GOLD 73 



duction, the business of gold mining is on a stable and permanent 

 foundation, it will be interesting to take account of the current annual 

 crop of gold of the world. That the reader may acquire a mental 

 grasp of its physical proportions it will be well to start with the fact 

 that for the year 1906 this crop weighed nearly 674 tons. A cubic 

 foot of pure gold will weigh just 1,20-1 pounds, so that the product of 

 the world's gold mines for that year could be all packed in a room ten 

 feet square and nine feet high. This cube was worth in money $407,- 

 379,893, and it came from the following places: 



South Africa (Transvaal, Rhodesia and West Coast) ... $133,634,506 



America (United States and Alaska) 96,101,400 



Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand 82,237,228 



Russia and Siberia 22,469,432 



Mexico 16,639,350 



British America (Canada and New Foundland) 12,116,432 



British India 11,925,711 



Central and South America 10,970,187 



Japan and Korea 7,000,000 



Europe (except Russia) 5,616,039 



China 4,500,000 



All other countries 4,169,608 



$407,379,893 

 Gain over 1905 $29,411,750 



Judging by the experience of the last thirty years, during which 

 the industry has been forming and steadily acquiring those charac- 

 teristics that indicate stability, it is probable that under normal con- 

 ditions, and if the laws governing the discovery and exploitation of 

 gold mines in the various countries and those affecting the selling price 

 of the metal (coinage laws) do not materially alter, each year will 

 show a gain of about 5 per cent, in the amount and value of the 

 annual crop. 



At the present time, according to calculations and estimates made 

 in 1900 by the director of the United States Mint, the gold that has 

 been taken from the mines of the world since the discovery of America 

 has amounted in quantity to about 21,424 tons, and in value to more 

 than $12,600,000,000. 



Now, of this vast total, the astonishing fact is that nineteen per 

 cent., or nearly one fifth of the whole, has been taken out in the last 

 ten years; thirty per cent., or almost one third, in the last twenty 

 years; forty-one per cent, in the last thirty years; fifty-four per cent., 

 or over one half in the last forty years; and sixty-eight per cent., or 

 more than two thirds, in the last half century. 



Assuming that no increase at all occurs in the annual output, this 

 amount will be doubled in thirty years, while, if an annual increase of 

 five per cent, is attained, the doubling will be accomplished in less than 

 twentv. 



