SHORTAGE OF GOLD

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 70, 16 December 1919, Page 13

SHORTAGE OF GOLD

JEWELLERY TRADE SUFFERS THE DEMAND IN EASTERN COUNTRIES While tho sovereign has almost entirely disappeared as a medium of everyday exchange, thero is a marked shortago of gold for industrial and commercial purposes, and 6omo interesting remarks on tho subject were, mado at last evening's meeting of tho Wellington Industrial Association by Mr. L. S. Partridge. At a previous meeting of the association. Mr Partridge informed those'present that it was becoming a difficult matter to obtain sufficient supplies of gold for Ihe jewellery trade, and in dealimr with tho subject last evening Mv. Partridge said: "The position is, here wo are a mining country producing nioro gold thaii was required in the country, and wo cannot get any for commercial purposes." He i attributed this to tho fact that tho mining companies wero, getting more for thoir gold outside of New Zealand, and if the jewoilers required it they would have to pay the prices demanded. Continuing, the speaker pointed out that the Chinese wore paying a premium for sovereigns, and ho illustrated the action of Australia in prohibiting their export for this reason. Ho had it on good authority that in India they were paying as high as 31s, for a sovereign. Ho had heard of an engineer on a steamer who w.as buying sovereigns for 235. each at Port Said an<l taking them to India, whore lie sold them for 31s. each. liulia had been for years a great sink l'or gold. No ono.knew where it went to, but it was understood that it was buried by the natives in accord with somo religious belief. Tho Indians would always exchange' a rupee for gold. An enormous amount of gold went into India, but never came out again. To further illustrate tho trafficking in gold the speaker mentioned that a bank teller had informed hiiji .that if he had been able to gather up tho sovereigns available' at his bank and taken them to India he could have paid ail his expenses for the trip and made a handsome profit as,well. The war, continued tho speaker, bad | brought about conditions wh.ch were influencing the exchange market, and ho prophesied that the countries of the world would ba taking steps to increase the standard value of gold. During tho war the mining companies were compelled to increase wages,, and generally tho cost of production increased without any increased l-oturn being jirovided for. The result was that the companies were exporting tho gold, and were obtaining a higher price than its face value. They wero getting more than tho Mint would give. The Mint mado nothing out of tho sovereigns manufactured, and the dolicioncy in this direction was mado up of tho profit derived from llio manufacture of silver coins. No v, however, silver had greatly increased *in price, and consequently tho position had changed for tho reason that the silver coin was worth more than its faco value. ' The speaker, in conclusion, stated that it was intended to approach the Government after the elections with a view to securing an adequate gold supply for commercial purposes.