Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1900-10-04
LOANING MONEY.
Savings of the People Are Places II
the Hands OF Money
Lenders.

When there are millions of dollars
piled up in New York and other finan-
cisl centers waiting for investment, 1T
follows that money is cheap, in the
sense that it does not cost much to bor-
row it. The capitalists with capital
for investment makes the rate of in
terest low, and consequently invest
ors, capitalists, large banking and
other financial institutions have great
difficulty in lending their money out
safely at a percentage larger than
three or four per cent. The credit of
the United States government il now
SO good that government bonds can
easily be sold which yield an income
Of only two per cent; but the credit
of foreign governments, or at least sew
eral of them, is not so good as that, and
not having money of their own in their
financial centers which can be bor-
rowed at low rate of interest, or bor-
rowed at all, they naturally come to
the country, or the financial centers
of the country, where there is plenty
of money. Such thing as sentiment
never actuates q person or country
borrowing, or a person or a financial
institution lending. 1t Is matter Of
business. Money lenders get as much
as they can, and money borrowers pay
~ little as they must. New York 10
to-day the financial center of the world,
because il is better able TO lend money
TO all Corners than any other city Of the
world.
This condition of affairs proves that
our own country was never SO prosper
Gus as now. 1t could not be true with
out these millions of hundreds of mill
lions Of dollars piled up in New York,
seeking investment at these low rates
of interest. II also illustrates that the
big financial institutions, wherever To-
Gated, cannot prosper unless the coup-
try as a whole has made the money and
has put it in their hands for saving or
investment. The savings banks scat
tered throughout the country, the life
insurance companies, the financial in
stitutions or large private banking
concerns of wha tever kind, depend for
their very existence in the last an
alysis of things, first, upon the fact
that people have money saved up,
which they can place with these per-
sons or institutions for investment,
and, second, that they have such con-
hdence in the general business outlook,
and also such confidence in the integ-
Yity of the persons and institutions in
question, that they place their money
on deposit with them. II lis this money,
the money of all the people, that is
loaned out to such would-be borrowers
a. can put up sufficient collateral.
The presence of this great mass Of
money in the financial centers seek
ing investment at rates no matter how
low, so far from being bad sign, as
Mr.. Bryan and his organs claim Though
We have never been able to see why),
IL the best possible evidence, is, indeed,
. perfect index, of the prosperity OF
the country. 1t is positive proof that
the present prosperity of the country
II unprecedented. When we say that
. man is q creditor, when we know that
he has money TO lend, we mean to say
that there il no better way OF saying
that he is prosperous. When a nation
Il called a creditor nation. II Ia only
perfectly fair to assume that the same
conditions exist with regard to the
whole country; in fact, II 10 mere clap
trap TO assume anything else.