WEALTH OF THE WORLD.

Waikato Argus, Volume I, Issue 46, 24 October 1896, Page 1 (Supplement)

WEALTH OF THE WORLD.

Tin; money possessed by any one nation, let alone the lolil >■mount possesed by the nations at large, is too intricate a .nutti r to be very definitely determined. A rolinh estimate em, however, be made on both then.'point-, and t.'ie alt jinp to do so discloses come interest in}; results. Dcaline; only with gold, silver and coppi r money,, it husb-jcu calculated that in the ><ar lliOO the possessions of the civilised world in these respects amounted tiCI HI .000.1)00: a ciliary la'-a- it was tOHS, 000,(100. while 00 years all or that - namely, in 1890—the amount was CI, 100,000.000.

The greatest increase has been made in papi r and jrold money. Paper money was pretty nearly unknown at the b-gin-ning of the seventeenth century, while at the close it was only in circulation t > the extent of a single million At the beginning of the nineteenth century L'S>, 000,000 of paper innncv was ie. circulation, and this had increased by ISDO to 1771,000.000. The increase in cold money is nearly as striking. IJegiiming the seventeenth century with .f2!>,000.000 and ending il with L'70,000,000. ihe amount of gold coinairo had increased 100 years later to t 120.000.000, while thcclosj of lies present cenlurv will see approximately* 11,000.000.000 of <ohl in circulation. The average distribution of money per head of the population is curiously varied. Franca is easily first, with about t'l'J per

each inhabitant; while China, with .a total money wealth of 11.10.000,000. entirely in silver, i- eipeilly noticeably last, with .-ill average for ii- v.ist population id only 10s. apiece. After the I'Ver.chmou, tlie thriftv inhai.il Hits of Holland are lie- best oil'of any Continental nation, from the money point of view. C 7 Ms. b.'inj th'ir avenge wealth. The Oeriuans ought to he pr.;tty Inipny with a to note apie-.e, whin- (.' r -al Britain only boasts of tl S-. for eae'i of its inhabit lilts, though this is more than deiible lie- ,-iveiau'e money wealth of lius-ia she being the least allluenl of any Kuropcnn mil ion. Taking Kuropo as a whole, the average money pi r unit of population is as nearly as possible L'l, The Austinlians have double the ainoiin.- apiece, and I 'anadians are only half as wealthy : America is flourishing with t"7 : India, with a coinage almost entirely of silver, roekotis t'l for each inhabit -ml, while every .lapanose. before the war, averaged L'Ss. I r, must no!, of c uirs", be supposed thai money and .'-calih .-ire convertible terms : the W'cnltli of nations have to he estimated in a verv dill'en.'iit fashion, and would show very different results.