The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1915-08-13
DROWNED
May BE the Fate of the United
States, Says New York Pa
per, by Flood of Gold.

An eminent English authority said
three months ago that we were swim
ing in sea of gold. The head of
one of Wall Streets largest banks
now says In effect that we are in dan
ger of drowning in a sea of idle gold.
We are accumulating a trade bal
ance against the outside world at the
rate Of $40, 100000 a month and it
is likely to grow still faster when the
new crops begin to move freely and
when the export of war materials
reaches It's heighth later in the year.
We have imported S120, 100000 gold
since the beginning of the year and
have bought back three times that
amount of stock and bonds from Eu-
rope without giving stability to New
York's foreign exchange market
We cannot use our surplus cash
and credit balances to import mer-
chandise and commodities because
| Europe cannot let us have what we
could consume. We need potash
badly and that indispensable fertiliz-
er has risen to a pTohibitive price
because we cannot get it out of Ger
many This is only one item in a
list that totals $200,000,000 for i'm
mediate requirements that cannot be
| filled. Americans are not accustom-
ed to foreign investments and wisely
prefer domestic securities.
Europe has already sold to us most
of the American securities held for
speculative account or forming the
basis of bank loans, and foreign in
vestors are not selling their holdings
freely enough to keep down the trade
balance which is piling up against
them.
In normal times the accumulation
of idle gold, the large balance of
trade in our favor and the low rate
of foreign exchange in New York
would draw goods to our ports from
all parts of the world, but the ma
chinery of international trade is out
of order and we are growing rich in
idle money. Leading bankers know
that money has no value in itself, and
it tends to lose its worth when it can
not be used to buy goods, property
or securities.
Idle funds encourage imitation at
home under ordinary conditions, but
everybody it SO cautious that no such |
tendency is apparent at present. |
Bankers profess to fear imitation and |
overextension of credits, but they |
have held their purse strings so tight
ly that their vaults are bursting with
idle money.
For three years they have been
telling us that the railroads need |
hundreds of millions of dollars for ex-
tensions and improvements and rail-
road men have confirmed this. The
Erie railroad, for instance, is puttel
ing along, with the double tracking
Of its main line from New York to
Chicago 1t could spend millions in
finishing the job promptly if it could
borrow or favorable terms.
If the railroads have needed CAPT
-al so badly all these years, and there
IS no reason to doubt it, the people
who hold all this idle money would
lot create dangerous imitation by let
ing them have it. Our leading rail-
'oad builder abs been telling us that
he railroads have neither terminal
ABILITIES nor rolling stock to move
he crops promptly.
We have the money. To use it
wisely requires the o-operation of
Ill interests, including congress. We
ould spent 1,000,000,000 on good
oads throughout the country within
hree years Good roads would still
urther stimulate the automobile bu-
mess and other industries, and also