Whence Gold?

The pound sterling, off the gold standard, has lost more than 25% of its value on international exchange, but all the same British gold experts managed to utter last week a most complacent statistic:

Five-sevenths of all gold mined last year was dug out of the British Empire, no pauper.

As usual, His Majesty's South African dominion yielded vastly more gold than any other part of the world, 10,877,777 fine ounces (worth $224,560,439). Second was Canada with 2,693,892 fine ounces, third the U. S., fourth the U. S. S. R., fifth Mexico, sixth Australia, seventh Rhodesia, eighth Japan.

In South Africa local statesmen enjoy vexing the Bank of England by keeping their local pounds & shillings on the gold standard. Patriotic appeals from London, urging South Africa to follow the Mother Country off gold, have fallen on deaf Afrikander ears. "While I remain Premier," has declared militant, Dutch-blooded South African Premier James Barry Munnik Hertzog, "we shall remain on gold!"

Paradox: although France holds the largest store of monetary gold ever amassed in Europe, and although five-sevenths of the world's new gold is being mined in the British Empire, both French and British statesmen are agreed that they can pay their debts to the U. S. only to the extent that Germany pays them Reparations (see below). They cannot (i.e. will not) pay out of the stupendous gold stocks they hold and produce. The Allies seized from beaten Germany such of her colonies as produced gold. Today the Fatherland simply does not produce the bright metal in which her creditors are eager to be paid.

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