The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-09-18
S,9f5,472,5sS

So,Jlo, 4izO5o
 More than one-fifth of all the gold produced during the last ten years has gone to swell the stock held by the United States treasury and the New York banks, the gross increase having been s7S2, ,sn, ,275, or almost exactly the amount mined in the United States during the | same period.
 France led Russia at this time last year with s741, ,076,So0 against the latter's s627,- S9O, 900, but in the interval France has lost s62, ,65b, 800, whereas Russia has accumu- lated no less than $66 150,000. this change being indeed the most remarkable of any that has taken place during the last 12 months and one that might be profitably inquired into. The thrifty character of the French. combined with the ultra | conservatism of the Bank of France, satisfactorily explains the increase in that institutions supply of gold from $449, ,627, ,44o ten years ago to 741,076.S00 last year. Twenty years ago the total was only $26S, $40, ,oOo.
 | Austria-Hungary is today third in the European list with a total of s276, S90, 900, gain in ten years of $SS, 395. 900; 20 years ago the same country could boast of only $22, ,S75,0 London contrives to carry on it's functions as the leading financial | center of the world with a gold reserve | in its central bank of less than $2OO,00O,- | coo; the exact total today is S19 ,S15, as compared with $168,776,995 in 1900, and SIS, ,266, ,125 in 1890. Italy, next to Russia and France, has practiced accumulation ffo af,. Ia o1rf,, the decade amounted to $116,525, ,OO0. Ger many, notwithstanding its amazing in- dustrial expansion, has found 1t necessa- ry to augment its reserve by only 07O9,- 75O
 That the cotton crop will be financed this season without any special difficulty and without causing tight money' is the opinion of prominent bankers here. A canvass made of the leading national banks, state institutions and trust com panies showed that the financial interests are taking a very optimistic view of the solution of the problem, and that no fear Is entertained of a possible rupture be- tween the foreign banking institutions and the American banks. It Is felt that the English and continental bankers will agree to the railroad validation certifl- cate plan, and no unusual complications will arise in financing the cotton crop this season.
 It was pointed out that while the res olution recently passed by the foreign committee calls for bank guarantees" beginning November 1, the American railroads handling cotton from the south will commence issuing validation certi- ficates on September 1, or 60 days before the resolution goes into effect. Not only is it the confident hope of bankers here who have absolutely refused to give guar antees, but the foreigners will rescind their resolution before that date, but 1t is expected that a large portion of the cot ton crop will have been moved before November l. Private advices received from the other side state that more and more bankers are becoming daily recon ciled to the validation certificate plan, and the probabilities are that the foreign committee as body will indorse the scheme before very long. The two months during which the plan will be in operation prior to November will give the foreigners sufficient time to consider and determine whether the validaton certificate is an ample safeguard against fraud in the issuance of bills of lading.
 E. M Weld of the firm of Weld & Me- vile. who recently returned from abroad, says he thinks the railroad validation certificate plan was the best solution of the problem. He said the cotton people on the other side were very much inter- ested in tn negotiations carried on by our bankers with the railroads.
 q think the validation certificate will help matters a great deal,'' said MT. Weld. "Of course, 1t is possible to do away with fraud absolutely, but the pro- posed plan is as good one as has yet been offered, and it ought to serve as an ample protection against irregularities and forgeries in the issuance of cotton bills of lading.
 .'I am of the opinion that the best way of reducing fraud to a minimum is by dealing with houses of well known re- sponsibility If you think house does business in questionable manner don't have anything to do with it. On the other hand foreigners who are ac- quainted with the firms from which they