The Clinton chronicle. (Clinton, S.C.) 1901-current, December 31, 1931, Image 7
THURSDAY, DECEMBER SI, 1931
, ■ i
'■* A , ■• .»'
TBB CLINTON CHKONICLB.
r. B. c.
• •
PACK
CMARLE/
FREDERICK^
WADJWORTM
Uncle Sam’s Golden Yardstick
Now Measures All World Money
IS
|!>NEr
Billy Beldinc aod June
Haley were Id Stalnard’s
Jewelry store and had just
made the selection of Jane's
easagement ring. It was
New Year’s Eve and they
were to ^tart the New Year
an affianced pair.
Jane turned from the showcase to
her companion: “Why, what Is the
matter, Billy r
“I’ve lost It r
“Lost whatT*
“I had five hundred dollars Christ
; mas club savings in my inside over-
! coat pocket It isn’t there. It’s gone.
(Written for The Chronicle By Caleb
Johnson Through Autocaster
Service).
Gold is today the measure of value
the world over. That is not because
fold in itself is any more vajuable
than any other metal, but because it
is rather easily stored and does not
rust or corrode. When it comes to ac
tual value in usefulnses, there is no
doubt that a ton of steel or of copper
is more useful than a t^ of gold.
But from time ii]!|!i^morial gold has
been the principal standard of wealth,
as it is today practically the world’s
sole standard. It is' a yardstick, in
fact. AH units of measure are arbi
trary. They represent something
agreed upon between individuals and
nations, and individuals and nations
are unanimous in agreeing that gold,
measured by weight, is the standard
by which all money and all wealth is
measured. For thousands of years,
when silver was less plentiful than it
is now, silver was the principal money
standard in many parts of the world
and until comparatively recent times
and that’s that Mr. Statnard.” suid
, Billy dejectedly, “we’ll have to let li »Ix>th sivler and gold were used as
go for the present."
Jane turned to the Jeweler.
"You’ll let us have It anyway, won’t
you? Billy can soon pay for It."
Mr. Stsinard was very nice. "Why,
certainly, Mr. Belding. Pay as con
venlent"
"Thank you, Mr Stalnard. and I’m
sorry, June," he.sjild, “but niy rule is
not to go into debt for what 1 call
current expenses.”
■I
»
}
antly laid it on the velvet pad. Hilly
took her arm and gently guided her
toward the door.
"Hut. Billy, please!’’
“No, dear. I Just,can't do it! Please
wait a little." J
They got into Billy's little car aiul
drove away.
Earlier in the evening, Walkei
Haley had hud Hilly, as the prosper
live hushaiid of hla niece and ward.
Jane, to his home as a dinner guest
Upon reaching the lunise. Hilly had
been assigned a room for his conven
lence.
Dinner ended. Jane reminded Billy
of the passing time, and he hurried
upstairs for his things.
When they returned, Uncle Walker
Aunt Anne, and Jack and Hazel, their
son and daughter, arose to view the
measures of wealth everywhere. Until
after the great European war the gold
unit by which all other money and
wealth was measured was the English
pound sterling. It is curious that the
name of this unit comes down from
the days when silver was the stan
dard. A "pound" in money was a
pound of silver. But by the early part
of the nineteenth century silver had
begun to be aa plentiful by compari-
as the best standard of money, and
finst England and then one by one the
other nations of the world accepted
gold as the sole monetary standard.
tion of silver equal to gold as a mone
tary standard. They want to serve the
double purpose of putting up the'
price of silver, which is now around
thirty cents an ounce, atkf has been
in the past as high as $1.30, and of
increasing, the metallic reserves
against currency.
There are great areas with enor
mous populations that have nq use
for gold. India, with its three hun
dred millions of people, was forced to
the gold standard in 1926 by the Brit
ish government, but the people of In
dia still prefer silver to gold. The av
erage worker in India seldom accumu
lates enough surplus to invest it in
even the smallest gold coin. The Hin
du has no use for paper money, be
cause he has no safe place in which
to keep it. He wants to store up his
wealth in the form of silver orna
ments, bracelets and bangles which
are often merely small coins pierced
with holes, so that he can carry it
with him all the time.
