The Washington times., 1924-11-20
BUYS HUGE
NUMBERS
OF BONDS
Foreign investments Jump
FastAmazing Comeback
of Britain
BY WILLIAM HARD.

A New York banker was selling
70 his clients $12,0OO,0OO worth of
the securities Of bank guaran-
teed by the government Of Fin
land.
A few years ago a Finnish bond
might have been slow work among
his clients. Now the bonds went
off swiinmingly. One Of the
clients wanted 100000 Of them.
"Why SO much?' said the
banker.
sOh," said the client, 'T'ye been
travelling. / like that country"
Tomorrow night" said that
banker to this writer, I'm giving
little party. Who are my
guests. An Englishman, a Bel
gian, a Hollander, and a Swede,
al Of them representing foreign
companies for which / have done
financing in New York"
Confident Of Future.
Confidence in the worlds future:
That is the great lesson to be
drawn from the foreign financing
now being undertaken by bankers
and investors in this country.
Besides lending 1881, OO0, 900 dol.
lars since the great war to govern
mental institutions in Europe. our
bankers and investors in their deal.
where have lent $170,000,O 900 to
Japan. 81, 200, 900 to Australia,
$3.50, 900 to the Dutch East
indies, $1S5, 600, 900 to Canada,
$4,000 900 to governments in the
West Indies, SO, 1000 900 to govern
lnents in Central America and
$3.50, 100000 to governments in
EDlth America.
Our. total lendings to foreign gov
ernmertal institutions since the
war are now amounting close to
$3.50, O0Q, 0O0, 900.
q What III the best proof Of gen.
orally sound foreign worldwide con-
ditions?s
It Is not to be found in the
mere statements of statesmen. The
statesmen might be talking for
political effect.
The best proof is when our in
vestment bankers, knowing that
they will, of, course, ruin their
businesses and themselves If they
sell their clients poor securities,
sell them nevertheless las they have
in factS recently sold them) the
securities of the State, of Queens
land in Australia, of the govern
mentally guaranteed Oriental Devel-
opment Company in Japan Of the
city Of Montevideo In Uruguay, of
the, municipality of Medellin in
Colombia, of the state of Rio Grande
de Sui in Brazil, for instance, and
of various governmental institutions
in the following European coun-
tries:
Britain, France, Belgium. Neither
lands, Denmark. Sweden, Norway,
Finland, Switzerland, Germany, Aus
tria, Czechoslovakia and Jugoslavia.
Has Only One Asset.
An investment banker has only
one asset. It is clients to whom
he has sold securities that prove
sound.
Manifest1y, then, while many Of
our publicists have thought that
the world was unsound from some
theoretical standpoint our invest
ment bankers have thought that 1t
was quite considerable sound from
the practical standpoint.
Then comes further proof
In this article so far, in discuss
ing foreign securities, we havo dis
cussed only those that were gov
ornmental.
In addition to them, however, our
investing public has been buying
foreign securities, issued by foreign
private corporations.
We have been investing in for
eign private securities as well al
in foreign public securities.
Our total investments now in both
sorts Of securities abrOad-since the
War-have mounted beyond $4,000
OOO.OOO.
British Also Betting.
In other words, we have bet
H.000,OO0,000 that the world is all
right.
Meanwhile our British friends
have resumed betting on the same
proposition.
We read about unemployment in
Britain and we get the impression
that Britain is a sort Of down-and.
out country.
We read about high taxes in
Britain, and we get the impress.
zion that the British investor must
be having his pockets turned inside
out by the British treasury and
must now be pennilessy
We tend TO think that nobody in
the world has any money except
ourselves; and the foreigners some.
times try to make US think so.
The facts do not substantiate any
theory of total collapse OF British
investing.
On the contrary, the facts seem
to indicate that the British investor
in foreign enterprises Is staging one
OF the most spectacular and astund.
ing comeback in international finan.
cial history.
For a couple Of years after the
war he was, indeed, rather low.
In 1913 the British invested only
$7S,0O0,000 abroad, and In 1920 ONLY