Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1921.djvu/547

 CURRENCY AND CREDIT

495

There are (1920) 52,638 offices. The total expenditure of the department luring the year 1919-1920 was 454,322,»50S dollars; total receipts, 437,150.212 dollars; postal funds lost by burglary, fire, bad debts, ic, 98,086 dollars; excess of expenditure. 17,172,397 dollars, to which was added postal funds lost by burglary, fire, kc.

For the year ending June 30, 1920, mails were transported by rail on a length of 232,358 miles. The total number of employees in the railway mail service was 20,407, and the annual expenditure upon them was 35,639,977 dollars.

On June 30, 1920, the postal savings deposits amounted to 157,276,322 dollars, a loss of 10,046,938 dollars over the previous year.

Currency and Credit.

The monetary system is monometallic, and has been so since 1873, gold being the standard.

The Act of February 28, 1878, commonly known as the Bland-Allison Act, required the purchase by the Secretary of the Treasury of silver bullion at the market price of silver of not less than 2,000,000 dollars or more than 4,000,000 dollars worth per month, the same to be coined as fast as so pur- chased into silver dollars. 378,166,793 silver dollars were coined under the Bland- Allison Act. The Act of July 14, 1890, known as the Sherman Act, required the purchase of 4,500,000 ounces of fine silver monthly, which was paid for in Treasury notes issued as the silver was purchased. The total amount of silver purchased under this Act from August 13, 1890, to November 1, 1893, date of repeal of the purchasing clause, was 168,674,682 five ounces, costing 155,931,002 dollars, the coinage value of which was 218,084,438 in silver dollars. From the bullion purchased under the Act of July 14, 1890, there were coined to December 31, 1901, 149,710,163 silver dollars. Under the Act of March 3, 1891 for re-coinage of trade dollars, 5,078,472 silver dollars were coined, making a total of 532,955,428 standard silver dollars coined from March 1, 1878, to December 31, 1901.

The following metallic and paper money was in the United States on December 1, 1920 : —

Description of money

In the United ■ta«M

In Treasury In Circulation

Dollars Dollars

Gold coin (including bullion in Treasury). 2,761,33S,519 ; 480,586.132

Gold certincates i (law of March 3, 1863). — —

Standard silver dollars .... SOT,83T,«M 15,857,417 Silver certificates (Bland Act, February

2S, 1S78) .... . — _

Subsidiary silver 26«, 609,005 3,691,931

Treasury notes (Sherman Act of July 14,

1890) . — _

U.S. notes ("Greenbacks" of 1862 and.

1863) 340,681,016

Federal reserve notes 1 3,663,592.795

Federal Reserve Bank Notes. . 239,560, S00

National bank notes 1 734,010,797

Dollars 879,529,1422 851,563,056

S2 : 410,283

155,289,410 262,917,134

1,615,362

6.962,414 389,718,602

18,203,S57 3,819,415,118

4,094,172 235.475.62S

18,130,555 72O,8S0,242

Total.

8,281, 659,486 492,327,078 6,863,498,919

The Federal Reserve Banks and their agents hold against the issi'e of Federal Reserve Notes 9S, 841, 309 dollars of gold coin, 201,018,280 dollars of gold certificates, and 325,973,820 dollars of Federal Reserve Notes, making a total of 425,s33,409 dollars.

i Includes own Federal Reserve Notes held bv Federal Reserve Banks. - Includes 403,542,320 dollars credited to Federal Reserve Banks in the Gold Settlement Fund deposited with the Treasurer of the United States.