New-York tribune., 1918-04-15
Worlds Money
Markets Now and
After the War
Great Demands for Capital for
Reconstruction May Be
Hard to Meet
By Sir George Pa;sh

Nrom or article il, the "Inrcstment Econo-
mist Section OF The Railwoy Age Gasettc)
Rarely has there been greater Diff
Guilty in coming to any definite conclu-
s!ons as to the future course of the
worlds money markets, and were it not
that the worlds common interest was
likely to induce, indeed to compel,
every one to act with great considcra-
tion and with quite unusual de,1vc
of wisdom, one would not be so hopeful
about the future as the facts of tho
situation now Justify. Actual expert
cncc Of what has been accomplished
during the present war fully warrants
one in anticipating that any further
difficulties will be safely overcome and
that the worlds credit system will
emerge from the extraordinarily trying
ordeal to which it has been subjected
not only uninjured but greatly widened
and strengthened. On every hand ad-
miration is expressed for the wonder
full manner in which money has been
provided for war in all the belligcrcnt
countries, and every one now recog-
nzes that such things would not have
been possible but for the growth of
banking and investment, which had rem
dcrcd the credit system prior to the
war so powerful and so efficacious in
supplying the world with the capital it
needed for the development of its nat
ural wealth and manufacturing power
as we'll as for the provision of the ma
chinery of transportation and of diC-
tribution.
No more convincing testimony to the
efficiency Of the credit system in pro-
vlding money for war is required than
Che fact that all the money needed to
finance the colossal expenditures of
this war has been supplied on the gen
cral comment that if SO much money
can be found for war, then why not for
improving the condition of the great
mass OF the people in all countries?
Why There Is Uncertainty
Certainly the credit system has at
taincd reputation in war which it will
not be easy to live up to in peace, and
it is partly because every one now
recognizes that bankers and investors
IN giving credit are able to create
wealth that there is some uncertainty
about the future. All the old landmarks
and tide levels upon which bankers
used to rely for guidance have been
swept away by the great torrent Of
credit now sweeping over the world. 1t
is obvious that the credit system of the
past was merely a child in comparison
with what it will be in future now that
IN the present emergency it has be-
come fully grown.
When one considers how greatly
credit has contributed to the expansion
OF the worlds wealth in general and to
the wellbcing of these countries in
particular in which it was most highly
developed before the war one realizes
that after the war is over the wcllbe-
ing of the race will show a rate of
progress never hitherto witnessed now
that the possibilities of the credit sys-
tenn are so widely recognized; that is,
provided that the war is ended by
dcmocratic. clean and good peace.
market not only during the war but
after the war is over, it is essential to
take the experience that is now being
gained by the public into account.
The experience gained of war in
these days shows that with every one
cooperating and with everything posi-
bic being done to facilitate the crca-
ton of credit both nationally and in
tt!ern1ationally there is practically no
unit to the amount of money that can
be borrowed both from bankers and
from the investing public.
OF course. it is essential that wc
should all realize that at the present
time these vast credits are not adding
to the permanent wealth of the world
and that for the greater part they are
pure imitation, forcing up the prices of
commodities, wages and profits. Never
tnelcss; they are attaining the end in
view, the stimulation of human effort
to produce things needed in great