Norwich bulletin., 1919-09-09
WASHINGTON AFFAIRS
Special to The Bulletin).

rency, of which Senator Mclean of
 Connecticut is chairman. has before it
 no less than 30 or 40 bills of import
 ance concerning the financial interests
 of the country. Some of these will
 come up for consideration as soon
 the hearings on the comptroller of the
 treasury case, involving the confrma-
 tion of John Skelton Williams is out
 of the way. and leaves the road clear.
 Among the new measures is an amend
 ment to the federal reserve act in-
 cooperating institutions to engage in.
 international or foreign banking. Such
 a measure is believed necessary in
 order to meet after the war condition
 in foreign trade. The Edge bill
 bodies the needed changes and is
 cordially endorsed by MT. Mclean and
 by the treasury department as well.
 MT. Mclean will urge it's early pass
 age. The bill provides that an Am
 erican corporation can be formed, the
 majority of the stock being held by American citizens, absolutely confined
 to international business, a combina-
 ton of industry, banks or any Ameri
 can institution that desires to be stock
 holders in such corporation, under the
 complete control and supervision of the
 Federal Reserve Board, just as our
 banks arc
 The bill authorizes such corporations
 special powers to deal with interna-
 tional banking and it would be med
 ium of placing European credits with
 
 designed to stabilize foreign exchange.
 to the great benefit of Amercan com
 merce
 The value of foreign money has
 widely ffucuated since the beginning
 of the war. Great Britain, France,
 Belgium and Italy took a sharp fall,
 with the result that a merchant who
 attempts to buy dollars from the Unit
 ed States for the purpose of paying
 for raw materials, is sometimes com
 1-fI q jol1
 price which the expansion of currency of the United States and other coun-
 tries has already caused. The United States bankers say they are doing all they can, but it is <urged that some
 thing must be done to keep the A n1- erican gold dollar exactly at par. and thus make it constitute the measure Of value throughout the whole world, in international transa ctions, and so expand our foreign commerce.
 Under existing conditions American merchants don't know they will get in the diminishing or increasing value of q dollar in foreign countries. By testi- mony before the committee it was shown that the falling off of the United States exports amounted to one hun- dred million dollars in one month largely attributable to the fuctua ting currency value Senator Owen. chair man of the committee under democratic control, made interesting statements ttHCetIIIifS tHe Ilf1GHC1d1 cCnQlL1On CT Germany, France and other countries saying in part T do not regard Ger many as broken. | think Germany will reha bilitate itself with great ra pid- ity. They have enormous productive ca paclty. Their country has not been greatly injured, and whatever bonds they have sold. have been sold to each other They can pay Us back dollar for dollar While il is true that Europe has been wounded 1 think we have hea "a Of Europe, and we have OiSundersJ cod in large measure. the cost of this war. France. for instance is holding almost entirely the bonded issue which France put out. The French people own these bonds and the French peo- pie. therefore. who are the owners Of the bonds, have or their books broadly a national debt and d personal credit balancing each other. There was not q destruction of French property ex- cept in the narrow margin on the northern part of France where villages were destroyed, and in some cities, where important manufacturing plants were destroyed. They body of FranCe is not destroyed; the productive power of France is not destroyed The French women have been taught to labor as never before. There have been brought into the field of labor as never before millions of human beings. The stimulation of invention and the development of machinery in France have grown in an enormous way. The productive power of France has prob ably increased not less than fifty per cent. and the indebtedness of this war l which has passed from one set of peo- pie to the hands of another set of people, is neither an asset or lia- bility. When you put them against each other they cancel each each other i The French are able to pay their debts ! There is no question as to the solvency of the French. or Of the British or of the Italians or Of the Belgium people 1
 At the present time we have a mer- chant marine and 1t is figured out that 1t is sufficient to carry more than half the average exports of this country. It makes no difference what the policy 1 of this congress may be, whether they sell ships to private owners or continue to use them themselves we cannot use a merchant marine until we ar range that the American producer, the farmer, the American nlanu- facturer can be paid for the goods we are going to export in those ships
 Senator Edge, author of the bill 1 stated that it's object is to broaden the 1 market for American products, and ap- the bill will have strong sup port from congress.
 Senator Owen has recently returned from prolonged trip through Europe 1 so his statements regarding the fin- 1 ancial condition of the countries in volved in the great war, are based on l personal investigation and not hear 1 say evidence.
 Congressman TiIson of the third ! Connecticut District this week filed a | petition in congress from the state | board of agriculture favoring the I! granting of unoccupied farms in New l to ex-soldiers, sailors and | marines. It was referred to the com l nittee on military affairs. Comment | ng on the subject of providing farms | for returning men in the service, Col ! Tllson is strongly in favor of giving | such men an opportunity to settle on 1 and already titled or in sections of the | where such a settlement is ! lot pioneer work. Tt is all right said 1 ne for men. as embodied in the Mon ! tell bill, to go west and clear land and l -ake a part in the reclamation work of ! he country, if they want to do so, but 1