The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-01-09

! billion odd dollars ($2,700,136,929) in
! gold itself in this country is a yellow
menace" not included in the Kaiser S
! celebrated cry, gives the palm to that
OF the comptroller of the currency ut
tered at Norfolk yesterday (already
| published in the Transcript. Briefly
| it was CD cit will tempt the greed
OF foreign nations;" CD it needs to
be protected by a vaster army and ma
Wy; CD it needs to disarm as much
envy as possible (like private riches)
by being charitable to those suffer-
ing from war. Of further explana-
tions he likes that Of the World, which
points out that:
Any abnormal or arbitrary increase
in the money volume is an imitation
Of that volume, whether from gold or
from the forced issues of flat currency
And mutations Of the currency are con-
sidered undesirable because they dis
turb the settled relationship between
money and commodities, depressing
the value of money in terms Of COM
modities and enhancing the value of
commodities in terms Of money 49,
which means higher prices The
wholly abnormal supplies of gold now
in the country and still coming are not
idle. They go into the banks and
from there, with their much greater
volume of credit, they seek and
crowd for employment. It becomes
cheaper to carry stocks and bid them
to higher prices, to carry food in cold
storage, to hold grain of the market
and bid it up, and SO of other commo-
dities, until the circle Of higher prices
is complete. If the situation were to
be permanent, with a speedy adjust
ment Of wages thereto, it would be
different. But that cannot be the
case, and the undesirability of this
great temporary influx Of gold becomes
apparent.
In the year Of the outbreak Of war
gold production was speeded up. 1t
has been for all countries:
1911 $461, 939, 7D0-1913 $459, 100
1912 466, ,100A-1914 456,676,600
Efforts to produce nj the midst Of
carrying on war have been contin-
Gus. This years production is like
ly to average well, for the October
gold output of the Transvaal was the
third largest Of any month in wartime
the SIG, $685. 900 produced having been
exceeded only by $16,920,000 of last
March, the $16,940,000 of last October
and the SIC, Ses,000 of May 1918,
March 1912, broke all records with
$17,643,000. The word from London,
is that if America requires more gold
shipments against what is owing for
munitions and supplies gold is avail
able" This week $20,000,000 more is
expected.
Wanted-A Substitute. u
In this connection one finds inter-
est taken in the remark Of one Of Har-
wards assistant professors, B. M. An
derson, "all the gold in the world
could be little more than adequate
to pay for two years of our exports at
the present rate" American total ex-
port trade for the fiscal year ending
June last, the treasury secretary re-
ported, was $4,33,658,S65. That rate
for two years would bring it to above
eight and a half billions. The total
stocks of gold in the chief countries
two years ago total1ed only $8,239,5 $780,
900. Then all the gold in the world
two years ago was too small by $780,
900, 900 to pay for two years Of Ameri-
can exports at present volume. Mr..
Anderson makes the indusputab1e con-
be paid for at all, pay for |
exports SO enormous must be taken in !
else than gold, in commo-
dities Or manufactures, or securities.
4 One is told that the probability is |
that, while it has already got back |
American securities to the amount Of |
three billion from abroad. Wall St.,
would rather than gold, prefer to re-
ceive more of the forty-odd million |
stock exchange securities still held by
Europe.