The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1914-06-05
MYSTERY OF HOARDED
GOLD Still UNSOLVED
What Becomes Of Precious Metal
Poured Into India Remains
Puzzle.

The report Of the Royal Commission
IN / dan Finance and Currency,
which has just been issued, settles
some controvers es and starts DINERS,
but It do not clear up the mystery
f tie bearded god of India.
From .me mmemorial India mas alb
soi'5ed gold as u sponge a5sorbes wa
.er. Tie floS of gold to Inda has
llwlys continued. Ia the last twelve
years she has rece we'd $4,000, 900 lbs.
gold, partly in s0vereigus and partly
a bullion, in lld ton 10 enormous
quaint tics CT silver. l. all goes INTO
ne country but very Lille ever comes
out. Lord Ro:hsch.ld observed some
years ago that he had noticed that
zone of the smooth goE bars sent to
India from this country ever came
back. Wy. happened to tbs great
stream of prec Gus metal, which con-
inuCusly d saposrs IKE hos rivers
desert lands which -ose themselves
underground?
The testimony Of experts IS most
,onfl ct-ng. Some say K IS bearded,
VII L. few are ready to prove by
orm-d.sble array Of stat 81; cs that it
;annot be extensively bearded. Those
Who ReAeve that India possesses a
asst store of horded treasure make
he M. 'lest guesses at its probable
.otal. The most popular estimate Of
he hoarded wealth of India puts the
otal at 3OO,OOO,OOO, lbs. which would
mount to lib. per head Of the popu-
alton; but some credtable da1'mates
ire far IN gher. The experts quarrel
.Dbout the probable effect of India's at,
'orpticn of gold upon the worlds
money markets and the prices of
;omoditles.~ Some say that all god
using countries benefit thereby while
others, such as Sir Edward Holden,
appear to hold that 1.-THE drain of gold
o Lila is a potential menace"
The commission, while declining TO
endorse ether of these mutually de-
structive contentious, has dec AIRED in
effect hat an increased use of gold in
in'lia should not in future be encour-
aged by the Government, but India
already seems disposed to resent this
recommendation.
Whether gold is hoardeh in India is
really a question of terms. All ma
tons boarded gold upon occasion. If
England were threatened with a great
war tomorrow we may depend upon
that there would be rush for go II
onthe part of those people who pos
sessed both foresight and balance
1T the bank. 1t is estimated that dur
ing the Balkan crisis the people CT
central Europe obtained and boarded
100000 It's. in gold. India has
been subjected to repeated invasions
and innumerable internal wars, and
Ter people have never completely lost
their hereditary sense of insecurity.
Banking facilities are still sparce, land
it would be surprising if Indians did
not hoard
But hoarding does not necessarily
mean buying in the ground or conceal
ment IN the roofs of houses, though
those practices are doubtless extensive
j. Nj. Keynes, a member Of the COM
miss,o on, tells a story Of Il Brahman
n Eastern Bengal who even boards
currency notes in his roof. Once a
week he retires pr,v.ly and spreads
them out in the sun to remove the
damp A very large proportion Of
the boarded wealth of India is, how
ever IN the form OF god and silver
ornaments. 1t is into these ornaments
that the bulk of the bullion and
sovereigns, as well as much of the
silver, disappears.