The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-09-11
The Duty OF Our Bankers to Our
Business.

begun yesterday with the arrival
If the Anglo French finance commits
sion which has come here to confer
on ways and means for restoring sta
bllity to the international money mar.
ket. There will be some observers
who will seek to discover in the con-
ferences what may be a turning point
in the European war, but politics Of
any sort, domestic or foreign, can he
dismissed from consideration Of these
negotiations. Our concern with them
as Americans Is in their character Of
an epoch making event which prom
Uses to mark a turning point in the
chronicle Of American finance and
commerce, for in these negotiations
the country is confronted with an u
precedented opportunity to engage in
business and banking in a field hlth-
erto almost exclusively occupied by
European finance.
1t has always been said Of our
business and Of our banking that II
was too provincial. 1t now has a
chance to break the shell Of provin-
cialism. Our bankers IA prove their
intelligent ability to become real mer-
chants in credit instead of mere o
ductors Of a brokerage traffic in ac-
commodation. Our business men can
demonstrate their capacity to take a
world view Of trade by relying no
longer on having business brought TO
them. Who can doubt that American
enterprise will use the opening which
these conferences offer?
There has been a bad breakdown in
the foreign exchange market where
foreign is financed. The
bills OF exchange which ordinarily
serve as satisfactory credit instru-
ments, circulating as the equivalent
OF cash for the settlement of CONNER.
cial or other Indebtedness between
countries, have lately had currency
only Mt d~emoralizing discounts. The
situation makes II more and more
difficult 10 sustain commerce between
nations, especially since bills Of o
change on London. which have been
practically The International hank
note of the modern world. have de-
veloped an instability which has made
the whole international money mar
ket a shaky structure.
AS modern business cannot he car
ried on in volume without satisfac.
tory credit instruments it has become
'
imperatlvely necessary to take steps
to impart stability to the foreign
exchange market. The official state.
ment issued for the foreign finance
commission on its arrival says that
the purpose OF the commission is TO
consult regarding measures ''for regu-
latlng the exchanges between New
York. London and Paris" What is
meant is that we have the adequate
resources 10 provide a large supply OF
credit for the restoration of equillb-
rum in the international money mar
ket and that our visitors have come
to propose the terms on which Great
Britain and France would like to OBJ
tain access to this credit.
The ultimate object of these all
important financial negotiations Is, in
the language OF the visiting commits
sion, that and industry
may suffer as little as possible dur
ing the course of the war" No mat
ter what Interior efforts are made to
represent these negotiations as hav-
ing another significance, that Is abso-
lutely all the significance and inter.
est which they have for the Ameri,
can people; but, so defined and re-
stricted, the significance is vast.
1t involves nothing less than the
maintenance OF the foreign trade ex-
p~ansion In which we have been en-
gagged since the outbreak of the war,
It's promotion during the war and the
establishment OF n strong foothold in
foreign markets after the war, with
all the issues of American prosperity