The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1915-04-15
g NJ, KEYS. in the Worlds Work.

c. Nj, Keys. in the Worlds Work.
These foreign investments OF Great Brit
ain agsregating SIS, +s5, oo ,oo. carry q com
prehens.ve Idea OF the worldwide charac'
ter Of European investment. That Great
Britain is not alone in making great In
vessaients OF this worldwide character
may be demonstrated quite easily. 1t Is
enough. for the purpose Of this article,
10 state the total foreign investments OF
Germany and France. In 1909. according
70 the Statist, France, held investments
In foreign lands to the extent OF about
&Nao1aA, They were scattered over q
countries. Germany, in 1913. according to
DR.. Karl Helfferich. of the Deutsche
bank. had similar investments amounting
10 about $500 600. oW. There is no definite
authority for the current estimate that
Belgium has a total capital abroad
amounting TO 500 100000, but the esti-
mate would seem low rather than high.
These fouc countries. then. have total
foreign investments today of about $50. :
Wa0eo,0N. They tend to increase at an
average rate of nearly If not quite 6 per
cent a year,
No man today may speculate with any
large degree of sense upon the effect Of
the European war upon this stream Of
capital that has done so much to open
up the world to m and to civiliza-
ton. OF Belgium it is possible to make
s fair estimate for the answer Is written
over the face of the country. The world
may think no more, in our day, Of Bel
GUM capital as a thing to count upon.
Go then, to extremities. Consider the
worst that might happen. Picture Eu-
rope, after a long and deadly war. pros
tfate. France, Germany, Western Russia,
england, and perhaps Holland nave been
drained by the terrible havoc Of war.
Northern and Central France, the thine
valley, the fiat lands of Holland, and the
rich plains of Silesia have met the fate
OF Belgium, let us say.
No Prospect For Free Capital.
How much free capital, one may we'll
ask, will Britain, France, Germany, or
Holland pour out into the wildernesses of
the world If one grant the sad pre-
mise, the reply is obvious enough. Not in
many years will any of the new coun-
tries be able to call upon the older lands
for help.
1t is the habit of the day to look with
sellsh eyes upon the strange and almost
u~nthinkable catastrophe In which so much
OF the world is involved. Much talk there
ID OF grand new opportunities opening up
In South America, Russia, China, South
Africa, and many other lands because the
hands OF Germany, England, France. and
Belgium are bathed In one another's
blood Directly OF these matters of trade
liz alLcle need not treat. Yet, 1t would
seem to be of them that 1t Is written.
Tor there would seem to be a somewhat
close and dangerous connection between
the trade of these far lands and the fnan-
cling Of these same n Upon that phase
OF the matter It is well to pause.
Some years ago, Sir George Paish. by
most men considered one of the most
brilliant and the soundest of writer's I'D
on British financial matters, wrote. In
the COllrEa of a short h,It con,rrahor.;ro
article on the foreign Investments of Great
Britain. these Illuminating sentences:
Borrowers Buy From Lenders,
1.-THE investment Of about s2, 500. 900 .Ooo
Of British capital has occurred simultan-
eously with a vast growth of British trade
and prosperity, and in my opinion the
growth OF our trade and prosperity is
largely the result of our investment Of
capital In other countries. BY building