HOW THE KAISER GETS HIS GOLD.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume 7, Issue 136, 15 February 1915, Page 2

HOW THE KAISER GETS HIS GOLD.

That the imperial German Bank lias finally succeeded in accumulating

two ■ milliard marks in gold (something less than one hundred millions sterling) is greeted with paeans of joy by the entire German Press. Since the outbreak of war nothing has been left undone to divert a stream of gold into the coffers of the bank. Every gold piece paid to the post offices, to Hie railways and to all fiscal departments was withdrawn from currency ind per fervid appeals issued to all patriotic duty, and that any failure in this respect was a playing into the enemy's hand. The sum now in the cellars of the Imperial Bank in two-fifths f the entire gold mintage of the empire since its creation, and it is therefore perfectly jelear that vsrgl **.tores of gold still remain untapped and that the frantic appeals to the patriotism of the people have not been a complete success. The newspapers publish ten “lessons "which the people are to learn from this gold storage. The“lessons” are an official document, and reveal a good deal cf the mind of the Treasury. Thanks to this financial defence, we are told, the enemy has been angered and neutrals astonished. They thought that Germany in ■ a short time would collapse and yeild to the disgraceful demands cf her opponents. They have been miserably disappointed. This accumulation of gold, we are further told, is the victory of Germany on the entire economic field, and renders illusive all the hopes of England to destory German trade and industry, and to devote her population to death by starvation. One cf the most absurd of the “lessons” runs as follows: “While the greatest of all foreign f banks —the Bank of England—has been obliged to scrape together gold from the home field, from British colonies, from the United States, from France from Russia and all other countries open to it n order to keep alive British economic life the German people by thenown power and from week to week have enabled the Imperial Bank to adl ’o its gold stores.” We are told that vhen the frontiers cf Germany were dosed, the hearts and purses of the cecple were opened—the love of the Fatherland was the key which opened diese two treasures —and that out of carefully-kept cupboards the gold trie kled into the bank. The “lessons” end with a flaming appeal to pay in more gold, for “the great crisis does net

tolerate a generation which thinks nettily.” The “Chronicle” wonders if it has occurred to the writer the "lesions” what the response o fthe British nation would he to frantic appeals by the Government to pay in gold, and what the hoards of gold would be were the same drastic measures taken in Britain to completely withdraw gold from circulation.