THE VALUE OF GOLD.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume IV, Issue 255, 23 January 1874, Page 3

THE VALUE OF GOLD.

We have much.pleasure in publishing the following memorandum, forwarded to the Superintendent as far back as 1870. Mr. Bradshaw appears to have clearly foreseen the present combination of the banks, with the consequent danger of an agreement to purchase at a reduced rate. He points out, too, very clearly the remedy for this unhealthy state of things. Indeed, every suggestion that has been brought forward of late, whether by the Press or by deputations of M.H/R.'s to the Premier and Superintendent, will be seen clearly shadowed out by Mr. Bradshaw in his able and concise sketch of the English and American systems:— Copt of a Memo...p.or James Macandrew, esq.,, written and sent in IS7O : v

I ma,y assume that we agree in the principle laid down by political economists, that gold,- like all other articles of daily use, is (or, at least, is a portion of) wealth. But after saying so much, I must also admit that, it is a tool which plays a very important part- in all exchanges, commonly called com-, mercial transactions. It is a medium by which commercial transactions are balanced by all civilised and some' semi-civilised nations. ' As a currency, gold has a fixed value, relative to quality ; andas'bullion in bar, it has.also a fixed value.

The question of its price, or value, and quality is, or should be, regulated by all Governments.

The Imperial Government of Eng-; land has, under various Acts, made such arrangements, so that every per-, son who has gold to sell can 'get for it its real value. No banking institution is better served than a private person, except the Bank of England.' In order ! that every convenience should be given , to the public, the Government - has i made arrangements with the , Bank of j England to purchase all bullion in | bar, at the rate of £3 ].7s. 9d. per ounce standard-of twenty-two carats fine. For this consideration.the Government undertakes to mint gold exclusively for the Bank of England, at the rate of £3 17s. 10£ d. per standard ounce of twenty-two carats fine. You-will see, by this arrangementthat the Bank of England makes one and, a halfpenny upon every ounce bought, provided it is made, into cur-! rent coin of the realm. This, however, does,not always take place, because a large portion of the gold which flows into the Bank of England is shipped away into other countries in exchange for other wealth, and its shipment in bar of an ascertained • value saves the country the cost of conversion into coin. But you will' also' see that, by this arrangement, the Government of the British Empire has protected the seller of gold from any commercial influence or combination as to its price. This arrangement—which, to a certain extent, was a monopoly to, the Bank of England, has been modified of late by the establishment of a branch of the Imperial Mint—conducted by Imperial officers—at Sydney; and another branch is in course of completion at Melbourne—at which places any person may go., direct, and have his gold coined into metallic currency—which shall circulate legally throughout the British Empire—at the rate of £3 17s. per ounce standard., , . i • I may say that the Bank of England has no mellers.or assayers.in its establishments". The work is done for them in the City, by competent gentlemen, sworn to the faithful discharge of their duties as assayers. There can,' therefore, be no suspicion of unfair dealing attached to the Bank.

In the United States of America the Government has established : an assay office at New Yorkj and a mint at Philadelphia, for the benefit of the public. .The Government of America has admitted the principle of the necessity of regulating the price of the chief measure of value ; and, also, that any person (or Government) who, by diminishing its weight, and increasing the proportion of alloy in coin, iB a swindler of the worst stamp. It has, therefore, taken the matter into its own hands; and, in order that the officers of the establishment shall be independent, and free from political influences, they are well paid and hold office for life, subject to good-conduct juid competency. 'Jo the assay office 01 New York every kind of gold is brought to. be valued by every conceivable class of persons. The greater portion comes through biokers and banks, but much is brought by miners from California, and by emigrants from every land. . Foreign coin, &c, all reach this establishment. The gold having been weighed,' the depositor takes a receipt for it. This receipt is beautifully engraved, and is signed by a" responsible oflicer of the Government. The following is. the form of the receipt given : Gold Bullion Receipt. No. 1764.

Assay Office of the United ■ States, New York; 7th June, ]B7O. Received from John Smith a deposit of gold bullion for coin, weighing eleven hundred and 97

ten ounces, the nett value thereof to be " 100 ' ■ ascertained and paid to said depositor, .or order, agreeably to law.' 97 'lllo—oz. 100

There are three things on tin's receipt which ai:o to bo noted. First, ib •beirs a number. This indicates its number in the deposits received, and which is marked o"i every subsequent , transaction. The Government undertakes to receive deposits of bullion above the weight of six ounces, to assay each separately, and pay for ita actual value. ■'■< Second, the weight in given in ounces- and decimals of an

ounce troy weight. _ Third.'no value is affixed to "the deposit, f'ui-lo ascertain this isi-tbc prec-iK*'objeor. of ti-.c. as«s:\y. The gold (especially quart,/,) will be found to vary much in quality, and it is best not to give such a receipt till the actual value is ascertained by teat.

