster
than in England, and gold goes where
trade is most active. In France, the
stock of gold in the Bank of France
has risen from f24,000,000 in 1880 to
ELS, 100000 in 1905. 1t has thus
been more than quadrupled, and even
today it is e112,oOO,0O0. France has
an ample supply, but her bank au-
thorities are careful not to part with
their gold when they can possibly
prevent It,
Germany maintained in 1880 a
stock Of only f9,600,000 in the vaults
Of the Reichsbank of Berlin, in addi-
ton of course, to the military war
chest Of coined gold at Spendau, on
which the nation can fall back as
last reserve in the hour Of war. She
IDlS Dcl"CCu 1ooO
and 1905, for in the latter year the
figure was f2s,0OO,O00 while it is
f3s, 100000 today. Where England
has stood still, Germany has got the
gold. Her ally, Austria, is another
great holder Of gold, and has recently
increased her holdings markedly. The
Austro- Hungarian bank in 1880 had
supply Of only f5,600,000, which by
the skill of it's financial authorities
was expanded to 46,000,000 in 1905,
and which has been as high as f4s,-
600, 900 in 1904.
In Italy and Russia, though the
figures are not available, the same at
tention has been shown to the gold
reserve. Russia had at the end OF
1906 an amount Of f74,000,000, or
nearly three times the British one.
Italy had at the end Of the same year
a supply Of f25. 900. 900 in gold, which
in the present year has been raised
to f2s,000,000. In the United States
the treasury at the end Of 1905 had
gold of the value Of f3S.000,000 In
its vaults, against an amount Of f24,-
600, 900 in 1880.
Thus France, Germany, Austria,
Russia and the United States all keep
a larger stock Of gold than does i'm
provident England. All, or most OF
them, have increased their stock to
correspond with the growth In the
gold production. Italy, with infinite
ly smaller requirements and obliga-
tions than the United Kingdom, has
certainly quintupled her stock Of gold
in the last twenty-five years, while
England rests content with practical
ly the same quantity Of the precious
metal as in the past and trusts to luck
to bring her through any serious cri-
sis.
1t Is not as though the British En-
pire did not produce gold in immense
quantities. The mines Of the Rand,
before the Radicals got to work upon
them were turning out f2O,OOO,OOO
worth annually; the Australian out
put last year was f17,104,00o, and
the Canadian production f2,Ss6,OO0.
The United States stood next to South
Africa, with a production OF fl7,2bS,-
900 worth.-London Daily Mail.