standard. In 1890 the world's supply of gold available for monetary use
was hardly $4,000,000,000; in 1907 it was more than $7,000,000,000.
Along with this went a rapid rise in the average price of commodities in
gold-standard countries. Bank deposits in the United States in 1907 were
three times as great as they were in 1897. Amidst all this prosperity
there were forces which were bound to bring a reaction and among the
most important of these was the demand for capital for conversion into
fixed forms. Ready capital was also lessened relatively by the great
losses experienced as a result of the Spanish-American War, the Boer
War, the Japanese-Russian War, the San Francisco earthquake, and the