Everybody who reads the newspa
pers or listens over the radio is going
to hear a lot of discussion of this gold
and silver problem in the next few
months. In the meantime, it is well to
keep in mind that one of the reasons
why it is important is that all of the
war debts owing to ^he United States
from Europe, as well as all of the
private debts owed by foreign busi
ness to American bankers and mer
chants, aye payable in United States
gold dollars, and the rest of the world
is very eagerly trying to find some
ri
H’s rme to Put The
ELEPHANT
WORK
to get gold dollars or to reduce the
value of the United States dollar.
There is not the, slightest chance,
however, of the United States going
New \ear*s
Two
Tlesolutions
if Noi\i Clack Baiicq
“I’m Sorry, Jans," Hs Said.
new purchase and offer felicitations
An observing one might have caught
Uncle Walker giving Jane a sly wink
which tthe as slyly returned.
Billy WHS downcast, and Jane at
least seemed so.
Aunt Anne exclaimed: “Why. Billy,
what is wnmg? I)I<J June back out?"
“Not as had as that, but almost. I
have lost the money I intended to buy
the ring with.” He hesitated.
Jane took a sent and assumed a dis
appointed but resigned air.
Uncle Walker seated himself by
Billy. “Do you nod Jane think yosi
can make a go of it on your aalary—
bow much Is it?"
“Sixty dollars a week, and we have
It all figured out—haven’t we, Jane?"
•!Oh. Yes!"
“Could you get along and bay a
little home, too. If yon had aeventy
five?”
Billy and Jane exchanged wonder
Ing glances.
“Tes, I think so. Don’t you. Jane?"
“Oh, yesf" Jane was iW>sltive,
“Tomorrow, then,” said Uncle Walk
er, “you come to Haley Brothers—It
your firm wlH release yoo then—if not
tomorrow, then as soon as yon can
get away.
“But—" Billy began.
“Walt a minute. Yonr rash salary
will be sevent.v-flvp dollars a wvek.
and a credit of twePty-flve a week on
live thousand dollars’ woijh of the
common st»trk of Haley Brothers,
which I shall set aside for yon, Thai
wlH osHke a hundre<| a week. Now g*i
back to Stbln:ir<l's and get your ring."
He handed Billy an envelope. "This
was under the bed up In your room.”
He slipped another wink to Jane,
Billy recovered surjirlslngly prompt
ly. but remarked that the sTitre would
1^ closed.
“Don't worry." Uncle Walker as
sured him. “Stalnard phoned me. as I
bad asked him to. and I aitanged for
him to atay till you returned. It was
a put-np Job on yon, Billy." he ex
plained. “1 wanted to see what de
clsion you would make in an 4nier
gency—and If you would stick by It
Jane tried to s’iske you. but you
thought yo« were liglit and remainet’
^flrfn. Haley Brittliers want yiaing fel
Iowa like yon. Now yon two ake
daddla—and ‘ring In th^ newT**
ihl 1SS1 N«*w«pof>cr I’l Jaa I
The value of the gold pound, mea.sur- off the gold standard, as cohditions
ed by United States dollars, is $4.8865.1 stand tod)>y
That represents substantially a quar-1
ter of one ounce of the precious metal,
•which is so compact that a bar of gold
6^ inches long, 3Vi inches wide, and
1\ inches thick, is worth $10,000.
All over the world statesmen and
economists are now discussing the
possibility of arriving at some new
agreement by which silver will be re
stored, in part at least, to its former
position as a standard or measuring
stick for money. And the reason for
that is that with the exception of the
United States and PVance, none of
the great nations of the world has
been able to hold on to enough gold
to be able to pay its bills in gold when
gold is aske<l for.
The English pound is no longer the
standard money of the world. The I
American dollar has taken its place, j
For England went off the gold stand-1
ard last summer and the pound today
represents merely the British govern
ment’s promise to^pay. And the Brit
ish government is in such serious fi
nancial difficulties, as compared with
the United States, that the price of
the paper pound has been as low as
$3.20, and well under $3.50, instead of
$4.66, for several months past.
In other words, the nations of the
world are measuring their money andj
their wealth by the standard of the j
United States dollar. That is because
we have in the vaults of the United
States treasury, the Federal Reserve
banks and other banks, the largest
volume of gold that has ever been ac
cumulated under one flag in the his-
tofV of the world. VVe hold, in round
figures, about forty-five hundred
thousand thousand dollars ($1,500,-
000,000) worth of gold, France has
between two and a half and three
billion dollars worth of gold behind
its currency.
