ABSTRACT
Gold accumulates naturally and inevitably in a country which manages to keep its house in order. A gold standard in connection with a bank of issue was established in 1899. There was no gold to begin with. By April 1900 the reserve amounted to 26 million francs, but by July it was empty again. Gold reserves are stores of power, of energy. We cannot consume gold, but gold has that quality in it which will create consumable goods at a moment's notice. The gold reserve, as it was formed through the sale of consumable goods, might be spent again in the purchase of consumable goods. The production of gold is regulated by the real demand for gold; the demand, in its turn, by the need of gold. The commercial use of gold is not much more than a side issue.
