Page:The Wizard of Wall Street and his Wealth.djvu/111

 to "Black Friday:" "In order to explain the operation of a so-called corner in gold to ordinary readers with the least possible use of slang or technical phrases, two preliminary statements are necessary. In the first place, it must be understood that the supply of gold immediately available for transfers is limited within distinct bonds in America. New York and the country behind it contain an amount usually estimated at about $20,000,000. The national government commonly holds from $75,000,000 to $100,000,000, which may be thrown bodily on the market if the President orders it. To obtain gold from Europe, or other sources, requires time.

"In the second place, gold in America is a commodity bought and sold like stocks. In gold, as in stocks, the transactions are both real and speculative. The real transactions are mostly purchases or loans made by importers who require coin to pay custom on their imports. The speculative transactions are mere wagers on the rise or fall of price, and neither require any actual transfer of gold, or even imply its existence, although in times of excitement hundreds of millions nominally are bought, sold and loaned.

"Under the late administration, Mr. McCulloch, then Secretary of the Treasury, had thought it his duty at least to guarantee a stable currency, although Congress forbade him to restore the gold standard. During four years gold had fluctuated little and principally from natural causes, and the danger of attempting to create an artificial scarcity