The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1922-10-05
lost IN
GERMAN MARKS.
Big Flood Of Speculation inI
Foreign Currency Report
ed to Have Stopped.

NEW YORK, Oct. 5.-Gambl.
ing in German marks has cost
Americans from a billion or two
billion dollars.
People are still buying MARKS
and other foreign paper money"
but the big flood OF speculation
suddenly stopped a few weeks ago.
Bankers report that buying was
going on In large amounts in spite.
of their warnings that purchase
OF German marks was q apecula7
ton and not an Investment! 1t Is.
believed that even the Ftil desc,
SPECTATORS have now reached the
conclusion that the bubble has
burst, wiping out dreams Of I'M.
mense profits.
Estimates OF the amount OF
American money spent for marks
can be better made in Germany
than in this country" said DR.. B.
NJ. Anderson, Jr., economist OF tho
Chase National Bank. II have
seen estimates ranging from 81
100000, 900 to $4,000, 900 600. PEI:
sonally wouldn't know how 10
guess.
Speculation in German MARKS
has been a big national loss, but
it Is SO diffuse that no credit prob.
lem has been created. know OF
no institution or individual suffer.
ing serious loss.
1.-The most serious thing about
1t is the decentralization OF Ger
many which the crash in mark
indicates. Generalization in Ger
many is most serious Of course for
her closer neighbors-France,
Great Britain, Holland, Belgium
and the Scandinavian countries
but 1t Is very serious for tlln
United States also. Germany has
been one of our best customers
and a prosperous Germany Is
needed to balance the worlds &c.
onomIc llfe."
Doctor Anderson pointed out
that while Germany as whole
has suffered very greatly in tho
financial generalization, good
many Individual German specula.
tors have piled up immense pro-
fits. Foreseeing the decline In the
mark, they borrowed mA1ks on a
great scale and used them to buy
foreign currencies-dollars, steIf-
ing, etc.-or to buy goods, COM
mon stock of corporations, and
other things whose value would
not decline with the mark.
After the fall or the mark these
SPECTATORS could sell a small part
Of their purchases for, enough
marks to pay back their debts, re-
tanning the greater part of the
real values they had purchased.
Hugo SHINES Is supposed tozhaye
built up much Of his great fortune
by this method.
Other countries have plunged
in German marks. Spain Is said to-
have put 1,000,000,000 pesetaS
into marks by the end OF 1920.
AS recently as last week an 1tal'
ian put $40 into German marks at
the rate Of cents a hundred, re-
ceiving 100000 marks (Which be.
fore the war were worth 100000.
At the New York bank where he
bought them he was warned that
he might lose his $140.
"Ah!" he exclaimed, grinning.
"but / may make a million"
A small New York hotel has q
bell boy, an elevator operator and
a doorman who own several million
Polish marks, a million German
marks, and several hundred thou.
sand French francs and italian lire.
Meanwhile reports from Ger
many say that women there are
their! savings by putting
doubtful paper money into silk
stoclsings-somethtng they can sell!
later!
How widespread American spec.
ulation In German marks has be.
come Is indicated by a letter re-
ceiyed by a New fork bank from a
small banker in Texag asking
whether marks we're a good invest
ment." He was told they, were IA
long shot gamble !.
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