The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1915-09-08
LONDON TO BORROW.
INDICATIONS TEND TO CONFIRM
REPORT OF BIG TEMPORARY
LOAN TO HOLD UP RATES.
Sterling Makes Rally on Days
Transactions Substantial Gain of
3 1-2 Cents Recorded.

New York, Sept. 3.-All indications
today tended to confirm q report cur
rent in Wall street that Great Brit
ain had borrowed from S50,OOO,OO to
$1OO, ,OOO,O 600 temporarily in this mar
ket to correct the exchange rate on
sterling until her commissioners reach
New York and consummate negotia-
tions for much larger credit loan
here.
There was neither confirmation nor
denial of this report, which says the
collateral on which the loan was is
sued aggregated the approximate fig
ures of the sum borrowed Two ship
ments Of collateral, totalling about
$55, 1000, were brought from Great
Britain to Halifax aboard British
men-of-war and shipped thence to
New York with about $4,000, 900 in
gold within the past thirty days. Two
other bundles of securities were said
to have been brought here yesterday
aboard the liners Adriatic and st. Paul
This loan, if made, was regarded as
only makeshift to clarity the sur
charged atmosphere of the foreign ex-
change markets. Spurred by an un-
seen stimulant, rates rallied in spec
tacular manner today, sterling soar
ing ten cents or more at the opening
, of the market. They fell back later.
but on the days transactions a sub
stantial gain of three and one-half
cents was recorded. Sterling closed
at s4.66.
Estimates Of Great Britain's needs
here in the form Of credit placed the
sum today at a minimum Of half a
billion dollars, with twice that sum
| mentioned as an outside total. A bill
! lion-dollar credit loan would not. it
was thought, be raised on one huge
/ issue. But a half billion-dolla loan.
it was thought. might be foated.
TO furnish this staggering sum, it
was said. bankers Of all the chief
cities of the country would be called
on to participate. Boston, Philadel-
phia, Chicago, Pittsburg, Atlanta-in
fact all reserve centres and some
cities where there are no reserve
banks-would be represented in con-
ference in New York. The situation
then would be placed before them and
they would be asked to contribute their
share to insure uninterrupted continu-
ance of Americas export trade.
Whether Great Britain could fur
nish sufficient American securities at
present to serve as collateral for this
big loan was another question consiG-
cred.
| 1t was thought that should she not
be able to raise thus sum Canadian
and South American securities-Gov.
ernment bonds and even high-class
railway bOnds-would be thought suf-
ficiently stable to serve as collateral.
This raised n question: Would the
controller of the currency sanction
loans by national banks on the bonds
of South American governments and.
TO go further, would such loans be
sanctioned where high-grade South
American railway bonds were offered
as collateral? There is no market here
for these issues. and it was pointed
out that under present conditions they
would have to be sold in London. The
opinion that official sanction might be
withheld on loans of this character
seemed to prevail.
All this, however, was surmise.
Todays recoveries in rates were
attributed by leading bankers here
chlei1y 70 normal return to real
value from fictitious low prices. Clos
Ing quotations on sterling were 4.66:
on francs 5.95; on reichsmarks 1-2
and on lires GAG.