Bismarck Daily Tribune

BISMARCK DAILY TRIBUNE
HOARD IMMENSE
SUMS OF GOLD
People of Europe Have Unguessable Quantity of Coin and
Bullion Buried.
European authorities figured that
when the Balkan war began and there
was dread among the common people
of Europe that a general war might
result, nearly $350,000,000 in gold was
hoarded in three countries in sums
ranging from a gold piece or two up
to tens of thousands of dollars. Austria-Hungary was credited with hiding
away $150,000,000, Germany $65,000,000 and France $130,000,000.
This was money which had been
traced into those countries just before
the Balkan hostilities began and after
war started. In addition to this vast
sum there was an unguessable quantity of gold already buried in the
ground.
Russia is believed to have tens of
thousands of hoarders of money. It is
utterly impossible to guess at the
amount of gold which the people of
Russia have put into the ground or
into the cellars of their homes. The
sign of wealth would mean the coming of the tax collector, and among
the men who look poor are owners of
immense weight in gold.
Vast sums of gold and silver coin
have gone into Russia, which seldom
lets go of it. The great imperial war
chest has behind it, if the signs mean
anything, other sums in little war
chests-gold which the government
might draw out if it offered lands for
sale, or bonds the people would trust
or opportunities in commerce heretofore denied them.
England has its hidden hoards, no
one knows how large or how many.
but there is concealed in England
nothing like the amount that is hidden
in continental Europe, where foreign
armies have only to cross a surveyed
boundary line or a little creek to raid
their enemies. Turkey, whose people
have been terrorized for ages, has
more lost hoards than the world will
ever know about, because there the
hoarding has gone on for ages, during
which armies have swung up and
down the denuded lands, tearing down
cities and destroying everything that
could give comfort or sustenance to
an enemy.
Spain has millions of dollars in gold,
silver, pearls and gems buried and
lost in a thousand ancient castles.
monasteries and other public buildings. In the heyday of her glory
Spain imported countless millions of
gold and silver from the Americas
and faithless officials made away with
great sums in bullion, hiding it away
--and many of them never recovered
it.
India is the bottomless pit of the
world's gold. In one year India imported $300,000,000, and there has
never been a time, apparently, when
India was not importing gold, silver
and precious jewels. In the temples
of India there are said to be $1,500,000,000 in precious metal and precious
stones.
If the hoards of Europe could be
tapped-if the hidden treasures of European cities should be tapped by invading armies-the possibilities of
loot in jewels and precious metals are
beyond compute. But all the loot possible would not compensate for the
hundreds of thousands of ounces of
gold which must be paid each day for
army sustenance and equipment. In
olden times wars paid for themselves.
reckoning from the viewpoint of the
victors.
Wars were then for loot.
The war chests of Europe are supposed to contain about $2,000,000,000
in gold coin and bullion. What possibilities of loot this indicates is in
some measure understandable when
one considers that this means about
50,000 tons of yellow metal--and no
mention is made of the bushels of diamonds, rubies, pearls and gems also
in peril.