Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1915-09-07
PAVING THE BILLS.

/ An eminent authority" speaking
! for the allies. says if we want their
business We viii have to finance that
| business.
But we shall have to be very careful
about financing the immense business
that the allies are prepared TO give US,
warns the Waterloo Times-Tribuue. A +
nation is no different than an immense
business Institution. 1t must know.
when its valuable goods 90 cut. that
the cash Will be forthcoming in pay for
them. II the customers cannot pay,
the institution cannot very we'll con-
tinue
So far bankers have been able TO
keep the wheels moving. So Tar as we
are able to find out, American securi-
ties have been put up By English and
French interests TO take care of the
mighty trade balances. The question
is. How long viii the supply OF stable
securities last and how much of them
is at the call of Great Britain ANA
France. Considerable of American SCI
curities are held by individuals in Eng
land and France who desire thar they
remain as they are and a great amount
has been sent here for safe keeping by
individuals and locked up in the vaults
OF American banking houses III these /
men prefer not to trust their countries .
with them, It is hardly probable that
American financial interests viii go +
beyond the bounds of good business /
sense in advancing credit. There is a !
so -Fr-vr at
the property of the individual citizen
in times Of great stress. If the ua-
lions go the limit in this. they can
probably arrange for credit in this
country TO carry on at least another
year of war, without their money wall I
ues shrinking TO an extent where To +
buy in the markets of the world all /
that they require, would be almost pro
hibitive.
If the business Of the United States
continues for a year or two longer ct
the present rate, all the American se-
curities held in Europe viii be in the
hands Of Americans. With a three
billion dollar trade balance at the end /
of the next fiscal year pretty near all /
Of the available American securities /
will have been Soaked" and at ina
mense loss to foreigners as these Sc
curities were bought on a high market
and sold on low market-in some
cases sold at almost whatever they
would bring, the buyer determining the
price.
With their supply of American Sc
curities gone. it would be almost nee
aasarxy sCr 4ba ~0t,rsrfae q p v,-s.~ . %. CO, I
tie their balances in gold. It is very
improbable, in view of the fact that
another year of war will find all the ma
tons of Europe engaged in war broke,
that there would be favorable market
here for government paper. While It
would not be expected that Great Brit
ain. Germany, France or Russia or
Italy would repudiats any war debts.
yet Americans must consider the abil-
tty to pay, the time required and the
possible changing Of the European
map, Government paper must then be
as not highly desirable and
must be sold, If at all, at great dis
count. And how long could they pay
In gold? That is q question but few
can answer. II Russia, Great Britain
France and Italy, should do as Ger
many Is reported doing, convert the
jewelry and manufactured articles Of
gold owned by individuals into money /
they could keep it mp quite a long
time.
1t is a wonderful thing, an oppor- l.
tunity that rarely comes to a nation, ,
that it can SO profit that within a year
or two it goes from q debtor TO a cred
tor nation. This nation has about ]
reached thar point now. II is not i'm
probable that before the end is reached ;
bankers OF this nation viii make bill
lions OF dollars in dtseounting foreign ]
paper alone.
Deplorable It is that We profit BY the {
nisfortunes Of others. but such Is the =
course Of nations and such is business. ]