"Ever since the time the Treasury demanded and secured all gold privately held by individuals or banks, and Congress made private possession of the precious metal a crime (except in the form of newly mined or placer gold), the American people have regarded this buried treasure as a secure protection behind the paper tokens called dollars. How could any part of this great treasure be lost, when by law the Government of the United States is pledged to preserve it, and every possible kind of protection is placed around it? It would be unthinkable, you will say, to have such doubts about the gold we were forced to give over to our Government to have and to hold. Nevertheless the gold, most of which is still held physically within this country, is no longer ours legally. Only a fraction of it belongs to our Government. Irrespective of physical removal, it has been lost to us."