The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER MONDAY, JANUARY 15, 1912. TOO MUCH GOLD.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXII, Issue 27, 15 January 1912, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER MONDAY, JANUARY 15, 1912. TOO MUCH GOLD.

“The Coming Deluge” is the title of a pessimistic article from the pen of Mr M. de P. Webb, Chairman of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce, which is pulijished in “The Nineteenth Century ’and’After.P -The writers opens by affirming that “it is a factAhat a sovereign nowadays only goes as far as fifteen shillings did a little while •ago. One pound sterling has; in reality during the last fifteen years lost more than a quarter of its purchasing power.” He continues by stating that there arc excellent reasons for believing that this alarming shrinkage will continue. The root of the trouble,, it appears, is due to the enormous amount of gold that is unearthed every year, and Mr Webb is certainly not alone in the view he takes. Some figures given regarding tfye world’s gold production are surprising. The average annual production of gold for the first half of the nineteenth century was only about £3,150,000. In 1852, after the un-

paralleled discoveries in California and Australia, it jumped to £.‘30,550,000, but fell gradually to £23,000,000 in iB6O. Then South Africa chine along. In 1901 the annual production of gold for the world was £53,000,000, and since then it has gone up by bounds until in 1910 it reached the enormous figure of £94,000,000. Nearly £BOO,000,000 of new gold has been added, to the world’s stock in the last ten years, as compared with 267 millions added in 1851-1860, the boom years of the California and Australian discoveries. Whore it will end and where it will land the nations, is the problem Mr Webb is unable to solve. He holds that prosperity is general because of inflation of prices at present, lint it will not last. “A fool’s paradise is a delightful place to live in for the fools, but the awakening comes at last with its disillusionment, its disappointment, its despair.” The contributor forecasts “strikes, over-specu-lation, panics, and financial crises,” as results of the gold-flow increasing the cost of living. As to the remedy, Mr Webb considers that the formation of gold reserves in Britain and in other parts of the Empire may effect an

improvement, and points out that last year England was at the bottom of the list of the principal countries of the world in her gold reserve, which amounted to only £31,356,000, while the United States was at the top with £263,211,000, and France was second with £131,177,000. BRITAIN AND GERMANY. Referring to Sir Edward Grey’s notable speech at the end of November, a London correspondent says: “Everyone, no matter what political views he may hold, will admit the 1

whoie-minded sincerity of Sir Edward Grey in any cause lie undertakes, and sincerity was breathed in every line of his dignified and rational exposition of our foreign policy as embodied in his anxiously awaited speech in Parliament. Hero wore no hysterical vapourings, no pandering to the palate of the sensation lover, but a plain and calm statement of fact. There can be no doubt that, had it not been for Great Britain’s intervention in the recent Moroccan crisis, war would have broken out between France and Germany, a war which might have involved the whole of Europe in bloodshed. While behaving with commendable moderation during a very trying period, the government have clearly shown their determination to stick to old friends and to assort our rightful position in European politics whenever British interests are threatened. Friendship between England and Germany is much to be desired for obvious reasons, and only rabid extremists would go out of their way to stir up serious discord and mis-under-standing between these two great commercial nations. The clay for ‘Splendid Isolation’ is past; it would mean building warships against all European navies. All we ask is to live on equal and amicable terms with our neighbours, and we trust that Sir Edward’s speech will assist towards the furtherance of this end, but at the same time we must not forget that which ho so clearly emphasises,—our national obligation to protect British interests, to be loyal to ancient friendships, and to uphold our position in the politics of the world.”