The Daily Alaska empire., 1932-09-20

Is The spirit of hoarding in India is manifested In all classes from the lowest to the highest and from
 the poorest to the wealthiest. This
 lure of gold--its beauty, concen- trated weight and great intrinsic
 value-has been enhanced by In- dias inheritance laws and old-time customs. These laws and customs have endured for thousands of years and experiences with unstable governments have taught millions
 of the population that family prop
 erty is best preserved by hoarding,
 whether it be in gold, precious stones or silver. m ly According to the two tabulations referred to, and after making al
 lowance for absorption in China,
 Egypt, and other countries, there
 has been left during the last 58 years but 50 per cent of the worlds
 gold production for monetary use.
 Early Debasement of Coinage
 Before the dawn of history, gold had been used as money metal;
 later came silver, and for coins of low value, came copper as well as other metals. Ancient rulers abused the confidence of their subjects from time to time by diminishing and debasing the quantity and quality of metals that had been originally contained in their coins. As early as gold was used for money, the rulers no doubt began the practice of debasement of such coins, When for his own pur- poses, for the purposes of the State, or for any of a thousand reasons the ruler needed more money, what easier way to find it than to re- coin the money with less gold in each piece? This was the earliest form of imitation, or the attempt to pay the debts of nation, whether to an. individual or toI another nation, in 9 coin of lower value than the one in use when the debt was contracted.
 Government Followed Precedent
 When in 1884 the U. S.. Congress decreed that the gold dollar should contain 232 grains instead of PAYS grains. our own Government was but following a precedent set before the building of the pyramids. This continuation of the. ancient abuse of the confidence of subjects ex- plains the gold wording in our present-day bonds, mortgages, notes and contracts, most all of which contain the following, or similar, wording: I
 Payable in Gold Coin of the United States of America, of, or equal to, the present standard of weight and fineness."
 The present gold basis of the United States dollar is 1922 grains fine The United States buys all gold offered at this price equiv alent, or at $20674 per ounce, and conversely will sell gold to any person at this same price, thus making our coinage of gold free and unlimited.
 The British Standard
 The use of both gold and silver as a bimetallic basis for money was universal with the Western na- tions for many centuries. The monetary unit of England is the gold Sovereign" represented by the paper Pound Sterling" This unit of paper money was originally backed by one troy pound of silver which. during the period from 1900 to 1900, was worth $19 to $22 in com parison with our present-day stan dard value of gold. In 1916, the British adopted the single standard of gold for their coinage, making the sovereign of one pound sterling, containing l13.00l6 grains of fine gold, the basis of all coins. This basis continued until upset by war and postwar conditions. Last Sep tember England went off the gold standard" by the single act of re- fusing to sell gold to any person who presented Bank of England notes. By that act the value of the paper pound note dropped to a present7day value of about $3.54 in United States gold money.
 Act of Imitation
 2 This act of the British Govern ment was purely an act of infla- ton. England's wages. rents and prices generally had become in- Hated during the war and early postwar period. Wage-earners re- fused to accept less than the I standard wage they had reached during imitation. Prices and costs could not be cut to compete with other nations which had revalued their money, or in other ways de- based their coinage. England re- valued her own money by volun- tarily reducing its value nearly sQl| per cent. On an International or gold exchange basis she should be able to produce for 30 per cent less than before if she were not obliged bO buy also .on a oold ovcbonoa