ast modern system of credit
relations. In the settlement of international trade balances
considerable quantities of gold frequently move from debtor to creditor
nations. Although the amounts thus shipped are frequently great in
value, they are very small in volume. It is interesting to note that the
entire accumulated gold stocks of the world's governments--about nine
billion dollars--cast in a solid block, with the horizontal dimensions
of the Washington monument, would be only about 12 feet high.

Other uses of gold are in dentistry, and in the arts for jewelry,
gilding, and other forms of ornamentation. Consumption for these
purposes has been increasing of late years and now takes a third or more
of the world's annual production. In the United States, before war-time
restrictions were adopted, the consumption for jewelry and similar uses
exceeded the consumption in coinage. Since the war it has exceeded the
total domestic production of gold. An interesting problem for the future
is how an adequate supply of gold is to be distributed between monetary
uses and the arts. The curve of increase in the requirements of the arts
indicates that, unless there is greatly increased production, all the
world's gold will be necessary for the arts in a comparatively few
years. To retain it for monetary purposes would require government
restrictions.

Of all the mineral commodities, gold has played perhaps the most
important and certainly the most romantic part in the world's history.
The "lure of gold" has taken men to the remotest corners of the globe.
It has been the moving force in the settlement and colonization of new
countries, in numerous wars, and in many other strenuous activities of
the human race.

About two-thirds of the annual gold production of the world comes from
the British Empire--from South and West Africa, Australasia, Canada, and
India. A single colony, the Transvaal, produces about 40 per cent of the
world's total. British capital, which seems to have a particular
affinity for investments in gold mines, controls not only the larger
part of the output from the colonies, but also important mines in
Siberia, Mexico, South America, and the United States.

Russia, Mexico, and Japan have small gold production. The chief deposits
of Russia are those of Siberia, which have had an important output and
have apparent great possibilities of increase. Other foreign districts
are numerous and widely scattered, but, with