| OCR Text |
Show MAN'S IDEA OF VALUE. Ellis II. Roberts, treasurer of the United States, says the world's stock of gold is approximately $5,500,000,0(i0, of which this country holds $1,342,-000,000, $1,342,-000,000, which is over one-fifth. Of the American gold the treasury holds $700,000,000. These figures .seem more impressive when one looks back to 38'Jt?. The worhl's stock of gold then was roughly estimated at $480,000,000, of which the United States held $5!M),000,000, being a little less than one-seventh. Absolutely and relatively' the gold holdings of this country have increased greatly in eight years. In, the summer of 1S90 there was in the treasury $150,000,000 in gold, or a little more than one-fifth of the present stock. It is not to be wondered at, with the treasury and the banks overflowing with the yellow metal, that occasional shipments to Europe, which would have excited alarm eight or nine years ago, pass unnoticed now. The shipments would have to be large and continuous to attract attention in any quarter. As the gold production of this country , is $.80,000,000 a year out of a total for the world of about $300,000,000, it can export considerably more than it imports and yet be adding steadily to its stock. Because of this increase in the production of gold, history will repeat itself so that silver "will take the place of the other as the measure of value. Xo analysis of finance will be able it never was able to drive from the mind the inborn idea that a thing obtains value because of its insufficiency to supply ordinary demand. Hence when silver is plentiful, too plentiful, gold becomes the measure of value for silver. The reverse obtains when the condition is reversed. Man is a strange animal in spite of education and enlightened environment. He will dine off the scarce turnip instead of the plentiful turkey. Civilized man's idea of value is no higher than the savage's idea. It is the same error of mind which prompted the Ute buck to swap his ponies for a pair of useless false teeth. |
