The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1939-04-20
Economic (. .
9M9hA9hA

Gold, as anyone will agree, is :;
pleasant commodity to have. But econ
omists have been wondering for SOM
time if it isn't possible to have to-
much of it-so much, indeed, tina
there is danger of it becoming econ
omically valueless.
The case in point is the U. S. gov
ernment. Five years ago we had .
little more than 195,OOO,OOO ounces O.
monetary gold. Today we have owe
double that amount - 431 200 ,O0(
ounces. And the yellow metal is still
coming into this country from abroat
lat an accelerating rather than dim
inishing rate. Hardly a week goes by
without a gold shipment.
If this gold were melted down intt
a single ingot, it wouldn't be as i'm
posing a spectacle as you might i'm
|agine. 1t would make bar measuring
SO by 20 by 20 feet. But that bar woule
have the incredible value-at our arti
ficially established gold price of $3t
per ounce-of over $4,000, 100000.
More important than the mere
money value of our gold is the fact
that it represents pretty close to &C
per cent of all the monetary gold ir
the world. Almost equally important
as the U. S. News points out, is the
fact that the remaining forty-odd pei
cent is extremely badly divided. Eng.
land and France have the bulk of it. A
number of small powers have some
And three of the great powers, Ger.
many, Italy and Japan, have practical
ly none-not more than 4 per cent OF
the total.
Gold is flowing into this country fo1
a variety of reasons. One is that un-
der our law, the Treasury must ac-
cept every ounce offered and pay $35
for it in our currency, whether it can
be used or not (and today, our gold
reserve is almost infinitely greater
than our requirements, figuring on the
most conservative basis). Another, in
creasingly potent reason is that
European capital is frightened over
the possibility of war, and wants to
get it's money as far away from the
scene Of pending hostilities as possible.
The outlook then, is for our gold i'm
ports to continue to soar. Even today,
it is coming in at the rate of $1OO, O,OOO,-
600 a week-and if that rate were to
be continued, in three years we would
have every ounce of monetary gold in
the world.
And that's what has the economists
puzzled. 1t is obviously possible,
especially in the case of war, that we
may find ourselves with practically
a complete corner on gold. No other
country would have enough to be
worth mentioning. And, in that event,
they would have to tie their monetary
systems to some other standard of
value. Already that IS Being done in
the fascist countries with their in
gold reserves. Germany,
for example, has virtually announced
to the world that it can and will get
along without gold. And by the use of
the barter system, blocked marks"
etc, it has gotten along so far.
it can keep going in the fu-
ture without further imperiling it's
more or less totery economic structure
is matter for conjecture.
1t is hardly matter for conjecture,
however, that if all the other persons,
finding themselves without gold, got
together and decided to revise their
monies and trade to fit some other
standard, it could eventually be done.
And then we would find ourselves with
about $4,000, 100000 worth of gold
which was useful for ornament, and
for almost nothing else. But that, of
is not an imminent possibility
France and England, which still are
the great financial powers of Europe,
have shown no inclination to throw
gold overheard. And the fact that
gold has been the symbol of sound
value and security to the human race
for tens of centuries would likewise
make its abolishment at the primary
instrument Of international trade and
The mainstay of currencies, extremely
Some talk is going the rounds about
The possibility that this government
might use its huge gold reserve to
Dring initiation. 1t certainly could be
done. But, Judging by the cautious,
'non-eXperimental" attitude of the
present Congress, there's small danger
IF any significant imitation occurring
soon.
X X X
The stock market has been going
lown in the face of little change in
business. One reason is the fear of
Har-the day Italy invaded Albania
shares took a tremendous drop, and
he ticker couldn't keep up with sales.
reason is the belief that
European holders Of American securi-
les have been dumping them in guam
ities too large for the market to alb
;orb in orderly fashion.
AS for actual business, it doesn't
give cause for any great optimism
out neither does it give cause for the
bleak pessimism now current in some
quarters. Retail sales have been good.