Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-07-18
Issues of Banknotes in
France, England and
Italy Greatly Exceed Cold
Deposits - Exploration
of Gold Under Control
Poland Has German, Rus
sian and Polish Notes Cir
culating, With All Fac
tionS of Russ Reuolution-
lists Well Represented
BY FRANK a. VANDERBILT

| Az IMPORTANT factor contributing
Ato tho present commercial disor-
ganization of Europe is to be found in
the situation of the currpncies of the
various nations. The chaos in the cir
culatng medium is enough to make
| Europe seem like an economic mad
house.
The very first days Of the war saw OK
| pciiments in CurrenCies by the greatest
countries. which departed from all ex-
perience and disrpgarded in many cases
all sound principles. England itself in
the first days of the war had to resort
to a fiat issue by the government. Gold,
which was the general medium of eX-
change aside from the Bank of England
notes. disappeared from circulation
! overnight.
The Bank of England had rigidity
in its circulation that permitted no elias
| ticity. and the government was torced
to begin the printing of fat notes before
suitable paper could be found or ade-
ouate mates engraved Today the
an cunt of government notes outstanding
in Great Britain amounts to more thah
81, 800, 900 900. Against tins there Is
held a special deposit of gold amounting
to EOS 800 900. or roughly Sl4o, ,Ooo'oou'
Theoretcally the notes are redeemaole
in gold. Practically the holder OF cl,her
these notes or the notes OF the BANK oi
| ENGLAND would be so closely questloheu
in regard to the use he Intended TO make
of the gold if he demanded their redeh,P
tion in gold that their redemption qual-
ity is for the present hctioh.
No one is permitted to export sold
from, England without government
license. and that license in fact Is not
granted A bank deposit in Engiana
;s navable only in Bank OF England
ro+es Ir the government currency notes,
and az these notes will not be redeemed
IN cold on demand the pound sterllng
has ceased to represent gold'
Notes Irredeemable
Tn France the sole national issue
.s circulating notes are those OF the
m,. - France The outstanding
issue of these notes OF the hanh VI
France has gone up from ABOUT SIX
h;,,;on francs before the war TO over
thirtv four billion, with the limit Oh
authorization just raised to thir's nine
hi,;on The notes are at present IRE
doomable and all gold has disappeared
from circulation.
II ia well to stop moment anu
= translate these figures so that our
rninds can grasp their significance. Inc
a;rorlat;on of the Bank of France now
amounts roundly to six and ha'l
h;,ion dollars. France has a popula-
t;on of about 80, 100000. This gives
an average amount OF clrcu'a'i'h pei
capita of roundly Sl66.
Our own circulation is 5'ooo go
600. or S5464 per capita. france
with its 30,7OO,O00 of people ana l's
oroo loss than that Of our South At-
Iantic states has three quarters OF
billion dollars more 'circula''on ina"
uo have in the United States.
while the notes of the Bank OF
p.oroo are the only national circula
Zion and the only legal tender, there
hos been issued by many OF the TOWNS
of France. through the local cnam
p of Commerce, circulating notes OF
small denomination.
Tn italy circulation consisted OF
notos of the three great banks of ISSUE
tho Rank Of Italy, the Bank OF Naples
and the Bank of Sicily. Before the
,ror the Italian note circulation was
73O 1OO, 900 lire. Today 1t Is e'9ol'-
3OO,0 900 lire.
Rand Note Issue Varied
In Belgium the prewar circulation
consisted of the notes OF the Natiohd'
Rank of Belgium. When the herman
, Covornment came into Brussels they
u.era not in a position to command a
further issue by the National Bank
brt tbey compelled the leading com
noorciaI hank, the Societe Generate, to
mt ont an issue. The volume OF this
;ssue grew to large figures, but large
os II was it was supplemented by issues
bv every town of Importance IN Bel
GUM.
have seen a collection Of these issues
: of Belgian and French city currency
which filled two large scrap DOCKS OF
. perhaps a hundred pages each each
mage of which was covered with an END
less variety of notes.
One of these, for which the ingenious
and patriotic artist who designed IL was
= subsequently lodged in a German jail
had on the back an outline sketch OF a
lion whose tongue protruded con-
temptuously. c
1t was discovered by the German
outhorities after many of these were in
circulation that the lions body embraced
an outline map of Belgium, and the con :
. temptuous tongue of the lion was that
= hit of Belgian territory that was
: strongly held by the Belgian troops
throughout the war.
In addition to the Belgian notes there
4 was a great fiotation of German marks
9 When the German troops evacuated Bel
'. gium the government faced the problem
Il of withdrawing from circulation both
: German marks and the forced issue OF
!, the Societe Generate.
u 1t accomplished this by giving in ex-
change a certain amount of the notes o.
- II nA IL