Rensselaer Journal, Volume 10, Number 46, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 April 1901 — HOLDS HUGE GOLD STORE [ARTICLE]

HOLDS HUGE GOLD STORE

Treasury Aggregate Now Exceeds $500,000,000. WAS SURPASSED ONLY ONCE. Immeni. Sam on Hand Causes Secretary to Offer to Bny In Oatstanding Bond# —Large Amount# Required to Carry •n Business. The government’s aggregate gold holdings for the first time in history have passed the half billion dollar mark. The exact total given in the United States treasury report of yesterday was $500,278,506, of which $252,078,959 was held against certificates in the hands of the outside public and $150,000,000 as a reserve against outstanding United States notes, the balance having free assets. This is the largest amount of gold now held by any single financial institution in the world, and it is the largest ever held by any institution with one exception —the Imperial Bank of Russia, which in February, 1898, raised its total holdings to $590,300,000. At present, however, the Russian bank holds only $371,500,000. The Bank of France now holds $472,271,000, its high record being $479,244,000 on the 4th of this month. Most of this gold is held against outstanding notes. The Bank of England holds $169,100,000 and the high record of its history was $245,500,000, in February, 1896. Present gold holdings of the Imperial Bank of Germany are $130,000,000, and its total of gold and silver combined never ran above $222,500,000. The United States treasury’s gross gold holdings have increased $76,439,000 within the last twelve months. In April of 1899 they barely exceeded $278,000,000, as against the $500,000,000 now held. On Feb. 10, 1896, they reached the low level of $94,239,542. This immense amount of money in the treasury is causing Secretary Gage to buy government bonds as fast as he can get them. On this point A. Barton Hepburn, vice-president of the Chase National hank, at New York, discussing the financial outlook, said: “The fact that Secretary Gage is prepared to buy government bonds and is actually buying them from day to day is hound to have a strong influence upon the money market. There ought not to he a large increase of cash from this source, however, because the classes that have government bonds for sale are not in need of money. If rates fall off it will be gradually. The enormous business that is now being done requires a large amount of money to carry it on, so there is no sign of abnormally easy rates.” Charles S. Fairchild, ex-secretary of the treasury and president of the New York Security and Trust company, speaking of the money situation said: “I do not look for a return to the extremely low rates prevalent a few weeks ago. With deposits at about $1,000,000,000 and surplus cash reserves down to $7,000,000 extremely easy money is hardly probable. The rate of interest is largely a matter of habit, and when banks get to lending at 4 or 5 per cent they are apt to expect those rates from borrowers. Borrowers do not think them unreasonable.”