The Mena weekly star., 1921-09-01
GOLD INITIATION IS NEWEST J. s. PERIL
Three Billion Dollars Worth, or Third of Globes Supply, Is Held in Amer ica--Financiers and Off,
 cias Disturbed.
BY W. H. ATKINS, International News Service Staff Correspondent


 Correspondent
 Washington, Aug. 27.-Unele Sam's pockets bulge with gold. He has al- most a "corner" on the worlds SUD- ply. Treasury reports recently showed more than 3,000,000,000, or one-third of the entire stock of the precious metal on the entire globe, IS on American soil.
 With this enormous stock of gold in our possession, the truth is dawn ing that we have more gold than is good for us if, as a nation, we want to maintain the integrity of the gold standard. financiers are disturbed. Government fiscal experts say that the powerful position of tho American dollar in international exchange is draining other countries of gold and it is flowing to America to pay for merchandise.
 Comptroller of the Currency Cris- singer, giving the results of an ex- haustive study of the situation, said today that this great stream of gold actually threatens us with "gold in- flation."
 More Than We Need"
 Here is how the comptroller views the matter:
 "We are accommodating more gold than we need. Other countries, by sending us their gold, are weakening their power to uphold the gold stand ard. The senders of this gold in large volume also lessen their ability to maintain an assuered ratio of ex- change and to buy what they need to use and we need to sell'
 Earlier ideas of American finan- ciers about the problem of exchange have undergone radical change since the great war. Until the war upset all previous systems, a movement of gold in one direction and of prod uets in the opposite direction was ac- cepted as assurance of substantial stability in the relations of curren- cies.
 pensating movement of goods from America to the countries which are sending us their gold.
 Fiscal experts continue to note the lack of freedom in commercial inter- changes. In normal times such in- terchanges were a great equalizer and leveler in matters of international financing.
 Gold Standard Threatened.
 Government officials who are closest students of the problem said that the United States will be com pelled to move along some line that may bring about exchange stabiliza- tion, or run the risk of seeing the gold standard gravely impaired.
 Going back a few decades, officials recalled that after our civil war our own currency was impaired because of paper imitation. Other countries had drawn out large part of Amer ica's gold. Thereby the currencies of foreign countries were more firmly established. At that period striking demonstration of Americas economic capacity was shown by resumption of specie payments soon after the end of the war. Now the situation is re- versed. Instead of suffering from a drought of gold, we are inconve- nienced by an oversupply, as relates to our ability to maintain interna- tional trade connections, which are logically American.
 There are some advocates of the creation of an international currency medium for purposes of international trade. There are also many oppo nents to such plan. Many Amer ican leaders believe that such plan would operate to the disadvantage of America in the end.
 U. s. Should Co-Operate.
 Others, however, contend that, with other foreign powers discriminating against the United States for the req son that American money is so much more expensive than theirs, the United States should become a par ticipant in some international scheme to stabilize exchange.
 American business is vitally af- feeted by any plan that will stabilize exchange American manufacturers are seeing contracts go to the ma tionals of other countries having low CT currency values. 1t is now vir- tually impossible for America to bid against other countries in many lines of important commodities because their currencies are at a great dis count, as compared with American money values.
 An earnest advocate of some inter national plan of currency stabiliza- tion is Comptroller Crissinger 1t is his view that American business men and financiers must give serious con- iteration to measures of this sort to asure resumption of normal produc- tion. to regain the fields of trade op- portunity now closed in favor of cheaper price competitors, and in or der to bring about financial and in