The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-10-19
Financier Will Confer With Treasury Officials About
 Exchange Situation
SPECULATION UPON
 DURATION OF WAR
Impression Now Is That It Will Last Long Time-Exports Show ing Constant Increase.
 Business Situation
By HOLLAND

By HOLLAND
 New York; October 1s.-(Special. ! ne visit of Sir George Paish to the
 united States is. official. While here he Will represent the financial department
 of the British government. Limitations
 have come to Washington that his visit
 Is made In response to an invitation rom members of the federal admins 1 tration.- But there are other intima- tions also from Washington that Great
 Britain took the initiative and that the
 invitation from Washington was no
 more than a courteous and even cordial
 response to the correspondence which
 came from London with a suggestion
 that, if 1t were agreeable to the United ], States to receive Sir George as an of
 flcial representative of the British
 treasury, he would as soon as possible visit this country.
 | In the financial district. however. the remark commonly made respecting this phase of the matter is that it makes
 no difference whether or not Sir George was first invited by our Secretary of tho Treasury. He Is here and his mission is of importance.
 One of the results of the conference between Sir George Paish and those
 in financial authority as bankers or In
 the administration at Washington will
 be better understanding than now prevails of the fact that the stock ex- change cannot open for business until excellent cooperation is established
 between those who control the financial and monetary systems of the great na-
 tions, even including Germany. For, whatever the sympathies of the major- ity of the American people may be with
 respect to the European war. 1t is in eyftable that these be set aside when arranging for the needed International cooperation. It is essential that Ger
 many be considered as well as o;rea, Britain, France or Russia. If the open ing of the stock exchange were based purely upon domestic considerations
 arrangements could probably be per fected for speedy action. But so intri- cate are international financial and
 monetary relations that 1t Is imprac- ticable to act affirmatively upon tho
 many urgest requests that the stock ex-
 change be opened until an international
 understanding has been reached.
 The Business Situation
 Probably Sir George Paish will learn from the bankers in the larger financial centers that some improvement in the banking situation as a whole has been observed within the past three or four weeks as compared with the situation which existed for six weeks after the beginning of the European war. The Improvement Is not great, but 1t is gratifying since it points to a gradual
 bettering of the banking situation. tx t which must be established before the
 banking and financial situation be- comes satisfactory. In the first place, it is essential that the various reports descriptive of battles. the marching and countermarching of troops, the ad- vances of one army or of the other and even such an incident as the fail of Antwerp. should be looked upon in this country not as panic-making or
 as anxiety producing influences. but as incidents which are to be expected in the course of a war continental in It's
 reach, as the present one is. If the war be long continued, the American people
 will accustom themselves to its yari- ous features. That was characteristic of the north after the second year of our civil war. People of the north, as the saying at that time was. "got used to it. and business was not greatly ! disturbed. The Length of the War
 1 It has been observed that the leaders I in the financial district have for the past 10 days been persuaded that the war is l to be of long duration. This view must 1 be due to information received from the other side of the Atlantic and from sources which are authoritative. It diff | fers from the view which was held early In September, for at that time the belief was strong that the war would speedily
 be ended. That feeling was publicly dem onstrated by the prevalence of peace talk early in September. Much of the agita- tion for peace Is traceable to the desire of some of the leaders in finance and banking that peace should be established at an early day.
 In the next place, the peculiarity of the business situation in the United States, which is without any precedent, creates difficulties which must be overcome if the stock exchange be opened. Those who are best informed are now confident that before heavy frost comes some. perhaps | many. American industries will be operat- ing to their full capacity. There will