The next stage of the , process is melting. This is called " deposit melting," which gives the .jielt weight of the deposit as. bullion free from dirt. The next stage is the most delicate. It is the determining of the fineness of the deposit by a very delicate analysis performed on the assay slip. The as-, sayer who performs the assay fill 3 out' the report stating the fineness of the' gold, and forwards it to the responsible office of the Government, where the necessary calculations are made, and then sent to the Superintendent for his verification. This memo, is made out in tabular form, and printed in, crim- : son. The memo, for the deposit reads, as follows:

No. 1764 Memo, of Gold Bullion deposited in the United States Assay Office, at New' York,!the7tlidav.of June, 1870, by John' Smith. - '

Description, Californian—grain; -weight . 97 " before melting, 1110 ounces;-after melt-, 100 ing,' 1100 ounces; fineness; 923; value of the 1 gold, £4,000. '.■■" i

Deductions for melting, assay, coinage, freight, insurance, ditty, &c.: £l5O. Nett' value: £3,850. ; ' - . I certify that the nett amount of ;the above deposit -is £3,850, payable at the' United States Assay office, only on presentation of the receipt of a corresponding date and number heretofore issued. Before the American war there was always a large sum of money on hand ' at the assay,,office, so that it could cash' ' .the, Superintendent's warrant at once.Now, however, tho depositor must wait for his money until the bullion is sent to Philadelphia and coined. This takes from twenty..to thirty days. This delay is not considered a hardship, as money, can always' be raised on the warrant. .» "'■l have given you the working of the systems—one in- England,- and the other in America. The American onecould be adopted here —with or without an assay office—in connection with the Sydney Mint, to which the bar bullion or grain gold . could be forwarded by Government for coinage for the depositor. The delay would not be greater than between New' York and Philadelphia. I am of opinion that, if such a system had been adopted years ago (when I recommended /ic), fchat.rnany, persons who have left this Province for Victoria, to get a better price for their gold; would have remained here, and invested their earnings in the Province. I am also of opinion that many miners -who have left the West Coast of Canterbury, for.a like reason;,'would have come into the Province instead of incurring the expense of going to Australia, where they have been induced to remain as permanent settlers. . 1 may also mention that gold in New Zealand varies in quality, not only in each Province and district, but in each stream and tributary. We have gold here worth upwards of £4i per ounce, and gold worth only £315«. We have gold at Auckland worth £2 10*. per ounce, and gold at Westland worth" £4 per ounce. .The same variation applies to Australia and Americal The banks here have, it in their power to give what price they like , for "gold ; and having that power, I am of opinion they buy at a very good margin of profit.' Gold,- instead of being bought here according to quality, is bought, like potatoes, at,what price the purchasers choose to give.

It was suggested to me some time ago (by one of the Superintendents of the Australasian banks), when I was moving in this matter, that an assayoffice was all that was wanted. I need" not tell you that an assay office only' tells what you should got, but a mint fixes the price. South'-Australia, when she was al-> most depopulated consequent on the discovery of gold in "Victoria, recovered her population by-sending an escort overland to Victoria for gold—established an assay office in Adelaide, find coined a token which circulated in South Australia, and which enabled the Government of South Australia to give a higher price for gold_ thaai was paid for it in Victoria ; and as she got the gold she also got back her population, who, returning for and. with their gold—earned in Victoria—purchased land, and became' permanent "and successful settlers. , ■. .

Surely some puch scheme conlci be devised hero, by which the gold deposits could be taken in payment for public J.inrls. If the increase of the value , of ■ a production of a country is a benefit to that country, there can be no gainsaying the fact .(hat, to increase the value of gold—an industry' which two-thirds of the people'of this country are living on—would he a national benefit. The establish men t of an assay office in connection with a School-of' Mines, would be of advantage in giving practical lessons in assaying melting, a,ad metallurgy. . • J. B. BitA.DsnA.'w.

INTO IE 3 ON LAXD. L-tiCESTKD 3iY T>IE CjUUIiJJSrAMJE* (CIViL. Social. & Ges-eralJ or Otag-> in IST-i.

Where is ourboa-l-ti Freedom, i Manhood cannot olnim for luusaujf a Home. ''

