The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1913-01-06
French Did Il Last Time by Putting
on the Screws When Germany
Began to Start its
Buster.
WITHDRAWAL OF FUNDS
Since the Last Excitement Germany
Has Become Heavy Debtor to
Banks Of the United
States.
EBy William Philip simms, Paris cor;

by William Philip Simms, Paris cor
respondent of the United Press.]
PARIS, Jan. 6-The next time
Germany begins talking war, stop
viii have to be put to it. If 1t is to be
stopped at all. by Americans, accord
ing to big bankers here The French
Old IT the last time, the bankers say,
but things are different now
1t was by putting on the financial
screws that the French kept the
peace. That was about year ago.
when Germany was trying to break in
TO frances sphere of influence in
Morocco. The outlook was pretty
warlike for a time-as warlike as it
has been during the crisis in the
Balkans. Mobilizing was actually in
progress. OF course it didn't neces-
sarily follow even If the French bank
ers hadn't interfered, that there would
have been war. Still, there was more
than an even chance that there would
Whether the French bankers were
actuated by purely patriotic motives
or not, nobody but themselves can
gay, and of course they do say they
were. It's just possible that they real
~ thought their investments in Ger
many would be jeopardized if the
fatherland and France got Into fight.
At any rate they began pulling their
money out of Germany as fast as they
could. The French, as everybody
probably knows, are the biggest in
yestors in the world and the Ger
mans who have been expanding com
mercially and industrially on an enor-
NOUS scale for number of years and
needed money to do their expanding,
were about the biggest borrowers.
So this sudden withdrawal of funds
made extremely bad work on Teutonic
exchanges. There were near-panics
in most of the important German
cities and business was tied UP in the
worst sort of shape.
If France had been the aggressor
and Germany on the defensive it goes
without saying that the Germans
would have fought even 4 they had to
do it on empty stomachs and armed
with nothing but clubs, through lack
of money to buy provisions, arms end
ammunition for the troops. AS mat
ter of fact, Germany was the ag-
gressor in Morocco, however, and to
avoid having war all that the Ger
mans had to do was to behave peace
ably again.
This, deeming a time of such flnan.
cial stress a poor one for entering on
big military campaign, was what
Germany did.
The people of the fatherland had
lad their lesson, however. Things
having quoted down again and fresh
supply of money being needed, they
didn't go back to France again a
least not for such sums as were likel.
to be hard to repay on short notice
They went to the United States. Eng
land could have supplied the neces
sary cash but England Is France
ally, SO 1t would not have done mucl
better as source OF supply thai
France itself
AS matters stand at present, so tn
French bankers say, Americans ar
such heavy creditors of the German
that they could put an extinguishe
on any Teutonic attempt to take til
war trail about as effectively as til
French did it year aee.
But would the Americans, not ha
ing the same interest in keeping &c
many in peaceful frame of mind s
the French have, act as the French
This, of course, the French banker
don't know
tt