The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1909-05-18
THE GOLD OF THE WORLD.

The gold figures reported from the
Bureau of Statistics of The Department
of Commerce and Labor are disquicting,
! IL appears from them that there has
been added 10 the gold supply of the
world. since the discovery of America,
| the enormous quantity OF thirteen bill
lion dollars And yet. the total gold
''now in existence, as the report puts
! it. is but eleven billions. All the gold
| known TO The world before the dis.
! covery Of America has disappeared. and
! two billions of rhc new gold besides
! What became of II And how much
| gold does tho Bureau estimate as known
7 10 the world prior 10 The discovery of
| America There must have been 2 good
deal of IT, for the ancient writers sup
| ply evidence that gold was often very
| abundant in the old world prior to 4.
d. 1892, IT would be impossible from
the meager dsta furnished by rho
Bureau to estimate the annual disap-
, pesrance of gold but if We say nothing
of the stocks Of gold in the world prior
to the discovery of America, it appears
on the basis of losses Of new gold mined
since then, that ii has been at the rate
Of five million dollars a year. or. say,
approximately ten tons Of gold lost
every twelve months This is a severe
loss. but if we add what must have
been lost of the gold formerly known,
perhaps VIC ought 10 triple Cor even
more) the loss. And the wonder is,
what becomes of 1T. That used in the
arts should not be LOST, for it is known
10 a large extent; while that used in
science and industry would seem to be
comparatively unimportant as compared
with the large figures, Of loss.
The world S stock of gold coin is
reckoned at seven billion dollars, leaving
four billions of gold known in bars, in
arts. in icwelry, and other forms,
The increase of gold produced has
been phenomenal IT shows a gain Of
one-half in the last ten years, and a
doubling in n quarter of a century. All
the gold produced in the tremendous
gold rush and excitement in the early
days of California, from 1910 onward,
was of minor quantity as compared
with the product of later years. But
its great significance lay in the fact
that il came AT time when the stocks
Of gold were AT a low cbb, and the
world was gold.hungry. That product
Of early California gave the United
States gold prestige which il has
never lost, and this country is produc-
ing gold today at greater rate by
far than it did in the palmest years
of that old gold rush And it is now
keeping its gold, as then IL did not;
for we have a gold holding far in ex
cess of that of any other people. the
Bureaus computation of gold held in
the various nations being as follows:
United States, s1.613. 900. 900: Germany,
81 .O5! 100000; France. 1875 900. 600; Rus
sia. s9l7 1000. 900; United Kingdom. S565,
Italy. s25S, 900. 900; Australia. Sl5S, 900. 900;
Egypt. $40, 900, 900; Argentine. sli0,ooo.
600 600; ooo Turkey, Si@S GOO oS0 600 India Sll$'-
600, 600, and Brazil, $4,000, 900.
IN this connection the following re.
port from India will be of interest;
According TO the official report on the
working OF the Indian mints. Consul Cen
cral William III. Michael OF Calcutta says
that the gold rendered during the fiscal
year 1908 amounted TO SOS 633 333. The
silver coined during the year was valued
at $50. .3S5. .5i3. This is large figure. |
yet IL falls short of the coinage Of the
previous wear by SIG. 666, 666 The larger
part of the rupee coinage was from bull
lion purchased by the secretary of state, |
for the most part In England. The ma
chincry in the mints Is now run by cleo
tricity, which has been found to be more
economical and satisfactory than the old
method The number Of counterfeit coins
in circulation is regarded by the gov
ernment as small. everything considered
most OF them being nickel pieces One
OF the most cffcctual dctcrrents of coun-
tcrieitins is the care taken by the natives
in testing every piece Of silver or nickel |
offered them by feeling, ringing and
biting.