The New York herald. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1920-1924, 1921-08-15
Russia's Pledged Gold.

Ambassador HARVEY has tele-
graphed to the State Department that
in view of the recent decision favor
able to the Russian Soviet Govern
ment in the gold test case the Brit
ish Board OF Trade now takes the
ground that mo holder of imperial
Russian securities can successfully
contest the Soviet claim to legal own
ership of the Russian gold reserve;
and l am informed that the Bank of
England will henceforth grant export
licenses on documents Of title for So
Wet gold without regard to the char
acter of the assay marks it carries"
The subterfuge of passing the Rus
sian gold through Swedish mint to
have the identifying marks obliter-
ated can be abandoned SO far as Eng
land Is concerned. But there is only
one country to which England might
desire to send gold at this time and
that is the United States. The New
York Assay Office and the United
States minis refuse to receive gold
marked with the Russian stamp.
Nevertheless, we have received much
Russian gold by way of Stockholm,
where 1t was recoined with the Swed-
ish mark. In the first five months
Of 1921 the Stockholm mint melted
down seventy tons of Russian gold
as compared with only nineteen tons
for the year 1920. Payments in gold
are the only means the Soviet Gov
eminent has to relieve the famine.
Several private loans floated in this
country by the old Czarist Govern
ment, ag well as the advances made
to Russia by the United States Treas
ury before the Bolsheviki gained
power, were secured by the pledge of
all the resources of the Russian Gov
eminent of that time. AS supplies
to relieve the famine in Russia must
be bought here the imperial gold re-
serve will eventually reach this coun-
try. II 1t were sent bearing the Rus
sian stamp there would be grounds
for the protective committee of the
Investment Bankers Association to
contest the ownership of the gold.
The committee was formed to look
after the interests of Russian bond
holders.
The United States Government, as
an interested creditor, might itself
take hand for the reason the dissi-
patton of the Russian gold reserve
removes some of the assets pledged
for the Federal Treasury loans of
taxpayers money to former Russian
governments. The French Govern
ment has instituted suit to test
whether 1t can prevent acceptance
from any source of the Russian gold
pledged to secure French loans.
BY a ukase of the Imperial Rus
sian Government in 1897 the gold re-
serve was specifically pledged for the
Russian State bonds Of 1906, into
which a previous issue OF notes was
made convertible. The British courts
ruled that this pledge was nullified
by another ukase suspending the
privilege of converting notes into
gold in 1914. The English courts
ruled that they had no jurisdiction
over the acts of the Soviet Govern
ment since 1t had been recognized as
de facto government in the trade
agreement with Great Britain. But
q decision like that in our courts
would be Numerically opposed to
the course the State Department is
taking to prevent the Mexican Gov
eminent from conflscating oil lands
owned by citizens OF this country.
Besides, the United States has not
recognized the Soviets.