The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-10-03

| NeW OTk, OCtOUCI A.-~N'PSSAeAi'/ - | speaking of the offer of the govern ment to sell at least $S,0oO,00o,0oo and per haps as much as s4,000,00O,0OO worth or government bonds to the American peo- ple one of those who will give much of his time in an attempt to persuade the people to buy these bonds said this morning: From one point of view, the two greatest events in the financial history of the world are those which by the end of this year will make record for the United States which has
 undoubtedly been established in six months For the American people Will undoubtedly be found to have subscribed l for possibly as much as S6,O0O,OOoooo worth of bonds and will have done thls within six months. There is no record that I now call to mind in the financial achievements of the nations of the world which can compare with this
 This high authority went on to say that it would be borne in mind that this entire subscription is made or IS to be made exclusively by the people of
 
 expedient to do so and if 1t were pos sible, it is not now practicable for the United States to market even such high-class security as government bond anywhere else than in the United States Other nations are coming to the United States for assistance and instead of borrowing from other nations we are lending billions
 This amazing capacity of the Ameri- can people is revealed it was said, at time when we have already absorbed substantially all of the American secur- ities which were formerly held by in vestors of Great Britain and Europe Attention was called this morning to a statement made at Atlantic City last week by a highly accomplished Eng fish authority, in which he said that England had parted with substantially all of the American securities that were held in Great Britain at the time the war began. If England has yielded these securities, to whom did they go? This is question which some of those f>>eAANNNs ing at the same time that 1t carried it's own answer. For there is no other market for these securities than the United States so that in addition to the urparalleled investment of American money in the bond issues offered by from $2.OO0 100000 to sS,0Ooooo,00O worth of American securities
 Therefore, in addition to the substan- tially complete liquidation of our in debtedness represented by American se- curities held abroad we, at the same time, have been buying government bonds in such enormous amounts that on | Thanksgiving Day in November, it will probably be possible to announce that the government has borrowed and the people have lent to it from 5000, 900
 to s6OoO, ,0OO 900 since June.
 Among the many discussions which the offer made a few days ago by Secretary McAdoo of an unlimited sale of bonds bearing per cent interest. or at least limited only by the figures set forth in the authority given by Congress, this comment has been fre- quently heard. These enormous financ- l ing transactions to which the govern ment and the people are parties have | with almost cyclonic swiftness changed l the condition of the United States from that of debtor nation to that l of a creditor nation and for the time
 being the worlds greatest creditor. The belief grows stronger and stronger that | this position will be maintained after ] the war Is ended. It Is said that it will certainly be maintained if our in- foreign commerce opportunities are full
 ly met.
 l Another feature associated with the new loan as well as with the first lib- erty loan of last June is the fact that all of the money will be kept at home
 In almost every case heretofore where
 large loans have been made by govern
 mental authority, much the greater l part of the funds thus secured has
 gone to- other countries. Even the bil- | Hons which we are advancing to the allies and which must be paid off after
 the war Is ended, will for the most part
 be expended in the United States.
 In the directors rooms of some Of
 the great corporations. there has been recently informal or incidental discus sions based upon confidential or at
 least private reports which have come ! Or tn1i
 which tell of the grievous anxiety of
 the men of finance, the bankers and the industrial leaders of Germany. ovef