New-York tribune., 1918-04-17


riously alike in several respects. In
the beginning enthusiasm runs so
high that subscriptions pour in
faster than they can be handled.
But the pace cannot be maintained;
there is a pause, and after a few
days subscriptions fall below the
daily average quotas. Finally a sec
ond wave of enthusiasm carries the
loan over with a rush. The cam
palgn now under way has reached
the second stage. Judging from ex-
pcrlcnce it will lag, in spite of the
fact that there is no tagging in the
efforts Of those who are conducting
1t, for week or ten days. 1t is
decidedly encouraging that sub
scriptions thus far have exceeded
those for like period in the Octo-
Der campaign, and there is every
reason for believing that the third
loan Will be even more successful
than either of its predecessors, not
only in the total subscription, but
in the extent Of the distribution,
which is quite as important. Re-
ports indicate that the number of
small subscribers this time will be
far in excess Of the number who
bought the second issue.
After examining the statistics
which show that imports of silk in
{ 1917 broke all records, and that
much larger quantity of this luxury
was imported in January. 1918, than
in the corresponding month year
before. one is inclined to doubt the
success of the nation wide thrift
campaign that has been waged for
nearly a year. Silk and saving do
not go hand in hand.
There are many reasons why the
conservation of credit is necessary at
this time, but the principal one is
that restrictions will tend to hold
down initiation and automatically re-
lease productive power from non
essential to essential employment.
/ Conservation of credit and of labor,
the commodity of which there is
greatest need just now, are synony-
nous. The difficulty in cffecting
credit conservation lies in the fact
that no official body has yet at
! tempted to list the n-essentials.
That is left to the judgment of the
bankers, and there are almost thirty
thousand of them. The Federal Re-
serve Board, in it's monthly bulletin,
has, however, laid down some gen
cral rules for the guidance of bank
ers. There are, it states, two clearly
defined groups of loans, as follows:
l. Loans to facilitate production
or distribution, and,
g Loans for productive or
non-distributive purposes.
Those falling under the second
classification, it says, are not essen
tial, the following being types of this
group:
Loans for purchasing or carrying
property, whether real estate or per-
sonal securities.
Loans for additions to or improve
ments Of property not used in pro-
duction or distribution.
Loans to states or municipalities
for improvements.
by inquiring into the purpose
for which each new loan is required,
the board states, "and declining
wherever practicable to grant loans
Of these classes, and by gradually
causing existing loans Of these
classes to be reduced or eliminated
bankers could conserve credit with.
| out causing hardship and also give
. many people an impetus to save al
a time when saving is Of vital i'm
portance to the nation. But dis
crction must be used in not forcing
borrowers to reduce loans to an eX
tent that is unreasonable or wOulC
cause avoidable hardship or embar
: rassmcnt; much can be accomplished
, by sound advice and the eXertion o.
moral pressure.
AS to the essential loans, the boar(
says there are three main groups
farmers, manufacturers and mer
chants. Inasmuch as maximum pro
r duction Of farm products is essen
tial, it is necessary to grant liberia
loans to farmers; but even herr
credit must not be extended for thu
ACQUISITION of additional propertv