■ Of all the topics which have boon harped upon by writers, tatters, and public men —at all tinic-s aiid iu'all climes, wherever British Colonies-have been established—none has ever been so en grossing as the administration of our public estate. Upon this administration depends our future, our freedom, our comfort, or any other state of social being or position which the integers composing.a State are capable of being guided to by the notion of ils rulers. The most superficial observer may see' at a glance, by easting his eye over the history of our Australasian Colonies,' for the short period since their start into political life, not only the grave importance of the question of settling a permanent population, but. also the great difficulty of getting Colonists (in .Parliament) to look at and work upon (.ho problem disinterestedly. Land Leagues, Squatters' Associations, and political contests and' concessions are more bha.n i sufficient proof of the selfishness and unscrupulousness which has inspired the- majority of Colonial statesmen, and influential Colonists generally,' in regard to this question. JS r or need we have much 1 trouble in .finding the tracks by .which these intelligent beings arrive at such a standpoint- as to be able to satisfy their own? consciences that'their conduct was fair arid equitable,, without taking the trouble'to marshal the motives which'led to such a result. -Let us, ; for.-au moment, look .chit 'for,.,the only power which coulcbhave.-led .Colonial law-; makers and'administrators x to a safe andsound this-important sub-, ject—a subject needing the'exertion of the greatest, foresight and ability existent in man, and needing also the most 'disiute-' rested' and equitable "administration of. Jaws most suitable to the conditions and; characteristics of the p'ebple' for whose! guidance they were intended. It needs a man (or Government) with a thorough knowledge of- the country—geographically, and physically;—and of; its, people—characteristically and circumstantially. And it further needs that this pers.on.or power has the will to carry out requirements conviction shows to be imperative;. and, above' all, is needed the knowledge that seeds are sown for futurity—laying the foundations of future Empires or States —and that any personal gain which might be obtained through- corruptly -pandering, to selfishness is" s ; insignificance itself, in comparison to its effects ou (ho future. Now.' I ask, what'chance,lias any Colony of getting men like the ideal just painted?' From what class of men are Colonial Statesmen chosen?' Have they not, like all other Colonists, come hero" to make a' fortune —if- possible? and did they not sacrifice Home and its connections in order; to have a chance,to make that fortune? No disinterested, person cau doubt the answer due to such questions. We remember too well the struggles of Victorians, who wanted'a hearth and home of 'their' own, and the fights and scenes'which! occurred ere the grasp of selfishness was sufficiently to enable- them to procure one. The riot at the Parliament House, and the, paltry twenty acres allowed to poor humanity under the Nichol- • son administration, and many other contests, will be by rnoat thoughtful men who reflect on the passing events of Colonial'history. isew South Wales, -no less than lier sister State, furnishes the picture of a struggle for the supremacy between men and money, and it needed all the force of the threatened separation of TUverina to compel the capitalists to acknowledge any other fact but cash. So much proof has been given of the impossibility of trusting to any class of men for unprejudiced tair play in disposing of the valuable landsof any of our Colonies that; to expect a proper Colonial land law—one in which revenue will not. be over-valued nor manhood undervalued —from such men as it generally pleases, electors to chopse as representatives, is a fallac3 T and a delusion, for the simple reason that .monied men are generally chosen for Colonial Parliaments, and chosen from Parliaments to form Governments. - Money 'bears weight with ail classes and conditions of men in Colonial life, and is to the Colonist what.honorable distinctions are to aristocratic Europe, and it is to this fact that we owe our inapplicable land'laws. In New Zealand experience is just the same as in other Colonies as regards the motives which propel civil or' political action ; and, so far as the circumstances run parallel, so far do' the effects run parallel also. Here, for instance, we have ,a Government with very limited area of country (one half of which is occupied by hostile aborigines) offering the most extravagant inducements for the introduction of population in every way except the most templing way, namely —aneasily obtained home. And here, in Otago, what do we fiud as the experience of twenty years ? Why, we find that out of a possible nine millions of acres of land available, six millions are in the hand of the squatter still; and instead of land being kept re.-uly for the-settler. so that he may take it up without delay, we find it contested, inch by inch as it were, up to the present time. <Jf the Grown means to settle the people on the soil why not make the operation simple, safe, and easy ? We have about 41,000 men in Otago, and out of that number there, are abous 200 squatters, or. in round numbers, one to forty; we have a Provincial Government of five men, and a Waste Land Board of five or six more. Now, does it not seem strange to have to blame a ?ev men like lhese for what we are suffering in the way of unsuitable land laws ? Is it a fact that one thousand rules the oilier forty thousand free and enlightened citizens? But if thd Comuiissipuors'report can be depended upon, the number of pastoral leases in Otago is 181, ami that number of leases covers 6,183.2',>6 acres so the forty thousand Tnen hold nearly half as much as one hundred and eightyfour squatters. . YeL this is the most promising part, of (ho Colonics —!*he fairest Province of the -most prosperous Colony in the whole Australasian group. And , wise men think that our land laws arc ; well suited to our circumstances; but I jsuis remain which contradict Ihat stoieI ment. [fundrrds of men leave our .shores cM'tv y<r.r. with money to buy homes in other ei"nitric:, simply becau-'■ they think thi-y O'-nn-it. be easily acquired here i so Me hfv.j <h,* anomaly of men leaving f-nc <■[ ih- beulthiesl. climates in the world to sck a home olsfwhtre, bc- ! cruise its Hcquinment here is not nu:dc j simple, safe, and easy. . T;oiiijl!ess things are better in this respect than they us<>d (o be, but there is

.are;:iui;in:)|ejs^ reveri-b tire verdict, : "'"hy' "\"'6mti"rij>j' wiili' j.nociciug sctilf to our houseless wanderer?;. We kaow 'lis people's own limit for pulliiju; up willi such a sfsilo of iliings:. hut this is not enough to account for the ph"nomena, nor can'it he accounted for-only upon the iiypo|hesis> thai money, is mni'c valuable fli.-m ineu iu the ayes- of our rulers, and what is v, orse, in the eyes of the people also. Colon i sr.