The Lamar register., 1901-05-01
Tho Worlds New Financial Center.

Inc Onlleu OJdles COhbi iDupioh "
the British S3OO,O0O,000 loan excites
far less talk in the rest of the world
THAI did her work in the same di-
rection in 1900. Somewhere about
$5O,OOO,OOO or S60,000.000 of this
loan is to be furnished by the Unit
ed States, but the offers here were
for three times that sum. When
large amounts were furnished by fl
nanciers in New York last year to
the British, Russian, German, Swed
ish and other governments there
was widespread comment through
out Europe on these transactions.
Some of the London papers were
disposed to resent the action of their
government in looking to America
for money when all that was needed,
they declared, could have been oh
tanned at home. Many of the Berlin
papers took the same ground in re-
lation to the money which the Ger
man authorities got in this country.
At the present time, however, Europe
has grown to be accustomed to re
garding America as the great money
changer of the world.
Several reasons, of course, impel
the shrewd personages at the head OF
the governments of England, Ger
many and the other countries to look
for money here instead of at home
They know, for one thing, that the
United States has an immenre bal
ance due her from Europe on the
merchandise account. They are
aware also that there is far larger
stock of gold in this country than is
possessed by any other community
in the world. The aggregate amount
of gold in the United States the
treasury, the banks and in the hands
of the people-is about 81, 100000
600, while France, which comes next
to to the United States in this re
spect, has only SS00,000,000, and
the other great countries of Europe
are long way below France in the
amount of gold which they have Oh
hand. Manifestly as the astute
statesmen of Europe see, it is better
for them to get cash from the United
States, which has more of it than il
wants, even in this day of great bus
mess activity and of the formation
of billion dollar industrial combina
tions, than it would be in the ole
World, which has less money thar
it needs. These are some of the
reasons why the governments O
England, Germany, Russia and othel
countries come to this side of the
Atlantic for their money supplies.
Still another reason why foreign
governments come to this country
for large part of the money which
they borrow is that the credit of thu
United States, as indicated by thu
prices at which bonds stand in th'
markets, is far higher than is that o
any other country. This, too, is on
of the reasons why European news
papers are not expressing SO mucl
surprise at the fact that the great
money lender of the world has it
headquarters now in New York, ant
not in London, Paris or Frankfort
The new British loan, which carrie
% per. cent interest until April !
1903, and q per cent thereafter, i
offered at 94a, while United State
2-per cent bonds, which mature il
1880, are quoted at lO6. America
Government securities rule muc
higher in the market than do thos
of Great Britain or any other Euro
pean nation. And while the Unite
States is furnishing the government
of the other great countries with a
the money they ask, its own stock c
cash gets continually higher an
higher, and the circle of its activl
ties grows constantly broader.
week ago, shortly after j. Pierpor
Morgan arrived in England with th
;ntont;on or allaoed intention, @