flict. Probably it is fair to say that these
economic rivalries constitute the largest single force now operating to
keep people apart and to continue the economic desolation and chaos
under which the world is suffering.

5. _Distribution of the World's Wealth_

There is another problem of world scope--the concentration of wealth in
a very few countries. At the present moment the wealth of the world is
distributed roughly as follows:

Great Britain 120 billions of dollars
France 100 " " "
United States 330 " " "
----
Total 550 " " "

Germany 20 billions of dollars
Russia 40 " " "
Italy 25 " " "
Japan 40 " " "
Belgium 15 " " "
Argentina 25 " " "
Canada 25 " " "
----
Total 190 " " "

Probably all of the other nations combined could not show a wealth total
of more than 100 billions. Great Britain, France and the United States
have just about 12 per cent of the population of the world, yet they
probably hold somewhere in the neighborhood of two-thirds of the world's
wealth. The United States alone, at the moment, has nearly half of the
world's gold supply and more than a third of the world's wealth. Of
course these wealth estimates are not to be accepted in detail,
particularly in view of the wide fluctuations in the exchange rate. They
serve, however, to give an idea of the relative wealth positions of the
leading countries.

The present economic position of the United States in particular, is a
perilous one. The estimated wealth of the United States is greater than
that of the four richest nations of the world combined. Within a decade,
the country has become the world's chief money lender, the world's
principal mortgage holder, the world's richest treasure house. The
results are inevitable. The United States will be an object of envy,
jealousy, suspicion, cajolery and hatred in the eyes of those peoples
who concern themselves with the present system of competition for
economic supremacy. She holds the wealth and power that they desire and
they cannot rest content until they secure it.

Past periods of civilization have witnessed the concentration of wealth
and power in some great city, like Cart