The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-06-28
KEEPING BONDS ABOVE PAR
HY HOLLAND

| New York, June N.-(Special )-Not again will any broker, at least of reput- able standing, accept an order from a customer to sell liberty loan bonds short There was no incident associated with the floating of the liberty loan which oecasioned so much criticism as did the l sale of small block of liberty bonds in the open market short, presumably. and at figure slightly below par. Of course, if anyone who is the owner of liberty bond and who is in desperate need of money offers to sell it outright to somebody who was willing to bargain for it at price below par. nobody could interfere with a sale of that kind. But transaction of that kind would not be what is known as selling short. There has been established, it is understood, a tacit understanding, fortified by the strong influence of the governors of the stock exchange, that no liberty loan bonds shall be sold short
 The reasons for this understanding are excellent, and they are justified by an another kind.
 Some years ago a tacit understanding was reached with the full approval of the governors of the stock exchange, by which brokers agreed that they would under no circumstances accept an order to sell the stock of bank short. That understanding was based upon the be- lief that it was the wiser part; in fact, imperative, that there should be no speculation in bank stocks of kind which would involve the selling of these securities short. Of course, brokers are glad to accept orders for the purchase of bank stock at the market rate, and if that transaction is carried out, some other broker sells the stock, but the transaction is a genuine one. This tacit understanding has served well to steady the market for bank stocks and to con- vince everyone that all dealings of this kind are genuine and are not undertaken in order to depress artificially the value of the stock.
 It is of importance that the market value of the liberty loan bonds shall be so maintained as to reflect unirnpaired credit of the government. The govern iliSiiI iidS lCNei, ct ledSl SlIlce the early days of the civil war, purchased it's own bonds upon a falling market In fact, it has always paid par or better when buying it's own bonds Sometimes this has entailed a good deal of expense, but it was expense which was deemed well worth while, since i. served to main tain the credit of the government.
 NEW COIN
 Several years ago, Dr. John Bassett Moore served as a member of the Pan American commission. which visited nearly all of the South American states That service was performed two or three years before MT. Moore was called from his chair as professor in Columbia uni- versity, to serve as counsel for the state department in the first year of President Wilson's first administration. Upon his return from South America, Dr. Moore spoke with some amazement of indus trial conditions which he discovered there, especially the cotton manufactur- ing industry, which is becoming more and more important in Peru, having been there developed and stimulated by the American house of w. R. Grace Co. Careful investigation into commercial and financial conditions persuaded Dr. Moore that if the United States is to have permanently satisfactory and rap idly increa sing commercial relations with South America there must be established