Norwich bulletin. [volume] (Norwich, Conn.) 1895-2011, 1915-09-14
Plan to Borrow
a Billion Dollars
ON STRAIGHT BRITISH AND
FRENCH GOVERNMENT BONDS
WITHOUT COLLATERAL
Present Plans Of the AnsIo-Freneh
Financial commission-To be Spent
In the United States for commodi-
ties and Munitions.

New York. Sept 13.-The present
plan OF the joint Anglo-French finan-
ctal commission. IL was reported to-
night, is to borrow $1,000, 100000 in the
United States on straight British and
French government bonds without any
collateral whatever.
All to Be Spent Here.
II this vast sum of money Is obtain
ed. II was said, IL is to be spent TO the
last penny. in the United States in
payment OF wheat, cotton, meat and
other commodity shipments. including
munitions Of war. 1t will therefore,
In the opinion Of financial authorities,
be classified as a commercial loan
Neutrality in Question.
Whether the neutrality OF the United
States would be questioned in case the
bankers financing the mammoth loan
should accept straight British and
French government notes as their Sc
curity. has been given serious consid-
Grafton 1t was said that the financiers
familiar with the plan had every rea-
son TO believe that the Washington
administration would not interfere
The foregoing was the unanimous
opinion tonight of many Of the scores
Of prominent bankers from New York
and the chief cities Of the country who
have visited the commission at its
headquarters here during the three
days Of its stay in this city. AS to its
correctness. the members OF the COM
mission declined positively to COM
ment. All that the commission cared
to publish as authoritative was voiced
by Lord Reading. its chairman. who
received newspaper men tonight for
the first time.
Are Studying Conditions.
We are not in a position to make
a statement at the present time Lord
Reading said, because we are study
ing the conditions in New York and
| elsewhere in relation to American ex-
change on London and Paris We have
received a very considerable number
OF persons, prominent bankers and
other gentlemen who are interested in
the stability of exchange.
Regulate the Exchange.
/ The one thing that Is very striking
about it Is that everybody is agreed,
as one would expect, in the great i'm
portance TO be attributed to regulating
| the exchange so as to provide moro
stable conditions than has been the
case recently.
The sudden and considerable drop
in the exchange naturally disturbs and
must disturb commercial relations be-
| tween the countries-the United States
and Great Britain and Franch-inas-
/ much as IL makes SO difficult to see
ahead what the rate OF exchange will
be: and. moreover, because naturally il
makes such a material difference in the
prices to be received by the American
and the price to be paid by the Eng
| lishman and Frenchman-
Want Foodstuffs and Other Material.
There is a consensus Of opinion that
| IL is eminently desirable that some step
| be made by which stability of this ex-
change can be secured. You have here
| in the states very large surpluses of
foodstuffs and other material which
you want to export. We, on the other
hand. want to import these goods, and
| to the commercial man nothing is more
difficult than to arrange fixed prices
! when there is the instability such as
We have had recently in exchange.
We cannot say more than that at
the present, but that generally reflects
our views on the situations