Evening star., 1914-11-27
Lloyd George Tells Of S. ,000,-
100000 Owed by U. S.
When War Broke.
DECLARES ENGLAND HAS
PROTECTED ALL HER PAPER
There Will Not Be a Penny Lost to
Any Accepting House, He
Asserts.

LONDON, November -, 2:45 pm
Chancellor OF the Exchequer Lloyd
George announced in the house ot
commons today that the war loan OF
ss50.0oO.000 (s1.750,00o,000) had been
greatly oversubscribed. The chancellor
gave no figures. He said, however, that
a feature of the loan was the enormous
number OF individuals, totaling nearly
100000, who had made application for
small sums. These, the chancellor de-
clared, would receive the first allot-
ments.
The chancellor stated that the f1nan-
cial deadlock which followed the out
break of war was due to inability to
collect outstanding debts abroad.
AS an instance, Mr.. Lloyd George re-
ferred to the United States. which, he
said, owed Great Britain about a thou
sand millions sterling (s5,ooo.ooO:ooo). }.
But We could do no business" he
added.
Describes First Confusion.
Dealing with the steps taken by the
government to assist commerce during
the war Mr.. Lloyd-George said that the
government had undertaken RESPONSE
bilities which no government ever had
been called upon to assume before.
I'VE had not merely our own business
to rum" the chancellor of the excheQuer
continued. but we were an essential
part of a machine that ran the interna-
tional trade of the world. We carried
half the produce and provided the capi-
tai that moved this produce from one
part of the world to another. not mere
ly for ourselves. but for other coun-
tries"
Giving instances he referred to the
cotton trade and said that all the move
mate destination Of the cotton were rep.
resented by paper signed either at Lon
don, Manchester or Liverpool. When
the United States bought cotton or
silk, or tea in China, payment was
made through London by means of
these documents.
That showed. Mr.. Lloyd George said
how complicated the system was. The
part Of the currency of the world. In
to this fine. delicate paper machinery
had crashed a great war, affecting two
thirds of the people of the whole
world. and confusion was inevitable. 1t
was as if violent kick had been given
TO an ant heap and for moment there
were confusion and panic.
The deadlock which existed. the chan
eellor pointed out, was not due to any
lack of credit in this country. 1t was
due to the failure Of remittances from
abroad.
Mr.. Lloyd-George told his hearers
that the action which the British gov
ernTent had tagen was to save British
trade. British commerce. British labor
and British lives. The government, he
said. had hypothecated the credit of
the state in order to restore these ex-
changes upon which the commerce and
industry OF the country depended. and
U~h fspt@ AL
pended TO- their daily life.
BY this step. the. speaker said. the un-
Impeachable character of the British
bill OF exchange had been maintained.
It was vital to the good name Of this
country that this type of British paper.
which had become currency for the
whole OF the trade Of the world, should
be unimpeachable, and that none should
say hereafter that in a day of crisis it
had been dishonored.
One hundred and twenty million
pounds sterling 100000. .000) of bills,
Mr.. Lloyd George continued, had been
discounted by the Bank of England,
and that showed. he said. that out of
total OF between f300. 900 and $780,
100000 pounds sterling of bills out at
the beginning of the war a greater
part was disposed of in the ordinary
course. -.
Bills Already Paid.
The total amount of bills which had
arrived at maturity and for which
the Bank of England had found money
was fs0.3s6.00O. 1t was estimated that
at the end of the war there would be
about fo0.0o0.000 of bills in what we
would call cold store" through their
belonging to belligerent countries or
for other reasons
There would not be a penny lost to
the great accepting houses, and the
total loss upon the whole OF these
he equal to the cost Of a single week
of carrying on the war, and in addition
British commerce and industry would
be saved from one of the worst posi-
BILE catastrophes.