Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-05-17

of the Bank of France Is characterized
by prudence and moderation. We are
reminded that II has never censed pay
ment and that during the most critical
periods OF French history the value OF
It's notes has never been questioned
Even the Bank of England can not say
as much. If the attitude OF the Bank
Of France IN one OF confidence. we may
safely assume that the confidence in
based on solid facts.
Some Of these facts NAV bc ennrnar-
ated AZ follows. Since January / there
has been no increase I'M paper circt.la-
ton. Budgetary resources have been
developed and long and short term
loans have been placed directly with the
FRENCH public. The exceeding cautious
ness Of the Banks policy il further
evidenced by the recent raise of dis
count rate from 5 10 per cent and the
rate OF advances on securities from 8
70 o5s per cent. az a consequence Of
the recent revival IN business since the
end OF 1913. BY the convention ENTERED
into between the French government
ana the Bsnk of France Last April pro-
VISION IL made for fIp a reduction In
state loans from "a billion francs to "a
billion francs by the end OF the erIryant
year, and t2) the reimbursement Of the
remainder to the extent of z bffiton
francs each year. thereafter. Finally. IL
appears from recent weekly ystatemenfs
of the Bank that thare has been a
decline of more than a billion francs In
the outstanding circulation during a
period of six weeks. such In the pres
ent situation and outlook, briefly sum
married of the Bank of France. which
dominates French finance. and is In
some respects the strongest bank in
the world
Paris. the Headquarters OF French
finance, the mecca Of the French nnar~
cier. now bids fair to suppfant London
as the capital OF the European world Of
finance. In connection with the Bank
of France we should note the establish
tngnt by French government action of
the Credit National, created to assist
In the reconstruction Of the devastated
regions. This bank is doing very sue
cesgfti work. Under the Same auspices
was created the Banuue Rationale du
Commerce Exterieur 10 assist French
exports. Tho latter faces the very
difficult exchange problem. The In
stitutIons are State banks, and display
such cautfouHess. labor under such d
plethora a red tape, that the average
FTenchman seeks financial assistance Of
banking institutions such as the Credit
Lyonnais. the Compton National
dTEscompts. the Eanaue de Paris. the
Credit MobfIicr F'rnscAis, the Union
Parinenne. the Banque Rationale De
Credit. the Credit Industrial du Sord
ltl1is financial institution took over the
highly rcputed banking establishment
Vnriny Decroir. and is playing an Inn
portant role in the devastated regsonsD J
In this connection IL should be noted
that the seven devastated departments
are offering an attractive and rennnera-
tive field of operation for French and
foreign banking Institutions in general
The Banque Industrielle de Chine with
a capital OF $50 million franca) which
does a large and profitable business in
China proper and In French China. also
carries on large financial transactions
in the French devastated regions. Ger
tain American banks likewise find an