Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1919-1980, 1921-08-15
By Bart !. Campbell

O"~~@~
Washington, Aug. ia Bank
of Nations is being urged upon
congress by Senator Gilbert M.
Hitchcock. of Nebraska. ranking
democratic member Of the senate
foreign relations committee and
millionaire newspaper publisher,
as a panacea for the international
financial jam In which the wide.
wide world is caught just now.
Hitchcock has sponsored bill
for the establishment Of the Bank
OF Nations at New York City. with
branch offices in this and other
countries. He would incorporate
1t as an international banking in
stitution with working capital of
So, 1000, 900, 900 divided into 240,-
600 shares of $40, 900 each.
Sounds like a financial pipe
dream, but Hitchcock insists that
some kind of an International fed
eral reserve banking system is the
only practical way to end the per-
ilous fluctuation of exchange val-
ues and the dangerous piling up of
frozen credit" now troubling the
worlds financiers.
Everyone recognizes that there
exists in the United States and 9TH
er countries at the present time a
great decentralization of business,
a high rate of unemployment and
a general Improbable condition In
all lines of trade" Hitchcock said.
international commerce is almost
in state of collapse. The United
States has an enormous surplus OF
products which It is unable to sell,
while other nations have a great
need OF these products and are not
able to buy them"
Two causes may be given, in
Hitchcock's judgment, for these
conditions more than any others.
/. The unstable.condition OF in
ternational exchange, which has
fluctuated so violently during the
porting and importing a dangerous
gamble and has ruined hundreds
of films attempting internati 1nal
commerce.
2. The exhaustion of interna-
tional credit due to the enormous
balance OF trade which was not
paid for in gold. Attempts by pri-
vate concerns to supply this credit
have only resulted in the exhaus-
tion OF their resources.
Sterilization Is Aim
Hitchcock believes that such con-
ditions can be remedied by the es-
tablishment Of an entirely new in
ternational agency to stabilize in
ternational exchange and TO foster
an international credit system.
"Inasmuch as the United States
now holds more than one-half of
all the gold in the world, which 1t
is not using. and inasmuch as the
United States has become the great
creditor of the world" Hitchcock
said, mo effort to restore COM
merce. to stabilize exchange and
to establish credit can be made
unless the United States takes the
lead.
Il therefore propose the Bank
OF Nations. would give the Uni
ted States the controlling interest
In 1t. l would have $1,000, 600. coo
OF its stock taken over by the Uni
ted States and s200.000.OOO more
sold TO American banks and bank
ers, exporters and importers inter-
ested in foreign commerce. and the
remaining s9OO.O0O.O 900 sold to
foreign governments.
"The Bank OF Nations would be
large enough and powerful enough
10 put an end to the pirated spec
ulation which has been going on
in International exchange and
which has made commerce next
TO impossible. II would also be
powerful enough to establish a
legitimate international credit TO
promote commerce between the na-
tions. particularly with respect TO
great exportable surplus products
Of the United States to Europe.