The Washington herald., 1919-02-28
FOREIGN BONDS
FOR INVESTORS
Holland Thinks U. S. Will
Aid Americans Purchase
Overseas Securities.

overseas OeCurllleS.
While 81 has value OF about 60
cents when 1t is used to purchase food
OF necessarias of life on the other hand
IL has a value Of considerably more
, than 100 cents when il is employed IN
payment of certain stocks and bonds
For one OF the peculiar phases or the
present day situation is well demon
strated by the fact that food ana
necessaries OF life are still quoted at
very Tigh prices, while excellent Sc
curities whose inherent value Is not
far from par and in some cases above
par can be bought at a price many
points below par
This peculiar situation. on which
comment was made this morning by
one OF the leaders who has had long
experience i'm the financial district.
may have some influence when the
stupendOus financing involving at least
Sl2.OOO. 900 900 is under way during the
, months of the spring. Il Is impossible
to trace in detail the effect OF this
anomalous condition. but its influence
is already to some extent felt. Never
theless the government is now pre-
pairing 10 aid Americans who have
capital In purchasing the securities
which are soon to be issued by cor
porations municipalities and private
concerns. especially in Belgium. Italy
and some other Of the nations OF Eu-
rope.
The Govsrnm"ut - now recognizing
wsOmethinE which was often the sub
tect OF tentative comment in 1918
For mon who arc leaders in financial
affairs-MT. NandcrliD. for instance,
and other bankers not so we'll known
as hC. but able Tcn-OftCn spoke OF
the necessity that there b" Investment
OF American capital in private sCCurf-
tics ISSUED i'm other lands than our
own The amoUnt OF tho securities
which will ne offered in tho American
market is likely to be very large. in
volvinE hundreds Of millions. PERHAPS
n billion. Should there bc heavy IN
Vestmeut Cf American capital i'm thes-
securities that will so rs far as pOSsi-
HE toward diminishing tho fndebt"a-
ness foreign nations owe to u. or at
least serve As a partial sct-oT for thar
Indebtedness OF Europe TO the United
States
Another scI-Onr j. 90 BE- established
as soon as possible after the treaty OF
peace has been ratified. The intima
tions are good that work Of this kline
will constitute some part OF the labor
which has been committed to Thomas
W. Lamont. Of !. =. Morgan anG
Company. and his associate. MI
Straus5- They nre now In Paris. semi.
officially rcTesentin- the United States
in financial matters. because they were
asked bv Secretary Glass to undertake
this mission.
Owe Europe Mach.
Presumably n considerable part o.
their duty may refer to the debt
which the United States owes tC
Europe on account OF the war. This
does not include the debt which our
commerce represents. hut the actua
charges against the United States fol
services performed. particularly BY
Great Britain and France We shall
|, have to prv a very large sum, chiefly
10 Great Britain on account of hcI
F"Alargr for transporting our troops in
her own ships across the water. An.
other it"U in IN" sNpcusr arcOunt is
the list or munitions which Great Rri
tain turned over TO the United States
after tn" American soldiers began tc
debark iU France.
So also Franco has now a Very large
charge aga nst tho United Statos for
! -
| tation Of our arrItes. also for the ust
OF motors and fcr providing munitions
Of war which We" vital to the prog
ress Of the American army IL
France. other large items will be in.
Cluded in III" general statement
Probably We shall have to pay con.
siderably in excess Of a hundred dol
lars for the TRANSFORMATION of eacf
soldier who was carried across tn,
sea in English ships.
] Already an estimate has been made
of the amount OF these obligation,
which rest upon US. It is very large
Some say the total amounts to more
than a half a billion dollars. What
ever the aggregate may be it will
serve to Offset some of the obligation!
! which Europe owes to the United
in the form OF loans and credit
Buying European Securities.
Now the government. through tn,
Department Of Commerce and tn,
Treasury. has set on foot a move
iuent whereby authoritative informa
tion can be obtained respecting thu
character OF securities Of F.urOpeaT
riSin, not national but private O
municipal. which will be offered in tn,
United States In order 10 do this j
NTill be essential to ao7oiut Con1pcten
men. vino. after investigation. will h,
Lsble 10 report to the Washington au
thorities what the chara"tc- Of tn,
offered securities =.
After this is done. then arpIicatior
can be mad" to tho authorities fol
Information upon which can be bascC
rction which investors will he glad Il
take with respect to foreign securities
How They VIII Buy L. 5. Goods.
Another feature now recognized
by the government which is asso-
ciated with the marketing upon a
argc scale in the United States OF
Foreign securities is the undoubted
fact that il this be done il viii
Facilitate the increase of foreign
trade. II will be impossible for
European countries to pay in cash
FOR the commodities they will buy
They can pay for these. however
through the marketing of their Sc
Iurities, or else by tho aid of the
government in extending to them
urther loans and credits. The best
ppinion seems to be that in case
his marketing in the United States
pr foreign securities be successful
t will tend to increase deposits in
american banks, because large i'm
borters of goods from the United
States will find it to their advan-
age to maintain balances in Ameri-
tan banks prOpOrtiOnate to the
hmount of their trade.
HOTI,A Nh