New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-09-06

pect ol"ahyOody making any money for
another year"
/ asked whether people paid their
rent. HIS answer revealed state OF
| mind which may or may not be due TO
( the war; an answer, nevertheless,
Whlch nc said he as a City man was
bound 10 give; and could give no other:
We pay rent il we can. We pay
other debts IL we can. 4 debt which
there arc no longer any legal means of
enforcing becomes an obligation Of
honor. I do not say that it is univer-
sal. | say il is general among the men
of business from whom the City takes
a lead"
boarding Gold.
will tell you Of an experience. in
itself unimportant, which indicates
how these reluctant banks have looked
upon their position with reference TO
their customers and tho public gem
orally. A fortnight ago. just after the
issue of the one pound notes, | asked
clerk in the bank where have had
an account for some forty years, IL
they would give me gold for a check
OF IS.
q am sorry, sir. but we cannot do
it."
"Why not?"
Because our instructions are to pay
out no gold over the counter. We send
all our gold to the Bank of England,
at their request
met that evening a Director OF the
Bank Of England and told him the
story. He said:
What your bank told you is untrue
We have made no such request. We
have not asked for their gold and do
not want it, We think it for the pub
lie interest that gold should circulate
in reasonable amounts. What your
bank does is to hoard the gold itself
l met also one Of the large private
bankers, who was equally explicit.
1--WE should have paid your check in
gold, if you asked for it, as matter
of course; or for a much larger
amount. We do not think it we'll that
the public should be alarmed by "A
false notion OF the scarcity of gold
Closed Banks.
There was no reason at that moment
for any concern by the banks. When
after closing for four days they re-
opened on the eth of August there was
no run. There was no unusual demand
of any kind. On the first day Of reopen
ing twice as much money was paid in
as was drawn out And there has been
no run or other strain upon the bank
vaults in the fortnight which has since
elapsed. The closure was resolved on
because the banks feared run, which
some of them were not in condition
10 meet | was on the ocean during
those four days, but heard queer
stories Of the shifts TO which men, the
rich rather than the poor. were Ie-
duced. 1t is a strict rule of English
clubs that all bills must be paid before
member leaves the house. But dur
ing this interval the clubs had TO give
credit. They could not cash members
checks, as usual, because they had no
money. Nobody could change a bank
note. A man with his pocket full Of 50
notes could not pay for his dinner at
restaurant; nor his railway fare TO
his home in the country. There may
yet be a return TO that state of things;
and to a state far more serious.
At present there is no sign Of that.
The checks and minor defeats Of the
Allies have had no i'll effect here 50
far as credit or confidence is con-
cerned. The credit Of the government
is unimpaired. The tenders for 915,
100000 of six months Treasury bills
yesterday amounted to 240,000,O00; a.
an average discount of about G3.l5.G
per annum. No statement has yet been
made as to the large coming loans, but
the opinion in the City is that the
Government can borrow at 3is Der
cent or per cent. according to the
price Of issue, and that one loan could
be hoated as easily as the other.
Capturing German Trade.
II is. l suppose, characteristic OF the
British, or of the nation Of Shopkccp-
ers they are still supposed to be, that
there should have been in these early
days Of a war expected to be long, Il
concerted move for the Capture Of
German Trade" it has become a
standing headline in the papers. it
is perhaps premature aud the impress
sion it has made is not altogether ia
vorablc Protests begin to appear.
Says one journal;
Eve have not gone into this war for
cash. bat for hOUor, freedom, CiVlll2a-
ton, the life Of the nation and the
Empire"
1t is a worldwide question and to
be dealt with as such. But it depends
in the last resort not OH mercantile
but on military efforts. In new sense
/ Trade will follow the Flag. The decId-
ing factors Will be Fleets and Armies.
But il will be long time before
goods made in Germany again find a
ready sale in England. The yearly ex-
ports from Germany and Austria 10
/ the British Empire amount 20 over
$500. 100000.
This is selfish side, or would be If
Il were not national rather than indi-
vidual, and il becomes not merely eN-
cusable but laudable when the inter
ests Of a whole people are concerned.
/ Nc nation bases its foreign or inter
national policy on anything but en-
lightencd sclf-iutorest. No statesman
/ does. President Wilson and Mr., Sec
rotary OF State Bryan may like 10 pose
as the champions Of morality and the
4 educators Of other nations, but not in
| that way has any nation ever become
great or remained great The danger
/ IN England, in respect Of war if not
! Of business, is not sentiment, but
J apathy. Lord Kitchener's speech this
4 week in the House Of Lords has done
something 10 disturb that dangerous
Incidence Of mind. The pressure of
business necessities will do perhaps
even more. G.. w. s.
IN THE BERKSHIRES.