Charleston, South Carolina, Post, March 9, 1928 RUSSIAN GOLD REJECTED “The saying “ As good as gold” has little significance in its application to five million dollars worth of the precious metal shipped by the Russian Soviet government to New York and held in its vaults at banks there for some time while the United States Treasury considered whether or not it should be admitted to assay. The Treasury has ruled that the Russian gold shall not be assayed at the mint, and it has no authentic status, therefore, and will probably have té be sent back to Russia. “The Treasury takes the position that ownership of the gold by the Soviet government is not established, but, on the contrary. is subject to question and that, should it take the gold, as it is ac- customed to take such offerings at he mint, the United States might later be involved in international contentions over the owner- ship of the metal. “It seems like an overstrained point. The United States is the only one of the great powers which has not recognized the Soviet as the de facto government of Russia, and the Moscow regime, there- fore, has full status in the international scheme save only to this country. If the Soviet is the recognized government in Russia, its possession of gold shipped by its fiscal department cannot be questioned, and none of the European powers, therefore, would be in position to challenge the title of the Soviet to this store of metal m New York. “Much more likely is the United States to make trouble fof itself by rejection of the gold, since it thereby tends to set itself up as a censor of the authenticity of any like shipment made by a Euro- pean government and even to admit claims for recovery of dis puted gold taken in at the mint. Perhaps the administration is afraid that the handling of gold from the Soviet treasury may corrupt the government of the United States and even threaten overthrow of the republic.” New York Times, March 11. 1928 GOI.D TINDER SIUISPICION “Our Government’s refusal, after prolonged consideration, tO put its seal of approval on the import of $5,200,000 gold from the 1A