The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-11-17

best to postpone payment on account oi subscriptions. thinking saat thereby he could convenientlv assist lne banks.
 The Anglo-Freneh loan was distributed among d large number of underwriters with the ',r,l. rstanding that there would come from time to time calls for pay ments Of parts of the saDscription. That is exactly the ulan followed by Secre- tary sherman.
 Some weeks ago. the managers of this underwrltirg syndicate notified the sub scrihers of a first call, the amount being understood to be 15 per cent. Last week there came what seems to be an authen- tic report that the managers of the syn e;cate had notified the subscribers that the date of payment would be extended into December. That a.so has a prece- dent in the action sometimes taken by Secretary Sherman. But the reasons which justified the postponements were almost radically different. Secretary sherman postponed payment because the money market was tight, The managers of the o-F'rench loan are reported to have assigned as a leason for post ponins payment upon the first call the fact that the money market is anything but tight. There is a plethora of money, and money in large amounts is coming in on account of the safes of the bonds. l H6IGLOIt lEeTe IS no pTGStul llCcu 1Oi funds from subscribers to be applied to the payment on account of purchases of American commodities by England and France.
 Without Any Precedent
 This is a situation which is spoken of by those who are of good authority as almos. If not quite w-;aout precedent. The lean itself is the largest loan ever made at ore time by ,ae United States, either domestic or external, The amount was so large as to maNe some timnd cap ital little apprehensivc. And yet money conditions in the United States are of such phenomenal really abnormal, char acter that the managers of the under writing syndicate are reported to regard is as unnecessary to exact payment Of a part of the subscription at this time. There appears to be no reason why they should not find a lilS, condition as the deferred date of payment appropriate.
 How Are the Bonds Going?
 It is not easy to obtain details and au- information about the extent to which the public is absorbing these bonds. One man of good authority Will say that he is inclined to think that they are moving slowly from the syndicate to the public. Another of equally good au- thority is persuaded that they are nov ing as rapidly as could be expected All agree that the bonds are a good invest ment even if those who underwrote the loan are obliged to carry them for some time. So long as money market condi- tions remain what they have been for some months there is not likely to be any pressure to sell them.
 Sometimes when this subject is under discussion attention is called to the fact that while the financing of this Anglo French loan is still in progress American bankers have easily and cordially pro vided credit to the extent of S50,000,0O0, which may be expanded until as much as $500. .000,000 is reached. It is true that the loan is a purely banking transaction, the parties to it being in the United States a group of bankers and in Great Britain a group of London bankers. It is perfected to facilitate certain kinds of trade not when the larger Franco American loan was negotiated.
 The perfecting of this credit and the that it may be hereafter ex- banded so as ultimately to amount to three-fifths of the external, joint, na- tional loan made to England and France is referred to as containing excel lent proof that the financing of the larger loan is proceeding satisfactorily and that there is good reason to hope that it will be absorbed or much of it, by private investors.
 That credit of this kind will be needed if our foreign trade is to be facilitated it does not need any stimulus is demon strated by various facts of which the pub- lie has lately received notice. One of these is the coming of a commission that repre- sents France, which, if it's inspection is