The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1918-01-15
Familiar to More People All
Over Earth Than Any
Means of Exchange
UNITED STATES is
CREDITOR NATION
Trade Balance Will Force American
Coin to Coveted Place After the War
Is over-Already Proposal to Revive
Bimetallism.

NEW YORK, Jan. 15.-Bankers and
students of economics throughout the
world-and the Teutonic allies are
probably included-are giving serious
attention to the ACCESSIBILITY of ma king
the dollar the universal monetary unit.
Some American bankers have insisted
that the dollar has been the universal
unit for some time, and the late Will
liam A. Read, regarded as'one of this
country s foremost financial authorities,
stated in 1915 that the "'dollar is the
unit of international exchange and will
continue as such indefinitely.
Many suggestions have been made in
| the financial districts of New York,
London and Paris for the acceptance of
a common monetary unit. France is
understood to favor the dollar, and IN
Great Britain, where financial changes
have III the past been discouraged, a
growing Partially for the dollar is
evident
Srinivas R. Wagel, in special ar
ticle in the current issue of the Jour
nal Of the American Bankers ASsocia-
ton. gives number of reasons for
making the dollar the basis of interna-
tional money. He suggests plan for
the solution of the problem.
He urges that the S. gold piece in
America, the sovereign in Great Britain
% francs III France and 20 marks il
Germany be equalized in weight and
gold purity, and points out that If
this were done and the coins were free
, " exchangeable in all countries &c
counts would probably be settled OF
the basis of this coin weight even il
the coins themselves were not allowed
to circulate The article reads in part
Why the dollar If the reason
l. given is only one of the national prid
and taking advantage of the presen
distress in Europe tAe scheme will no
> he worthy of serious consideration, am
= cannot stand the test of careful anal
= ysis. The most important of all rea
. aons is that the dollar is the money O
los 600, eco people IN the United State
= and Cana 1a-the most advanced indu:
> trial peoples of the earth. The dolla
Is familiar to more people on cart
u in all the continents than any other uni
> Of value.
a THE whole of South America know
Il of the dollar; China uses the dollar e,
It tensivelv; the British Straits Settl
II ments and the colony of Hongkon
have as their basis of currency tt
silver dollar The different dollars {
not have the same value. There a
various kinds of dollars, but the wol
rs dollar is known so well througho1
most parts of the world even amor
the masses, that no other unit can
Y said to be so well suited for the pu
he pose of an international unit
.rs The dollar is known to be the I'm
re. of money not only in gold but also
ng silver. This is of special importan
q at present. Owing to the locking
bv of gold and the large issues of pap
pc money the question of the standa
Mt of value and the future of silver a
Irg receiving serious attention. There is
nd ready proposal to revive bimctallis
although it is doubtful whether
metallism is possible at present.
III Whatever course is ultimate
adopted, the fact that the dollar can
h. the unit of both gold and silver mon
will prove of considerable importan
The only other unit that has a SINH
merit is the franc; for obvious rease
the adoption of the frame as the u
- of international money is now out
the question.
THE third reason relates to our
old nancial and economic position. I
the war has bled the European countr
pet both physically and financially O.
of two years ago it was thought har
ing possible that the United States wo
on. be transfo rmed into a creditor nat
of on the present scale; also, that pow
God full nations like Great Britain
18th France would be our principal debit
1.-THE fact is that instead of bein
For debtor nation we have became a CIR,
tor nation with approximately $40