Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-09-07
British Coin Wanted Less In
United States Than Any
Time In History.
BIG BANKERS FEARFUL
OF SPECULATION IN U. s.
England's Bill to This Country Said
to Be Nearly . Bill
lion Dollars.

NEW YORK, September 7.-1ntefna"
tional bankers here did not altogether
relish today the news from Portland.
Me-, that more than 4s5,o00,00o In gold
coin was speeding to New York to
bolster Great Britain's credits In this
country. This, it is believed, Is the
largest single gold shipment ever made
here by a foreign power. 1t comes, 1t
was said, at time whom gold IL want
ed less than ever before in the history
Of the country.
Bringing this mountain Of gold to
New York at q time when the normal
demands Of business are lower than
usual, and when the vaults Of the
country are already choking with golo'
may. it is feared. accelerate the ten
dency toward imitation and speculation
Already, according to the weakly state.
ment Of the federal reserve board as OF
September 3, the gold reserve In national
banks has reached the total Of $2Ss,o0o.-
900.
Cannot Remain Idle.
This mass Of treasure, 1t was pointed
out, cannot remain idle. Seasonal de-
mands, such az the increased demand for
money in the dry goods trade and tho
movement Of the great corn and wheat
leave, 1t is believed, huge amount which
must be put to work In other ways.
A strong temptation. 1t was feared,
would thus be presented to employ tho big
remaining surplus In speculative enter
prise which would tend toward bringing
values whose collapse would have an un-
healthy effect upon business in general.
While pay for the supplies sent to
Great Britain is. Of course. both want
ed and expected. New York bankers do
not want to be paid in gold. They
Britain the money to pay them. taking
high class American securities as col
lateral for the loan.
Loss in Exchange Rate.
In the face of England's great ship
ment Of gold and the accompanying Sc
curtties, aggregating more than $780,
100000. and Of the conviction that other
huge shipments would soon follow. tho
foreign exchange rate on sterling
opened today at loss Of one cent from
Saturdays close Of $4.s7. Within two
down to s4s4, Francs remained at
too. was the case with lires. which
were quoted at Se.4s. while reichsmarks
were a tribe stronger at 81.
An index Of Great Brit.in.s huge
volume Of purchases In this country
was afforded by this shipment of gold
and securities and tho two preceding
mately $1so,ooo, 900. This sum has
reached America since August 3. In
round figures. 500, o0o, 600 Of the amount
has been in gold coin.
In normal times Of peace tutArnakaon-
al business 10 generally maintained on
q basis Of 8 to 10 per cent. That is. a
foreign credit Of. say. 500. 900 600 could
be carried without disarransfng the OK
change rate. on q cash basis Of $6:00o.-
900 to $4,000. 900 on hand here. Some
authorities say that the wartime. basis
Is Is per cent ..--
highlands Bill May Bs Billion.
Should such be the case. Great Brit
aims three shipments Of the past five
weeks, aggregating $4,000, 900. would
indicate. should the exchange rate re-
main near normal. that she had bought
goods to the value Of t77o.eo0,ooo in
America
This is believed to be below the min
imum: the exchange rate is at present
81 cents under normal. Other factors
entering into the situation lead to the
belief that England's bill to America
at the present time Is in the neighbor-
hood Of billion dollars.
Some Of this big bill, 1T was said,
probably was for the account of
France. An arrangement between Eng
land and France for paying bills due
hero exists. 1t Is believed. but its de-