Now Iam not going to burden you with statistics of the sums of money accumulated in various forms during the latter half of this century. They are so large they would only bewilder you. They are nob, of course, all represented by hoards of actual gold and silver. The deposits in English Joint Stock Banks exceed the sum of £740,000,000. Every depositor has the right to demand gold at any time for the amount standing to his credit and yet it is certain that any general attempt to do so would result in national disaster. There is not so much gold in the country. The right may be undoubted, as Mr. Balfour recently remarked of the right of private judgment, but it can only be safely enjoyed on condition that too many persons do not take it into their heads to exercise it at the same time, But the fact that the Money is potential and not actual does not affect the question. For all practical purposes it is the same as if the Money were piled high in a mountain of gold. What it, is of importance to understand is the source of this potential wealth. Whence comes this mountain of Money? How does it arise?
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.