The trouble in England has been
that her tra<le with foreign nations
got to a point where she could not
collect gold for the commodities she
exported as fast a.s she had to pay
out gold for the commodities which
she imported. For while gold cuts
very little figure in business transac
tions inside of national boundarie.?, it
is the only universally acceptable me
dium of exchange in international
trade. So, in order to prevent the
complete loss of all her gold reserves,
England had to begin to refuse all
demands for gold and to offer instead
unsecured premises to pay, which is
what the notes of the Bank of Eng
land amount to today. Nobody ques
tions that eventually England will
come back to the gold standard. No
body in a position to prophesy, how
ever, is willing to predict how long it
will be before that happens. In the
meantime, the money of the British
colonies has depreciated, measured by
the United States dollar standard. Ca
nadian dollars have been worth less
than eighty-five cents In Unite States
money for several weeks. Money of
the other nations that have not been
able to maintain the gold standard is
also down when measured in dollars
One effect of this is to stimulate pur
chases by the United States from
those countries. Foreign goods are
cheaper in dollars than they have beer
at any time ainpe the great European
slump that followed the war. If the
rest of t^e world can induce us to
buy enough of their commodities and
pay them in gold, they can speedily
return to the gold standard. But in
the present condition of business in
the United States we are importing
fewer commodities than for many
years past
Some economic authorities do not
believe that it is poacibie for the
whole world to continue to maintain
the gold standard, and there is a
strong movement toward some kind
of a new international agreement
which would make a Maiited' proper-
NE good rt*84>!utlou dt»>wrv»‘s
aiiothor, but tliul's the story.
“I’hil, I siiu‘11 stiuw."
“We’re In the West, Erma,
don’t be foullsli! You know
our resolution when we left
Quincy was, ‘No more snow
tor us!’ I smelled orange
blossoms on that breeze."
"I smell siutw." •
“The groves begin beyond the Pa.ss
and we're on that grade now. Just
look at that view !"
“There’s a flake now.”
“Oolly 1 You’re right"
After an hour the car stopped.
“Even Hermes can’t climb this. I
guess you kuow your snow all right
There’i shelter behind that boulder,
we’d better make camp."
A spot cleared of snow, tent pitched,
campfire burning and they were cozy.
Hardly had the
smoke begun to
curl ere down the
tnill came a horse
man. "W here’s
your permit?’’ he
demanded gruffly.
“What permit?’’
asked I’hil, “Fire
penult I'm a ran
ger. D»)irt y o u
know It's against
the law to htifld
a fire In these
mountains or
smoke? Put out
that cigarette.
That’s two counts
against you."
“Lord, man, we're i
stuck. I couldn’t let the little woman
freeze even if I’d known,” “Tell It to
the Judge!"
“So this is (the Far West!"
“Walt, brother, until you’ve seen the
havoc the fires have wrought—our
beautiful pines, iiveoaks, manxanltHs.
turned into acres and acres o*f charred
nightmare landscapes, gaunt and hide
ous. It's pitiful! You won’t blame us.
First trip, though, so I’ll Just put you
wise.
"The best way to build ■ campfire
In the forest country—law or no law—
is never light It!
See? Now for good
news. You’re not
a hundred yards
from the down
grade; s(rai>ers
ire clearing the
highway—be here
in an hour; so
light your camp
cook stove Inside
the tent for heat.
Hap open for air.
and make coffee
for three."
“Hooray!’’ gj
ed Phil; '^^WSreome'
>1 d-t I ra e r. I And
liere’s another
Mution we’ll sure
keep: we’ll never ask for a fire per
iiilt unletM It’s on the beach."
“Ne more snow and no more camp
flrea." agreed Erma. “Who cares, with
the whole New Year in the West?
.Now (or hoc coffee; smoked ham and
•herry preserves from buck burner
A circus wagon can be pulled along a dirt
road — they can buckle down and haul it
^rcaigh a little sand and mud* Bui wbeti-iybfdg^
in the mud — when every-day horse power fails
— it^s time to put the Elephant to work!
There conies a time in business when sales
I
slow up — when buyers hesitate — when mer
chandise won^t move. All the plans that worked
so well when the road was smooth somehow
lose their power to pull.
But there is a power than comes into its own
at such a time as this —
IT’S THE CONCENTRATED POWER OF
REGULAR ADVERTISING.
1^4
I
Advertising is the Ele
phant You Need in Your
Business in 1932
THE
CHRONICLE
*The Paper Everybody Reads"
« ■ . 0
Advertising Will Help $hove You Out
of The Mire