The daily Nome industrial worker., 1916-02-07

Gold is now arriving in the United States by the "cord". Its presence is being hailed Is a great boon to business It is everywhere heraldeo as a great and certain sign of re- turning prosperity, and it is accom- panied also by such an industrial &C., tivity as would seem to indicate that it's increase in the United States s an unmixcd blessing.
 Now gold is a comm odity. Mos. know it as the theoretic standard of value and it's use therefore as a me- dium of exchange. But it's import ance aG a comm 0dity is net less than it's importance when functioning purely as the national medium of exchange, especially since it's latter function depends upon it's condition as commodity.
 If gold were very rare and the quantity secured were but relatively small or only of such an amount as to replenIsh at supply used up in .Ee crts or T the w5Hr ald tear of coinage, it would represent an ideal medium of exchange, because it's own value would not fuctuate and gold dol';r today would be the same tomorrow, thc next day and the day after.
 But the value of gold depends upon it's cost Cf proGueticn.. Its price depends upon the re.otcn ot it's supply to is Gtmard If Gold sr rIentif,tI tis7t7fU=y, it is not ex~ cncugeabIe tod..y for as mucn wheat C5 it exchanged for yesterday. unless wheat has similarly increased in supply and the cost of ,ts produc- ton has also wita crcl itcp de- creasod in proportion to the value of gold.
 Today the United States $ flood ed with all kinds of gold It is being brought from every country, it is coming from Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia, because Great Brit9in has always controlled the main gold supply: the mines in thosS places. To pay foreign war dobt3, therefore, this strc:m CT yellow motal is growing in volume and the United States is accumulat- ing tho main supply of the world.
 In addition gold does not cost Sd much to produce today as yesterday, Thanks to enormous strides which the metalurgists hevc ned il the art of ore reduction, gold is profit ably produced from exceedingly low grade ores. of which the supply is practically inexhaustible.
 With tho advent of ttis pile of goic, tke ccGt of production cheap Cling, the price of gold else dctori- crates. It is not stable factor m finance or commerce and it iG not oxchangoable at uniform rate with other commodities.
 The most important consequence of this is that prices contii uo to soar. They do soar; for the demand for commodities is very much in excess of the supply. The wcr in Europe has madc European govern ments customers for millions who must be fed where hitherto they wore ina6equetely fed, The soldier in the trenches is cared for much moro attentively bodily ard men tally then was the ordinary industri- al worker. '.
 Very many soldiers today are be- ing enabled by their governments to assume consumptivc capacity which they hitherto rcver could att tain. And to sat;cfy that coEsump- tive demand the European govern ment1 are willing to drain the Am erican markets of supplies. In re- turn they send gold. They Know tact gold is tho rational medium ot exchange here as it is over there But they cannot cat it, and they muct have wheat and flour and food and clothing. In consequence the supply of food in America shrinks and the supply of gold increases. This creates higher prices and na- turaly because in proportion to the demand gold is relatively more plentiful than are the food supplies. It takes more gold today to repre- sent a given value in necesscrics of life than at any other period. and