The Seward gateway daily edition, and the Alaska weekly post., 1919-05-19
NO SUBSIDY FOR GOLD
 kHINERS


 In other words $lOO of American gold vould buy only $6o worth of foreign goods.
 This argument, together with the exhaustive report made by the Brit jsh committee of experts, doubtless will be used oy congressman and sen ators in whose states there are no gold mining industries, and who are in a big majority in Congress.
 Prejudice Against Subsidies.
 Besides that, the prejudice agains: ,hc payment of subsidies 10 different industries is becoming more and more pronounced. For instance, a commit tee from a Farmers Grange the other 1av told members Of the Shipping Dourd that the farming interests or tho country would protest vigorously aga'nss .hc ale of any government ships They also protested against certain plans the Railroad Adminrs- t.ation had in mind
 The delegates were reminded in very emphatic language that farmers rep. escnted only a little more thar twenty-five per cent of the population of tie United States. and yet there .coanI-. h i passed Congress an ap- puopriation of Sl ,25O,O0O,OOO to guar aotcc market price for their wheat which is away beyond its value in foreign countries, and that this sub. sdy involved the possibility of tax of S'2.5O on every man, woman ana child in the country.
 There has been considerable con gre ssional crumbling about the pas. age of that wheat subsidy appropri- atior ard appeals for an appropria- ton to subsjdize the gold mining in- du,try are likely Co fall on deaf ears
 Mining Mems Hopes Blasted.
 The hones of the Western mining mon were based on expectation tha' the British committee would find ia favor of ,hg payment of a subsidy t. Great Britain had agreed to it. there as some probability that the Unitel States would do likewise. Conditions would then be on somewhat of a parity in nearly all gold producing ouuuies. But those hopes are blasted in the report just received. The repor' says in part;
 Subsidy for the production of gold appears to the committee to be run damcntally unsound. Gold has been adopted as the standard of value be causes by reason Of the operation ot rauual causes it is available in quan- tiries and at such cost of produCtioa in terms of other commodities is directly influenced by the laws ot supply and demand. Periods of in- creased gold production, following on the discovery of further deposits ol gold capable of extraction at low cost have been marked by an increase m the price of commodities.
 Would Lose Purchasing Power
 "The intention of the subsidy sug- gested by the gold producers is to en- able gold to be produced that would otherwise not conformably with the economic law of supply and demand be produced at all. Other things be- ing equal, the result would be that the purchasing power of the whole worlds gold supply would be dimin- shed. The value terms of gold of the commodities for which it is exchanged would rise.
 ''It is undoubtedly desirable that considerable gold reserves should he held in this country, but in our view, the most important function of the cold reserve is that it should he available for export at the standard price when required to meet foreign indebtedness. We think it essential to preserve a free market in gold, but